Once a Calvary nurse...
Local
The Calvary Past Nurses Association has wound up after nearly 90 years, with a luncheon of thanks to the committee hosted by Calvary North Adelaide Hospital on December 3.
The association’s final lunch was attended by more than 100 members at the Walkers Arms on September 13.
The demise of the Calvary Past Nurses Association became inevitable when in 1980 it was decided that the class of that year would be the last to be trained at Calvary Hospital North Adelaide.
The passing of time would take its toll, and with no intake of Calvary graduates membership numbers would decline and the demands of leadership for committee members become too onerous. But what a glorious time it has been.
The School of Nursing at Calvary Hospital North Adelaide opened in 1900, and over the next 80 years it saw 1596 nurses graduate.
The Calvary Past Nurses Association began in October 1936 when 12 graduates held the first meeting and declared as their objectives to raise money for equipment and to assist the Little Company of Mary Sisters with their sewing. Their objectives combined ambition with humility, which is captured perfectly in their motto In Omnibus Caritas (In Everything Loving-Kindness).
Those 12 organised the first reunion dinner in December that year, attended by more than
60 past nurses, the association’s first members, and it was decided that the reunion would become an annual event.
Two years later they established a sick nurses’ fund to help past nurses who were experiencing difficulty in meeting medical costs. While not stated as an objective, that action and the reunions reveal another aspect of the association: a closeness among the group, an enjoyment of each other’s company and continued caring.
Among the significant donations to the hospital have been a car, an electrocardiograph monitor, Clements gastric suction pumps and a bed for the high dependency ward.
To celebrate the association’s 50th anniversary in 1986 members organised the first National Conference of Past Nurses of LCM hospitals, an invitation also extended to New Zealand nurses. As a final gift a donation was made to the Calvary Health Care Nurses Fund.
Sharon Kendall, Calvary SA/NT Regional chief executive officer, described the end of the association “as sad as it is celebratory”.
“Sad, because you are the last of those who were trained by and worked shoulder to shoulder with the Sisters,” she said at the final function.
“You carried the Calvary spirit as fiercely and as brightly as they did, and we owe you a great deal of thanks for that.
“And celebratory, because what amazing women you are! Your presence reminds us that what was possible once remains possible: your professionalism, your generosity and your deep kindness shine on in the lives of the patients and colleagues you have cared for over your many years of loyal service.
“And to all CPNA members…please know that your service has been highly valued. Those of you who trained and lived together have formed a special bond, a bond cemented by your shared vocation of service to the sick and the dying.
“Your legacy, evidencing all the values that the Sisters and Calvary hold dear, will not be wasted. We stand on the Sisters’ shoulders and we stand on your shoulders too.”
The Calvary Past Nurses Association has ended, but once a Calvary nurse, always a Calvary nurse.
The friendships, built on shared experience, will continue as will the caring commitment to each other.
– John Clarke
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