Sous-fonds 1.1 - Toronto General Hospital School of Nursing sous-fonds

Title and statement of responsibility area

Title proper

Toronto General Hospital School of Nursing sous-fonds

General material designation

  • Textual record
  • Graphic material

Parallel title

Other title information

Title statements of responsibility

Title notes

  • Source of title proper: Title is based on contents of sous-fonds.

Level of description

Sous-fonds

Reference code

CA ON00343 RG 1-TH 1-1.1

Edition area

Edition statement

Edition statement of responsibility

Class of material specific details area

Statement of scale (cartographic)

Statement of projection (cartographic)

Statement of coordinates (cartographic)

Statement of scale (architectural)

Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)

Dates of creation area

Date(s)

  • 1881-1977 (Creation)
    Creator
    Toronto General Hospital. School of Nursing

Physical description area

Physical description

3.5 m of textual records.
ca. 200 photographs.

Publisher's series area

Title proper of publisher's series

Parallel titles of publisher's series

Other title information of publisher's series

Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series

Numbering within publisher's series

Note on publisher's series

Archival description area

Name of creator

(1881-1974)

Administrative history

The Toronto General Hospital Training School for Nurses, later also referred to as School for Nurses and School of Nursing, was established in April 1881 and formally dissolved in August 1974.

The Training School for Nurses at the TGH was established in April 1881 at the instigation of the TGH Lady Superintendent Harriet Goldie and with the approval of the TGH Board of Trustees (granted March 21, 1881). The School’s initial enrolment was 17 students, but of these eight dropped out in the first seven months. The first graduating class (5 students) completed their program in March 1883. Initially, a panel of doctors examined graduating nurses orally; later, formal written examinations were instituted.

Miss Goldie retired in 1883 and was briefly succeeded as TGH Lady Superintendent and Superintendent of the Training School by Eliza Storrie Fulford, and then in March 1884 by Lucy Pickett. When Miss Pickett resigned in late 1884, Mary Agnes Snively was appointed in her place.

The first nurses’ residence was opened in 1887 and in 1896 the education programme was increased from two to three years. In 1905 Miss Snively’s dual role as Lady Superintendent and Superintendent of the Training School was divided, allowing her to concentrate on administering the School.

In 1907 the first arrangement of inter-institutional affiliation for the purposes of providing student nurses with specialized training was established between the TGH Training School for Nurses and the Hospital for Sick Children (TGH students received instruction and experience in obstetrical and medical nursing).

Miss Snively resigned in 1909 and in 1910 Robina L. Stewart was appointed as Superintendent of the Training School. Miss Stewart resigned in August 1913 and was succeeded in September 1913 by Jean I. Gunn.

In 1921 the education program in place at the Training School encompassed 630 hours of instruction:

Anatomy and Physiology, 90; Chemistry, 32; Bacteriology and pathology, 16; Hygiene, 12; Dietetics, 22; Materia Medica, 48; Bandaging, 20; Massage, 12; General and Medical Diseases, 36; Surgical and Gynaecological Diseases, 36; Obstetrics, 24; Pediatrics, 14; Communicable Diseases, 10; Nervous and Mental Diseases, 8; Diseases of Special senses, 7; Nursing procedures and Theory, 172; Ethics and History of Nursing, 28; Public Health and Social Services, 43 (“History of the School for Nurses” 1931, p. 39. TH 1.1.9.2).

In the 1920s and 1930s the School began admitting affiliated students from other schools of nursing: in 1928 students from the Wellesley Hospital School of Nursing for experience in medical nursing; in 1931 students from the Ontario Hospital for Mental Diseases at Whitby for surgical, medical and obstetrical nursing; and also in 1931 students from Riverdale Hospital in Toronto for experience in emergency nursing service. (Ibid. p. 46)

By 1931, its 50th anniversary, the School had graduated 1,867 nurses.

Jean Gunn retired in 1941 and in 1942 Mary Macfarland was appointed Superintendent of Nurses and Director of the School. In 1950 the name of the school was changed to the TGH School of Nursing and Miss Macfarland was designated Director of Nursing (in charge of both the Department of Nursing and the School of Nursing) assisted by an Assistant Director of Nursing Education and an Assistant Director of Nursing Services.

In 1956 the education program was fundamentally changed, from three years of instruction to two years’ instruction plus a one-year internship for professional experience.

Miss Macfarland retired in 1960 and was succeeded as Director of Nursing by Jean Dodds. In 1968 the curriculum was again changed: the third, internship year was dropped, leaving a two-year academic program In 1970 Jean Dodds retired and was replaced as Director of Nursing by Patricia Stanojevic. In 1974 the TGH School of Nursing ceased to function as an independent institution as a consequence of the transfer of diploma nursing education in Ontario from hospital schools of nursing to the community college system The TGH School of Nursing was subsumed as a campus of the George Brown College School of Nursing.

Custodial history

Scope and content

Sous-fonds consists of applications for admission; student records; Director’s reports and correspondence; registers, day books and procedures manuals; materials relating to the Student Nurses’ Association and to ceremonies and special events connected with the School; education program files and photographs created and maintained by the TGH School of Nursing and subsequently maintained by the TTH Nursing Education and Research Department. Sous-fonds includes 13 series:

1.1.1 Applications for admission
1.1.2 Student records
1.1.3 Director’s reports
1.1.4 Director’s correspondence
1.1.5 Registers
1.1.6 Day books
1.1.7 Procedures manual
1.1.8 Student Nurses’ Association
1.1.9 Ceremonies and special events
1.1.10 Education program
1.1.11 Photographs
1.1.12 Student yearbooks
1.1.13 Permanent Record Books

Notes area

Physical condition

Immediate source of acquisition

Records in this sous-fonds were transferred to the Archives at various times; see series-level descriptions for details.

Arrangement

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

    Location of originals

    Availability of other formats

    Restrictions on access

    Some files are restricted for 120 years from date of creation to ensure compliance with Ontario’s Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004 (PHIPA). In cases where the individual has died, if earlier than the 120 year restriction, the restriction period is for 50 years from proven date of death. To request access to restricted items, please submit an application to UHN’s Research Ethics Board using the appropriate online forms and procedures. Please see series and sub-series descriptions and file lists for further details.

    Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication

    Finding aids

    Associated materials

    Related materials

    Accruals

    Alternative identifier(s)

    Standard number

    Standard number

    Access points

    Place access points

    Name access points

    Genre access points

    Control area

    Description record identifier

    Institution identifier

    University Health Network Archives

    Rules or conventions

    Status

    Final

    Level of detail

    Full

    Dates of creation, revision and deletion

    Added to Archeion May 29, 2014. Last updated: August 19, 2014.

    Language of description

    • English

    Script of description

      Sources

      Accession area