Oral Histories of the Alexian Brothers Hospital. Professor Curry College Milton, MA

Transcription

1 Oral Histories of the Alexian Brothers Hospital S h l off N School Nursing i G Graduates d t Susan A A. LaRocco PhD, PhD RN RN, MBA Professor Curry College Milton, MA 1

2 A monastic order founded in Germany during the 14th century A nursing g order caring g for the diseased,, the insane, and the rejected poor Expanded in Germany and to Belgium 2

3 Large German population in Chicago An American congregation founded in Chicago in 1866 First Alexian hospital in U. S. established the same year restricted to care of men and boys ((in 1962 a 25 bed female ward opened) p ) 3

4 1894 annual series of 24 two hour lectures by physicians 1898 Alexian Brothers Hospital School of Nursing incorporated Fifth all male school in the US Two year program T Opened to male religious and lay students 4

5 1901 lay students excluded 1925 accredited by the state of Illinois (second school in state to receive accreditation) 1927 a few lay students admitted 1935 only professed brothers matriculated 5

6 Photo Credit: Diaconian,, The Yearbook of the Alexian Brothers Hospital School of Nursing 6

7 1939 affiliation with DePaul University; three year program; lay students admitted 1941 lay students draft eligible conscientious objectors worked at the hospital; some became nurses 1952 National League for Nursing (NLN) accreditation 7

8 Decrease in vocations Financial deficits Changes in the educational environment Declining enrollment; men admitted into other nursing programs Students not used as manpower for the hospital; away on affiliations 8

9 1966 decision to close the school 1966 hospital closes in Chicago; new hospital opens in suburbs 1969 last class graduates (21 nurses) Total number of graduates 779 Photo Credit: Alexian Brothers Provincial Archives 9

10 y A 1966 Study Anesthesia Administration Armed Forces H d and Head d staff t ff nurses Industrial and psych nursing Clinical instructors Surgical nursing Other 42.1% 24.3% 21.7% 18 4% 18.4% 12.5% 5 9% 5.9% 5.9% 1.9% 10

11 a research tradition that records an individual ss account of events that individual he or she experienced; these recollections are placed into a social and cultural context 11

12 Advantages adds life to historical facts Disadvantages reliance on an individual s memory may be influenced by a desire to enhance one s image 12

13 Interviews were conducted in person usually in the participants homes Interviews conducted between 2005 and 2009 Audio-recorded, transcribed, and reviewed by the participants for accuracy MaxQDA used for data management 13

14 23 men were interviewed Graduated between 1952 and 1969 Age at matriculation ranged from 17 to 27 2 were religious brothers (one of these later left the Brothers) 21 were lay students (one of these later became a Brother) 14

15 8 came directly from high school 7 were in the military prior to entering 12 became b Certified C tifi d RN Anesthetists A th ti t 15

16 Low cost of education Influence of family member who was a nurse Desire to be a nurse anesthetist Exposure to hospital work 16

17 The total cost for three years of nursing, including room and board, books, tuition, uniforms the whole kit and caboodle was $375 and I got a scholarship that paid $200 of that so my total nursing cost, outside of blood, sweat, and tears, was about $175. Gene (Class of 1959) 17

18 Gene Tranbarger Class of 1959 First man elected president of the Illinois State Student Nurses Association Photo Credit: Diaconian, The Yearbook of the Alexian Brothers Hospital School of Nursing 18

19 He said well how would you plan on paying for your education. Well, I ll tell you what, Brother, right g now I ve g got about maybe y 10 bucks but I ll tell you what I would do. After I graduate from high school, I d like to come here to the hospital and work as a patient care attendant and I said I will work my way through the school cause I would really want to go there. there Vince (Class of 1959) 19

20 In August we got a letter everybody in my class got a letter from Brother Vulgan, the Registrar at the School School, informing us that the tuition for the three years had been increased from $900 to $1,100; the Brothers had an arrangement, sort of a scholarship type thing, where if you agreed to stay on as a graduate one year after graduation your whole tuition was waived. Tom O M (Class of 1964) 20

21 My father actually graduated from the Alexian Brothers School of Nursing in St. Louis in 1934 and my mother was also a nurse; I worked in a factory for a year where my father was the industrial nurse and got to see a little bit of what he did on the job. I enjoyed watching what his work entailed. Tom C (Class of 1962) 21

22 My father father ss sister was an Army Nurse in World War II and she influenced my oldest sister and my oldest brother, brother both of whom are nurses. My oldest brother preceded me at Alexian Brothers by 10 years; he went to ABH School of Nursing specifically to become a nurse anesthetist. anesthetist Steve (Class of 1968) 22

23 If my brother [class of 1961] had never gone to nursing school, neither would I have chosen nursing as a profession. Wayne (Class of 1962) 23

24 I wentt through th h x-ray school h l with ith the th Air Ai Force and I became interested in anesthesia th i when h I was stationed t ti d iin Greenland for a year. I used to go in [to th OR] when the h they th did orthopedic th di cases to take x-rays and I was always i t interested t d iin what h t he h [th [the anesthesiologist] was doing J (Class Joe (Cl off 1961) 24

25 Joe Morin Class of 1961 Administered anesthesia in a rural hospital in Maine for 30 years y Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Nurse Corps Photo Credit: Diaconian Diaconian, The Yearbook of the Alexian Brothers Hospital School of Nursing 25

26 I was working State ki att Rochester R h t St t Hospital H it l as an orderly and they had me work on th surgery unit. the it They Th h had d a school h l off anesthesia there. We were able to stay att a men s dorm, d and d two t students t d t in i their anesthesia school also stayed there and d I gott tto know k them th and d jjustt gott interested in anesthesia then. J Jerry (Cl (Class off 1963) 26

