VPRS 16825 Pupil Nurses' Registers, Ward Reports

This series consists of Pupil Nurses' Registers also known as Ward Reports. The registers record the details of nurses undertaking training and their progress on the job.Entries are made on a double folio with a header on the first page which includes full name; date of entry to the hospital and date of leaving or completing training; whether certificate was attained and appointment or destination upon completion of training. Three columns below (continued on the second folio) record the date and by whom the report is made, the Ward in which the nurse was employed, and the report itself. Reports were made by various Sisters under whose supervision the nurse found themselves during training.The Lady Superintendant (formerly called the Matron) made the final (summary) report on each nurse (the initials 'LS' indicates 'Lady Superintendant'). Volume dates indicate the date the nurse entered training.A number of entries also contain passport style photos. More research needed to ascertain the purpose of Volume 1A which overlaps with Volume 1. This volume is mostly empty. Volume 3 is the continuation of Volume 1.The Registers cover the period of Matrons Grace Wilson (1920-1922), Hilda Walsh (1922-1947) and Lucy de Neeve (1947-1962).The existence of ward reports such as those in this series prior to 1920 is subject to further research. Records post 1960 may be in the custody of the RCH - this is also subject to further research.Other training records for nurses in this series may be found in VPRS 16838 Nursing Staff Training Record Books. Attendance at lectures may be recorded in VPRS 16824 Nurses' Lecture Roll Books.Note re nurse training: Training initially took 3 years plus extra time for sick leave. From 1939, a 6 month stint at Royal Melbourne Hospital officially began which stretched some trainees' time out to 4 years if they had sick leave. Time off for sick leave had to be made up and consequently graduation may have taken place before a nurse actually had completed the required number of hours. Graduation appears to have depended only on whether exams had been completed. However, a graduate nurse could not register with the State Registration Board (and therefore be employed) until the requisite hours had been completed as well.If the summary indicates a nurse was 'certificated' this means the nurse had passed the requisite exams at the hospital, (but still may not have been registered at the Registration Board). Several 'schools' of nurses trained in any one year and usually graduated separately. However, separate intakes (ie schools) may have graduated together in some years.Prior to transfer to Public Record Office Victoria, the records in this series were maintained as part of the Royal Children's Hospital (RCH) Archives. They were part of RCH accession number 2007/004.