The committee of the Northern District School of Nursing Graduates Association is hosting a final reunion for anyone associated with the School of Nursing during the years of 1950-1989.
The Northern District School of Nursing opened at Bendigo in 1950 and was the only regional independent School of Nursing of its kind in the southern hemisphere.
There was a huge need for trained nurses in hospitals across the region as the nursing numbers were dwindling.
Post World War II was a critical period with soldiers returning with wounds and conditions not seen before and needing special treatment. Medicine and medical treatments were entering a new age, and this new age needed nurses with new skills.
There was a need to improve the status and prospects for nurses. Improved working and living conditions were needed; adequate remuneration and a career path to attract a better class of trainees, and a uniform training by means of a circular or block system.
This was the basis of the establishment of the Northern District School of Nursing which oversaw nurse training in hospitals across the northwest of Victoria, including Bendigo, Castlemaine, Kyneton, Maryborough, Mildura, Ouyen, St Arnaud, Swan Hill, Dunolly, Inglewood and Echuca.
The Northern District School of Nursing opened in 1950 and closed its doors in 1989 having overseen the training of more than 3000 nurses who are now scattered across Australia and the world.
Following the closure of the school, nurse training in the Loddon Mallee Region was initially transferred to the Bendigo College of Advanced Education and subsequently to La Trobe University and the school’s curriculum and methodology formed the basis of the modern-day education program.
Keen to ensure the camaraderie and friendships which formed and existed during the school’s life would not be lost, the Northern District School of Nursing Graduates Association was formed in 1975. The association has held extremely well-attended reunions every five years.
However, with the Association’s membership numbers decreasing, the committee of management has decided that the 2025 reunion will be the last and its affairs wound up.
The reunion, which is open to all students and staff members of the school, will be held on April 26 at the Red Energy Arena, Bendigo.
Attendance must be prepaid by March 21. Details are available from Jenny Trewartha on 0403 574 131 or jktrewartha@gmail.com
