Long hours, a culture of smoking and great camaraderie: nurses remember their time on the ward in the 40s – Stuff.co.nz

Long hours, a culture of smoking and great camaraderie with fellow nurses is how two retired nurses remember their days donning starched white caps during World War II.

Nurses are now on the front line of a pandemic but more than 70 years ago nurses saw men off to war and held down the fort in New Zealand.

Daphne Crampton, 95 and Betty Rodda, 96 are residents at Nelsons Whareama Rest Home and both sport pins awarded to them by Oceania Healthcare in recognition of their former nursing years and to commemorate last years International Year of the Nurse.

Crampton entered nursing in 1945, beginning her career as a psychiatric nurse at Nelsons Ngawhatu Psychiatric Hospital where she learned the ropes of nursing and cared for residents until 1950.

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Back then they used ECT (electroconvulsive therapy) which seemed to be effective. They had minimal drugs for therapy.

She hadnt intended to be a nurse but when one of her friends became a lady of the lamp, she thought, if she can do it, so can I.

In those days, training was done on the job.

Nurses lived on-site in a nurses home, and when she wasnt training, she said she was taking care of patients, cooking meals or polishing the floors.

There were limited staff prompting long hours.

Sometimes it would be 13 days before we had a day off.

Martin De Ruyter/Stuff

Retired nurse Daphne Crampton, 95 was presented with a medal by Oceania Healthcare in recognition of her nursing career and ain celebration of 2020s International Year of the Nurse.

Another stark contrast was how common smoking was, and how it was used as a tool at the hospital.

We used to smoke ... and roll our own. We used to reward residents with a cigarette.

A prized smoke was awarded to those who were nice, she said.

NELSON PROVINCIAL MUSEUM COLLECE

One of the many villas at Ngawhatu Psychiatric Hospital where Crampton began her nursing career in 1945.

Betty Rodda, had similar experiences, bonding with workmates over a cigarette.

She said it was in her early years of nursing that she learned how to smoke.

Wed come off duty, flop down in the lounge, light a cigarette ... and sit and yarn about your days jobs.

Originally from Invercargill, Rodda had every intention of being a nurse due to her interests in such topics as biology, anatomy and dietetics, leading her to begin her career at Christchurchs Burwood Hospital, formerly a nurse aide training school.

Martin De Ruyter/Stuff

Retired nurse Betty Rodda spent most of her nursing career as a general nurse caring for everyone from babies to the elderly.

She said she remembered her father being impressed by the uniform at her graduation.

A navy and red cape was worn only when off duty, you never wore it on the ward.

And she said the nurses starched their own caps because the laundry made them too floppy.

They were extremely unclean, she said.

Robyn Edie/Stuff

The Nurses Home at Southland Hospital, formerly Kew Hospital, where Rodda would break curfew and climb through a window late at night after going dancing with friends.

They thought they kept the bugs in our hair from falling on the patients but when they ... ran a swab around them, they found they were filthy.

Rodda became a general nurse, a more senior role than a nurse aide, and spent most of her nursing career back in her home town at Kew Hospital, now Southland Hospital.

She said she made the decision to move back to Invercargill as the rules seemed very strict in Christchurch hospitals but the rules werent much looser down south.

We had a lot of fun climbing in windows, breaking the rules; they had such awful rules.

Rodda said she would be out dancing late into the night with her nursing friends. We used to dance a lot.

Their curfew was 10pm, she said, and they were only allowed to stay out until 10.30pm once a fortnight.

You had to go and ask permission for the 10.30pm curfew; ridiculous.

Being a nurse meant looking after everyone from babies to the ageing.

supplied/Nelson Mail

A portrait of Betty Rodda, painted by her father who was impressed by the smart uniform at her graduation.

And procedures back then were very different.

We had all the old people lying in bed, we didnt let them get up; we didn't have enough staff. Theyd have to stay in bed and youd just roll them and change them.

She said nurses would rub the patients backs with a skin hardening lotion, nowadays they rub in softeners.

But despite everything, she said the companionship of the nurses was her fondest memory.

There were too few of us, they were too strict, we worked too hard it was great though, it was a great life, great livelihood and a lot of fun.

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Long hours, a culture of smoking and great camaraderie: nurses remember their time on the ward in the 40s - Stuff.co.nz