SAVE THIS DATE! October 20, 2022 Marion Woodward Lecture

The Mr. and Mrs. P.A. Woodward Foundation has generously supported the annual Marion Woodward lecture since 1969.
The lecture was the only one personally endorsed by Mrs. Woodward, and has become a seminal event for the School of Nursing, attracting nursing professionals from across BC to learn, share experiences, network, and contribute to the advancement of nursing care.

Date: 20 Oct 2022

Presented by: Elizabeth Schenk, PhD, RN, FAAN, Exec. Director of Environmental Stewardship, Providence Health; Assistant Professor, Washington State University College of Nursing

Room: Online & In-Person

Time: 12 – 2pm

Save the Date!

For more information and to register click here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Celebrating National Indigenous History Month

June 1 marks the start of National Indigenous History Month in Canada. Formally declared in 2009, the month encourages Canadians to take time to learn about the history, heritage, resiliency, and diversity of Indigenous Peoples in Canada.

We recognize and honour Tania Dick, a member of Dzawada’enuxw First Nations of Kingcome Inlet. She is a renowned Indigenous health care leader and joined the UBC School of Nursing as its first ever Indigenous Nursing Lead in the Fall of 2021. The role was created to help guide work on reconciliation and prepare future nurses to uphold Indigenous Peoples’ human rights and end racism in health care.

To learn more about Tania’s background and role as the Nursing Lead click here.

Tania informed us that there are some allocated Indigenous specific seats on the Nurses and Nurse Practitioners of BC (NNPBC) Boards and the British Columbia Nurses Union (BCNU) has established the “Indigenous Leadership Circle” an equity seeking caucus that formally meets regularly.

Becky Beck and Betty Smith Pay it Forward

Becky Beck and Betty Smith have willed $100,000 to both CNC and Langara to create a new bursary.

Many people want to be a part of something that does good in the world and makes a real difference in people’s lives. When you “pay it forward” you are hoping to change someone else’s circumstances for the better. This is exemplified by two nurses who were lifelong friends and left a $100,000 legacy to both the College of New Caledonia (CNC) and Langara to help the next generation of nurses.

This endowment bursary will initially provide four $1000 awards each year to help average students receive financial support as they pursue their nursing education.

Read more about the donors of the Three Sister’s Endowment Bursary in our Spring 2022 newsletter on page 8 by clicking here.

Congratulations to Nurse Author Marion Crook!

On June 4, 2022, the BC Historical Federation announced the recipients for the 2021 Lieutenant Governor’s Medal for Historical Writing at the BCHF annual conference. The award recipients were chosen by a three-member panel of judges from 24 books published in 2021 and submitted for the competition.

The Community History Book Award, worth $500, went to Always Pack a Candle: A Nurse in the Cariboo-Chilcotin by nurse author Marion Crook and is the story of Marion’s nursing experience and adventures in the Cariboo-Chilcotin area of British Columbia in the 1960’s. Published by Heritage House in April 2021 the book has been on the BC Best Sellers List for many months.

To read a review written by BCHNS member Linda Quiney and published in our Spring 2022 newsletter on page 14 click here.

February 2023: Marion received a BC Arts Council Award to further her research for the sequel to Always Pack a Candle. The money will allow her to visit the Williams Lake museum and view the archives of the weekly newspaper. Marion plans to finish the sequel in 2023 and published in 2024.

Stephany Grasset 1931 – 2022

Tribute to Stephany Grasset  1931 – 2022

Born in Bulgaria, Stephany studied philosophy and history at the Sorbonne in 1949.  She immigrated to the US, and from there to Canada in 1961.  She graduated with a BSc from Louisiana State University in 1953, and from UBC in Public Health Nursing in 1968.  Her many positions have included adolescent counselling, instructor in nursing, and district nurse for the VON.  She has also been a nurse practitioner and Public Health nurse.  She regards her internship in the Palliative Care Hospice at Victoria General Hospital in Montreal as a highlight in her career.

In the latter part of her career, especially, she was involved in work, research and teaching in the psychiatric field, especially at UBC and BCIT.  From 1977-1985 she instructed in the Psychiatric Nursing program at BCIT, during which time she also lectured in UBC’s SON and other institutions.  In 1985-1986 she consulted in Psychiatric and Geriatric Nursing for the WHO in Barbados.  From 1989 she instructed in Acute Psychiatric Nursing in BCIT’s RN diploma program.  She was President of RNABC in 1980-1981.

Stephany passed away peacefully on March 17 and is survived by her children Antoinette and Stephen and grandson Rylan.  She’ll be remembered for being well read and outspoken.   She also had a unique ability to meet and surround herself with a diverse circle of good friends. Her amazing hospitality and the wonderful foods she lovingly prepared will be very fondly remembered and missed by all.

We are grateful to Stephen Grasset for notifying us of his mother’s passing, for this photo and message.

Tribute to Nina Rumen 1927 – 2022

Tribute to NINA RUMEN  1927 – 2022

Nina Rumen, a founding member of the BC History of Nursing Society has passed at age of 95 years, following many years in a Care Facility.

Nina was born in 1927 in what was then Poland, now Belarus.  At age 2 she “brought her mother to Canada” to join her father, who had immigrated earlier to the Fernie/Cranbrook area of BC.   She graduated from St. Paul’s Hospital School of Nursing in Vancouver in 1949 and joined the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps in 1951.  She was sent to Churchill, Manitoba [1952-54], then to Iserlohn, Germany with the British Army of the Rhine, then to Lahr, Germany.  She served with NATO from 1970-72. 

Nina completed her Bachelor of Nursing from the University of Toronto.  Following retirement from the Services, she moved to Vancouver working on short term contracts with various agencies.Continue reading

Museum Week

Photo credit BCHNS

A few members of the BC Nursing History Society celebrated Museum Week on May 17th  with a private tour of the Seaforth Museum, directed personally by Archivist,  Adrian French, who has been a friend to the BCHNS for several years.  The Military Medical Museum is an official Canadian Forces Museum in the Seaforth Armoury, Vancouver, BC.

Celebrating Four Decades of Advocacy

 

In the 2021 Summer/Fall Issue of Update Magazine the British Columbia Nurses Union (BCNU) marks its 40th year with a retrospective account of nurses’ fight for safe patient care and fair working conditions. This complete and well-illustrated article with contributions from many of the union’s nursing leaders traces the accomplishments and struggles experienced by the organization and its members during past decades.

You can read the complete article here.