UCC SONM 25 Year Book

UCC / School of Nursing and Midwifery

St Finbarr’s Hospital The history of nursing and midwifery education at St. Finbarr’s Hospital Cork goes back to the establishment of the Cork Workhouse in 1854 and is detailed in many reports and texts including A Tale of Two Hospitals (Browne, 1988).

St. Finbarr’s Hospital

The origins of nurse training at the Cork Workhouse stemmed from the initiatives of certain members of the Mercy Order. In 1871, Sr. Cecelia Leahy and seven of her colleagues were appointed by the Board of Guardians of the Workhouse to take charge of the then called Fever Hospital. Recognising the need for specialized care required by these patients, Sr. Leahy commenced the training of Religious Sisters in Fever Nursing. In 1919 The GNC approved the first School of Nursing in the District Hospital (previously called the Workhouse) and the School in St. Finbarr’s was established in 1925 (the Mercy Hospital at that time only trained Mercy Sisters). In 1928, the first students of the Fever Hospital graduated as Registered nurses. Education progressed under Sr. Cecelia’s guidance and Sisters of Mercy were trained in close association with lay persons. The title of the hospital changed to St. Finbarr’s in 1950 and services expanded. A nurse’s home was built to allow students to live near the hospital for the duration of their training. The training was based on the apprenticeship model. The School enrolled probationers entirely free of entrance fees which was widely welcomed at a time when young Irish girls had previously been forced for financial reasons to go abroad for training. The School continued and evolved as curricula were informed by requirements from An Bord Altranais and as services developed within the hospital. St. Finbarr’s hospital developed to incorporate medical and surgical specialist services and included children, maternity services and an emergency department. Students had considerable experience under the supervision of the trained nursing staff and clinical teachers from 1974 onwards. As time passed medical treatments evolved and new

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