27 J y Pierce Jerry Class 0f 1963 Fall 2009 Estimates that he has done 35,000 anesthesia cases. Never got tired of it. Never wanted to do anything else. Photo Credit: Author s Files 27

28 So S that s th t the th reason that th t I wentt into i t nursing, really, was to be an anesthetist. O t off my class Out l I think thi k there th were close l to 18 of us who were all going in for anesthesia. th i Jim C (Class of 1961) 28

29 Joe in J showed h d me all ll the th procedures d i about b t the th two weeks he had me and he showed me sterile technique catheters how to catheterize technique, catheterize. Along the line then I picked up a lot from the nurses there so that I was doing g most everything, y g doing g preps for surgery and giving enemas; the nurse would look over my shoulder it was a duty nurse and d she h said id JJack, k she h said, id you re really ll good at that. You ought to be a nurse. Jack (Class of 1958) 29

30 My experience was great M Navy N i t I decided that if I signed up for three years I could ld choose h what h t field fi ld I wanted t d to t work k in, so after boot camp I went to [Medical] C Corps S School, h l and d after ft th thatt I wentt to t Operating Room Technician School. M l (Cl Merle (Class off 1955) 30

31 When I was in high school I was working i the in h h hospital i l as an orderly d l and d all ll off a sudden I realized that the hospital was sort off a magical i l place. l Mike K (Class of 1961) 31

32 I don t really recall a lot of the process except that I did contact or apply to every school of nursing in the state of Wisconsin. And, of course, I was turned down by every school in the state of Wisconsin and you know the obvious reason. I was a male and was not accepted; there wasn t a school in the state that accepted men at that t time. So we knew that t that t option was closed. Roger (Class of 1959) 32

33 I couldn t get into the program in Sioux Ci (that City ( h was my home h town), ) - that h jjust threw em for a loop that a male had applied li d to go into i nursing i John P (Class of 1963) 33

34 I did apply at 2 or 3 other schools and i interestingly i l enough h never h heard db back k from them one way or the other. Mike R (Class of 1969) 34

35 so I was att the in th library lib i Rochester, R h t Minnesota Mi t asking if she had any listings of schools of nursing in Minnesota and if she knew if there was any way you could find out if they took male students or not Well, Brother Wendolyn, who was a physical therapist at Alexian Brothers Hospital in Chicago happened to be sitting at the table right next to us and overheard this question. He interrupted and said, excuse me, I m B th W Brother Wendolyn d l ffrom Chi Chicago, Illi Illinois i and d I I m att th the Alexian Brothers Hospital and they do have a school that s just for men. Jerry (Class of 1963) 35

36 I was working and ki att night i ht part-time t ti d att a golf course mowing grass and one day my mother th was reading di an article ti l iin one off the Catholic magazines about the Alexian B th Brothers Nursing N i School S h l and d you could ld go there for like $900 for 3 years and I said, well ll I think thi k I could ld handle h dl th that. t Roy (Class of 1963) 36

37 Sister the Si t Serephine, S hi th cousin i I referred f d to, t was a very brilliant woman and she had a l t off networking lot t ki and d I ttold ld her h what h ti wanted to do and then, of course, Sister k knew off the th Al Alexian i B Brothers th Patrick (Class of 1962) 37

38 I was a member of the Brothers of Mercy and that was a Nursing Order that took care of the sick and the poor and one thing led to another and my Provincial called me in and said we re going to send you to Nursing School. John (Class of 1966) [left the Brothers several years after graduation ] 38

39 Brother Daniel was Director of the School of Nursing when he interviewed the four of us. I remember distinctly asking him, When you say do you want to go into nursing school, do you mean do you want to go into nursing school or something else? And he said, I mean do you want to go into nursing school, period. So that s why I say, I think they decided that I should go into nursing. Brother Maurice (Class of 1952) [Director of the school from 1954 to 1969] 39

40 B th M i Wil ffi iin 1955 Brother Maurice Wilson (Cl (Class off 1952) iin hi his office Appointed Director of the School and Director of Nursing for the Hospital 1954 Photo Credit: Alexian Brothers Provincial Archives 40

41 My desire was to be a pediatrician and I had a scholarship lined up for medical school but had to get through college on my own and discovered that, even though I went to a rather inexpensive college, at the end of one year I knew that I couldn t afford four years of college. Gene (Class of 1959) 41

42 Gene Tranbarger (left) receiving recognition as the outgoing president of AAMN Fall 2005 Other Recognition includes: Fellow, American Academy of Nursing (FAAN) ANA Luther Christman Award AAMN Luther Christman Award AAMN Member of the Year Photo Credit: Author s Files 42

43 When I graduated [from nursing school] I went to college. I was actually in pre med I thought I was going to go to medical school and this family doctor of mine that got me interested in nursing school to begin with had told me when I was finishing nursing school that if I get into medical school he would pay my medical school tuition. Then while I was at college, he died. Jim H. (Class of 1961) 43

44 Before I went into anesthesia, anesthesia I took a three year course in shock trauma at Northwestern University and I had a group of anesthesiologists that told me if I would go to medical school and promise to come back and work with their group they would pay for my education. education Patrick (Class of 1962) 44

45 Patrick Downey Class of 1962 President of American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) Agatha Hodgins Award for Outstanding Accomplishment 2007 Ira P. Gunn Award for Outstanding g Professional Advocacy y Photo courtesy of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists Archives 45

46 The participants p who shared their stories and photographs with me Alexian Brothers Provincial Archives Donna Dahl, archivist American Association of Nurse Anesthetists Archives Kathy Koch, archivist-librarian Curry College My husband, Edward Quigley, for his many years of support 46