About Us
Our mission is to discover, disseminate, and preserve nursing history in British Columbia.
The History of Nursing group grew out of a concern for the preservation of the British Columbia’s nursing heritage.
Prior to the formation of the BC History of Nursing Professional Practice Group, the History ofNursing Interest Group met for a year. This group had been part of an RNABC History of Nursing Advisory Committee, which was an ad hoc committee of the RNABC Board. This committee had been formed in 1988 to decide what should be done with a history project that had been started for the RNABC’s 75th anniversary in 1983. The Committee had also become concerned about oral history tapes that the RNABC had begun to collect.
The first meeting of the BC History of Nursing Professional Practice Group of the RNABC was held May 3, 1990. Their objectives were “to provide a forum through which those interested in the history of nursing in British Columbia can exchange ideas and information; to encourage interest in the history of nursing in British Columbia; to promote study and research in the history of nursing in British Columbia; to encourage the preservation of materials related to the history of nursing and the lives of individual nurses; to encourage the teaching of nursing history in educational programs; and to disseminate information about the RNABC to its members.” It was open to all nurses and other people with an interest in the history of nursing who were eligible for membership and had paid the required fees.
The stated goal was “to have a provincial history of nursing center in the Lower Mainland that is linked online with other agencies and/or schools of nursing in the province holding nursing artifacts or other archival materials”. Nurses, it was argued, must understand the challenges and opportunities of the past to prepare direction for the future and efforts must be made to incorporate nursing history into the curricula of nursing schools and faculties.
The administrative activities of the Group were conducted by an elected Executive Committee composed of a President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Recorder, and Committee Chairs. In 2008 the History of Nursing Professional Practice Group became the BC History of Nursing Society (BCHNS) and with this change we registered as a charitable organization in Canada and the administrative people became elected Board of Directors.
Our 2024/2025 Board of Directors
President
Vice President
Treasurer
Secretary
Directors At Large
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The History of Our Logo
The Original Logo
Soon after the BC History of Nursing Group was formed the Executive announced a “Logo contest.” The logo was to be an identifying symbol or sign to be used on letter heads and newsletter mastheads. Members were asked to submit their ideas for a simple design that would reduce to letterhead size. In March of 1992, after delays and consultation with the Emily Carr College of Art, a logo was proposed and accepted at the April 1992 annual general meeting.
Dropping RNABC from the Logo
Over the ensuing years, with the change in the name of the professional organization [RNABC] to a college [CRNBC] the Logo was revised. David Roberts updated and reworked the existing logo by dropping the letters RNABC.
A Streamlined Version
With another change in the professional organization the history of nursing was forced to change from a professional practice group to a Society, and the redevelopment of graphic design. The current logo has a more modern and streamlined look while still incorporating aspects of the original design.