1 “I Was Working in the Hospital as an Orderly” Oral Histories of the Alexian Brothers Hospital...
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1 “I Was Working in the Hospital as an Orderly” Oral Histories of the Alexian Brothers Hospital School of Nursing Graduates Susan A. LaRocco PhD, RN, MBA Professor Curry College Milton, MA
1 “I Was Working in the Hospital as an Orderly” Oral Histories of the Alexian Brothers Hospital School of Nursing Graduates Susan A. LaRocco PhD, RN, MBA
1 I Was Working in the Hospital as an Orderly Oral Histories of
the Alexian Brothers Hospital School of Nursing Graduates Susan A.
LaRocco PhD, RN, MBA Professor Curry College Milton, MA
Slide 2
2 A monastic order founded in Germany during the 14 th century
A nursing order caring for the diseased, the insane, and the
rejected poor Expanded in Germany and to Belgium
Slide 3
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)
Slide 4
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 Opened to male religious and
lay students
Slide 5
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
Slide 6
6 Photo Credit: Diaconian, The Yearbook of the Alexian Brothers
Hospital School of Nursing
Slide 7
7 1939 affiliation with DePaul University; three year program;
lay students admitted 1941 lay students draft eligible 1942-1946
conscientious objectors worked at the hospital; some became nurses
1952 National League for Nursing (NLN) accreditation
Slide 8
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
Slide 9
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
Slide 10
10 A 1966 Study Anesthesia 42.1% Administration 24.3% Armed
Forces 21.7% Head and staff nurses18.4% Industrial and psych
nursing12.5% Clinical instructors 5.9% Surgical nursing 5.9% Other
1.9%
Slide 11
11 a research tradition that records an individuals account of
events that he or she experienced; these recollections are placed
into a social and cultural context
Slide 12
12 Advantages adds life to historical facts Disadvantages
reliance on an individuals memory may be influenced by a desire to
enhance ones image
Slide 13
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
Slide 14
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)
Slide 15
15 8 came directly from high school 7 were in the military
prior to entering 12 became Certified RN Anesthetists
Slide 16
16 Low cost of education Influence of family member who was a
nurse Desire to be a nurse anesthetist Exposure to hospital
work
Slide 17
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)
Slide 18
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
Slide 19
19 He said well how would you plan on paying for your
education. Well, Ill tell you what, Brother, right now Ive got
about maybe 10 bucks but Ill tell you what I would do. After I
graduate from high school, Id 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. Vince
(Class of 1959)
Slide 20
20 In August we got a lettereverybody in my class got a letter
from Brother Vulgan, the Registrar at the 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 OM (Class of
1964)
Slide 21
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)
Slide 22
22 My fathers sister was an Army Nurse in World War II and she
influenced my oldest sister and my oldest 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. Steve (Class of 1968)
Slide 23
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)
Slide 24
24 I went through x-ray school with the Air Force and I became
interested in anesthesia when I was stationed in Greenland for a
year. I used to go in [to the OR] when they did orthopedic cases to
take x-rays and I was always interested in what he [the
anesthesiologist] was doing Joe (Class of 1961)
Slide 25
25 Joe Morin Class of 1961 Administered anesthesia in a rural
hospital in Maine for 30 years Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Nurse
Corps Photo Credit: Diaconian, The Yearbook of the Alexian Brothers
Hospital School of Nursing
Slide 26
26 I was working at Rochester State Hospital as an orderly and
they had me work on the surgery unit. They had a school of
anesthesia there. We were able to stay at a mens dorm, and two
students in their anesthesia school also stayed there and I got to
know them and just got interested in anesthesia then. Jerry (Class
of 1963)
Slide 27
27 Jerry Pierce 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: Authors Files
Slide 28
28 So thats the reason that I went into nursing, really, was to
be an anesthetist. Out of my class I think there were close to 18
of us who were all going in for anesthesia. Jim C (Class of
1961)
Slide 29
29 Joe showed me all the procedures in about the two weeks he
had me and he showed me sterile technique, catheters how to
catheterize. Along the line then I picked up a lot from the nurses
there so that I was doing most everything, doing preps for surgery
and giving enemas; the nurse would look over my shoulder it was a
duty nurse and she said Jack, she said, youre really good at that.
You ought to be a nurse. Jack (Class of 1958)
Slide 30
30 My Navy experience was great I decided that if I signed up
for three years I could choose what field I wanted to work in, so
after boot camp I went to [Medical] Corps School, and after that I
went to Operating Room Technician School. Merle (Class of
1955)
Slide 31
31 When I was in high school I was working in the hospital as
an orderly and all of a sudden I realized that the hospital was
sort of a magical place. Mike K (Class of 1961)
Slide 32
32 I dont 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 wasnt a school in the state that
accepted men at that time. So we knew that that option was closed.
Roger (Class of 1959)
Slide 33
33 I couldnt get into the program in Sioux City (that was my
home town), - that just threw em for a loop that a male had applied
to go into nursing John P (Class of 1963)
Slide 34
34 I did apply at 2 or 3 other schools and interestingly enough
never heard back from them one way or the other . Mike R (Class of
1969)
Slide 35
35 so I was at the library in Rochester, Minnesota 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, Im Brother Wendolyn from
Chicago, Illinois and Im at the Alexian Brothers Hospital and they
do have a school thats just for men. Jerry (Class of 1963)
Slide 36
36 I was working at night part-time and at a golf course mowing
grass and one day my mother was reading an article in one of the
Catholic magazines about the Alexian Brothers Nursing School and
you could go there for like $900 for 3 years and I said, well I
think I could handle that. Roy (Class of 1963)
Slide 37
37 Sister Serephine, the cousin I referred to, was a very
brilliant woman and she had a lot of networking and I told her what
I wanted to do and then, of course, Sister knew of the Alexian
Brothers Patrick (Class of 1962)
Slide 38
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 were going
to send you to Nursing School. John (Class of 1966) [left the
Brothers several years after graduation ]
Slide 39
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 thats 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]
Slide 40
Brother Maurice Wilson (Class of 1952) in his office in 1955
Appointed Director of the School and Director of Nursing for the
Hospital 1954 Photo Credit: Alexian Brothers Provincial Archives
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Slide 41
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 couldnt afford four
years of college. Gene (Class of 1959)
Slide 42
42 Other Recognition includes: Fellow, American Academy of
Nursing (FAAN) ANA Luther Christman Award AAMN Luther Christman
Award AAMN Member of the Year Photo Credit: Authors Files Gene
Tranbarger (left) receiving recognition as the outgoing president
of AAMN Fall 2005
Slide 43
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)
Slide 44
44 Before I went into 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. Patrick (Class of 1962)
Slide 45
45 Patrick Downey Class of 1962 President of American
Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) 1983-84 1999 Agatha
Hodgins Award for Outstanding Accomplishment 2007 Ira P. Gunn Award
for Outstanding Professional Advocacy Photo courtesy of the
American Association of Nurse Anesthetists Archives
Slide 46
46 The participants 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