A rich nursing history in Niagara

“I can safely say she is one of the best and kindest little nurses in the world. She has the true spirit of a nurse – self sacrificing, kind-hearted, good tempered and intelligent and anyone who secures her services will be well taken care of. I hope she will go on learning and improving every year.”

This note from a grateful patient was written more than 136 years ago about young nurse Annie Carline, one of the first five nursing graduates of the Mack Training School for Nurses which was founded alongside the
St. Catharines General nearly a century and a half ago. Mack was the first nursing school established in Canada and the first in North America to train nurses using the Florence Nightingale system.

The motto of the Mack Nursing School was “Video et taceo.” Translated, it means “I see and am silent” and is an enduring testament to the profession’s commitment to privacy, confidentiality and dignified treatment of patients.

Annie Carline became a head nurse at the General, and along with her Mack nursing colleagues, was called upon to train others to develop nursing schools in Detroit, Toronto and London.

It’s clear that a rich nursing history lives on in Niagara. I am proud to say that throughout our hospital system there have been and are many, many nurses like Annie and her fellow Mack nursing graduates.

Happy National Nursing Week 2010. «

Christine Clark, Chief Communications Officer