Patricia McKeown and Barbara Brown, not quite aged 70, met each other while training to be nurses 48 years ago and yesterday left their careers at Oamaru Hospital together.
About 50 people gathered in the hospital grounds to listen to speeches from both enrolled nurses which covered their journeys and what almost 100 years of collective experience meant.
While tears were few, laughs were many as they recounted their time staying at the nurses’ home while training when first embarking in their profession. Topics touched on were the fire escapes attached to their nurses’ home and how they were used by nurses to come back inside after a night out, the camaraderie built with colleagues at Oamaru Hospital, and also what it was like shifting from the old hospital on Devon Tce 16 years ago to the present site off Steward St.
Both became nurses after leaving secondary school.
Mrs McKeown attended Waitaki Girls’ High School and Mrs Brown attended Gore High School.
Mrs McKeown said her mother wanted her to have direction so she opted for nursing as a career, and Mrs Brown wanted a job where she could be practical and help others.
The choices for females were practically limited to nursing, teaching or secretarial work, and after that you were expected to get married and have children, she said.
Mrs McKeown said it was impossible to pinpoint a particular highlight or low moment that stood out during her nursing because she was flooded with memories. But the support she received from colleagues was important.
"I know they say you don’t take your personal problems to work, but if I didn’t I don’t think I would have got through."
Mrs Brown said the only reason she did not end up in Timaru Hospital was because staff there thought she would get homesick and so Oamaru took her.
One of her memories was of a patient who came in on a Christmas Eve after he injured himself baling hay.
"He lost his leg and had severe abdominal wounds. It was touch and go for many days and weeks, and he’s still alive today."
Both Mrs McKeown and Mrs Brown said that in their time, nursing had changed a lot, but did not go into detail, and they wished all current and future nurses the best.
Retirement plans for the duo included switching off alarms and taking time to smell the roses.
