We are excited to celebrate the 35th Anniversary of the BCHNS on April 14, at the 2025 Nursing History Symposium.
Please check the Events Page for additional details Or click on this link https://nursing.ubc.ca/community/events/2025/2025-nursing-history-symposium-save-date
Postings on the blog have been few in the past few months as we have been working hard refreshing and updating the content on the website in preparation for a fresh look on our new website coming soon. Here are a few catch-up items that we saved that will be of interest to our readers.
Congratulations to Vivian Eliopoulos, President, and CEO of Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH), winner in the Health and Wellness category of the YWCA Metro Vancouver Women of Distinction Award presented by Scotiabank. The Awards ceremony took place on May 13, 2024, at Westin Bayshore. Over 35 years ago, Vivian started her career as a nurse at Vancouver General Hospital. For more information https://www.vch.ca/en/vivian-eliopoulos-0
A new book, ( March 2024) Flight of the Wild Swan, by Melissa Pritchard is a work of historical fiction that “tells the story of Florence Nightingale, a brilliant, trailblazing woman whose humanity has been obscured beneath the iconic weight of legend.” A reviewer says, “A majestic novel of Florence Nightingale, whose courage, self-confidence, and resilience transformed nursing and the role of women in medicine.”
The Florence Nightingale Museum in London England has an interesting newsletter!
Below are some highlights:
The May issue features a display and article about the WW2 Flying Nightingales.
The June issue features a Red Cross feeding cup.
In the September issue a featured object from the Museum’s collection is a bracelet and its box that belonged to Florence Nightingale. The bracelet includes hair from Nightingales’ family and a note which says, “FN’s bracelet; containing her father’s, mother’s, Parthe’s and Shore’s hair which she wore under her sleeve all the time in the Crimea, given by her to LSN [Louis Shore Nightingale].”
I joined the Naval Reserve in1970 during the October Crisis. I served with HMCS Malahat, HMCS York and HMCS Carleton. I retired from the Naval Reserve in 1997 moving to the Supplementary Ready Reserve. My last position was Interim Commanding Officer HMCS Carleton in Ottawa, Ontario. We thank Stephanie for her past service in the military and also those who are serving our country today!
The recording of the 2022 Nursing History Symposium is now available with its permanent link in the UBC Open Collection of the UBC Library
Title: Public Health and Pandemic Caring in Context Item URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/83409
The Canadian Association for the History of Nursing (CAHN-ACHN) invites applications for the Vera Roberts’ Endowment (VRE).
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
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
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.
PRICE IS REDUCED IF REGISTERING FOR CAHN BEFORE MAY 1/22 https://web4.uottawa.ca/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10153&catalogId=10153&productId=164072
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