EARLY STALWARTS IN NURSING CARE IN BARBADOS
By, Sylvan Spooner
NURSE THELMA HAMBLIN
Born in 1915, Thelma Hamblin was educated
at the St. Michael Girls School. After completing her exams, she joined the
staff at the Barbados General Hospital on April 1st 1936. Hers was no foolhardy
decision, although a few days later she was ‘shocked’ and her resolved tested
when she caught glimpse of a cadaver for the first time in that hospital’s
mortuary.[1]
Shocked, but unperturbed, she continued on her path of care and service. Thelma
had found her calling in caring.
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| Nurse Hamblin |
In 1963, well into her career, she
travelled to London’s Royal College for a ward sister’s course and visited
numerous hospitals. While in London, she visited the 750-bed Aldershey Children’s
Hospital at Liverpool and gained important insights into child care. Subsequent
to her return home, she sought to implement many of those best practices she
observed while in England.
Having spent the first 13 years of her
career in adult nursing, in 1949 she was assigned to the pediatric ward of the
General Hospital.[2] Altruistic
to a fault, one of her fondest memories was an incident in 1961 when she
successfully nursed a child, stricken with meningitis, back to health. By 1966
she was resident Sister at ward C7 providing care for 30 pediatric patients. Hers
was a long career and the Gazette of 1969 listed her as still on the register
of nurses and midwives.[3]
AURORA WALTERS
Another early beacon was Miss Aurora
Editha Walters. She was the first Public Health Nurse at the Speightstown Health
Center upon its opening in 1953. To prepare for this appointment she underwent
training at the Public Health Training Center in Jamaica and then a 4 month
stint in Trinidad as part of a BCG training campaign at the Caribbean Medical
Center. Constraints on space do not permit an elaboration on the work performed
by Miss Walters but by 1953/4 she had risen to the post of Senior Public Health
Officer with responsibility for the parishes of St. Lucy, St. Peter, St. James,
St. Andrew, St. Thomas and St. Joseph.
By 1966 she was supervisor of public
health nurses and travelling extensively throughout the Caribbean as one of Barbados’
representatives for nursing.[4]
Even though by then in the twilight of her career, she continued to express the
need to promote public health awareness. In 1966, she was awarded the British
Empire Medal for meritorious service[5]
and later, in 1984, the Silver Crown of Merit.
GRACE BAYLEY
Miss Grace Adina Bayley was yet another
care giver who made great contributions to the local and Caribbean nursing
fraternity. Born on Trinidad on June 19th 1915, she entered the
profession at an early age and by 1940 she was serving as a Staff Nurse at the
Port of Spain VD Clinic; a position she held from 1940 to 1944.[6]
Excelling in that position, she was promoted to Sister in charge of the
island’s southern division responsible for venereal disease and she held this
position from late 1944 until 1949.
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| Nurse Bayley. Painting by Karl Broodhagen (1967) |
In 1955, Miss Bayley was promoted to the post of Assistant
Matron at the St. Ann’s Mental Hospital and continued in the position until
1959 when she was offered and accepted the post of Matron of the Mental
Hospital at Black Rock in Barbados.[7]
At the Mental Hospital she was considered to be the ultimate professional with
a focus on quality and she immersed herself completely in her new role. Such
was the respect with she commanded that according to one nurse 'whenever she
passed through everyone used to be at attention because she had that kind of
control’.
Ms.Hamblin, Ms.Walters and Ms. Bayley are
but three nurses out of many who gave yeoman service to the health services to
1975. The work of many others has gone undocumented but importantly not
unappreciated.
[1]Cyralene
Fields. ‘An Unsung Heroine in the Wards, Barbados Advocate, Jan 2nt 1966, p3.
[2] Ibid, 3.
[3] Official
Gazette, Bridgetown 23th
January 1969, p83,
[4]
“New back with new ideas” Barbados Advocate, Oct 4th 1964 p29.
