The Icelandic Canadian - 01.12.2008, Qupperneq 6

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THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 62 #1
Editorial
Recording History
by Agnes Bardal Comack
With my 1943 nursing classmates I've
just celebrated our 65th reunion. It was a
wonderful event! The best part was to be
able to set a precedent in our Nurses'
Alumni by presenting a book full of mem-
ories of the 'good old days.' This book will
eventually be part of the Winnipeg General
Hospital/Health Sciences Centre archives.
I was so proud to be able to collect 25 sto-
ries from classmates across the country,
who range in age between 87 and 94 years.
What stories they had to tell!
Our training covered every aspect,
with time spent at the old Children's
Hospital (which was then on Redwood
Avenue) and the King George, as well as in
Public Health and Psychiatry. We had
training in Maternity, Obstetrics,
Operating Room, Urology, Surgery,
Ophthalmology, Otolaryngology and
Medicine. Our training was very strict and
for the three years we lived in constant fear
of making a mistake. However, during all
of that time we developed a very strong
bond, always being on hand to help, con-
sole, and support one another so that even
today we are still like sisters.
We worked from 7 AM to 7 PM, six
and one half days a week. The half day off
was after working from 7 AM to 1 PM.
Each day we had two hours off for classes
and one half hour for meals. Being up at 6
AM, we were ready for sleep at lights out at
10.30 PM. There was never an overnight
leave, not even on Christmas Eve. Our
instructors were very strict (and on occa-
sion some seemed even heartless!).
The use of mustard plasters and hot
foments as well a leaches for eye care were
the orders of the day. With the shortages
during war time, catheters, needles, and
syringes were all boiled and reused.
Infections were a rarity and an occurrence
demanded a strict investigation as to the
cause.
The stories I collected from my nurs-
ing sisters also told of their experiences
before and after training. One classmate
worked in the thirties as a Girls' Matron at
an Indian Residential School in Birtle, MB
where she felt very fortunate to have
learned some of the Saulteaux language.
This was a great help to her over the years,
communicating with Native patients who
couldn't speak English. Another was pre-
sent to observe the famous Sister Kenny
who had revolutionized the treatment for
the polio patients that we nursed in the
Children's Hospital as well as the King
George Hospital for Communicable
Diseases. Another served part of her train-
ing at Margaret Scott Mission. My father
used to talk of Margaret Scott and her com-
passionate care of the needy people in the
core area of Winnipeg. He told of taking
'wayward girls' to Margaret Scott when he
had his cab business in the 1890s (I
assumed they were young homeless immi-
grant girls).
The stories following training were
just as interesting. Imagine being on call in
the country to assist at a baby's birth, and
being paid 65 cents if you were there for
less than an hour! One classmate was Dr.
P.H.T. Thorlakson's scrub nurse. She said
that during wartime he would be in the
operating room from 7 AM until 3 PM
most days. The nurses had to clean and
autoclave the instruments themselves and if
they broke anything they had to pay for it.
Consequently, they were very careful. Post
op infections were a rarety. Another told of
her experiences after joining the Army
Medical Corps and being posted overseas.