Mercy School of Nursing - Mercilite Yearbook (Charlotte, NC)

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CLASS HistoR September 4, l9521 THE BEGINNING . . . The beginning for thirty-two high school graduates of a new and very different world, a life selected by each one of us, a life with the glorious promise of a career that would benefit mankind and redound with glory to God. For nine full months our activities confined them- selves primarily to the realm of books. Then, gradually at first, we were allowed to put our book-nursing into actual practice. Quickly we discovered that the old saying, Experience is the best teacher, was all too true, but experience and book-learning combined brought us nearer to the ideal, and we found ourselves making definite progress. Of course, the Poor Little Probie has for years made a name for herself, and it was not our intention to disappoint our upperclassmen. Wide-eyed with innocence, we asked the traditional questions expected of us, and we learned by doing. Then came the reward for nine months of work, OUR CAPS . . . OUR CROWNS. Tears of joy were shed by us, and the months preluding this great event seemed well worth the going through. Congratulations descended upon us - and why not? I-ladn't we worked long and tirelessly for the reward? The Nursing Profession seemed more desirable than ever, and with new vim we proceeded on our way. May I6, l953: ANOTHER BEGINNING . . . The beginning this time of a new road, a wider road and, if possible, a more interesting one, since it was destined to bring us even nearer to the goal. Our numbers were depleted, of course, but that circumstance took nothing at all from our zest. With even greater enthusiasm we decided to proceed, to scale the heights beyond us and above. Our hearts were fairly bursting with an honest pride, More responsibilities followed, and we accepted them with sincere eagerness. The classroom still held its place of honor in our perspective, but the perspective itself had widened: now the hospital and our patients played a major roll in our lives, the bedside was even more important than the desk. Prom May to September we were called Freshmen lThe term did not connote in this instance the crispness of our uniforms and our fresh general appearance, but it would have been equally applicable in this case . . .l In September we advanced again, this time to Junior. It was then, happy and all as we were, that the road seemed longer than ever, that upper grade more unattainable. It was as though time, itself, stood still while we welcomed a new class and bade farewell to the old. Gladly and happily, but with some under- standable perturbation, we began and continued the round of departments: Operating Room, Obstetrics, Diet Kitchen. All the phases of nursing and all of its fields we discovered to be endless, and our discovery made us only more delighted with the profession we had chosen, There was so very much to learn-and we were learning! Y I8 August 2l, I954: Again a BEGINNING . . . the beginning of our Senior year. As we donned our cherished blue bands, we looked back with amazement: Where had those two years gone to, anyway? Of one thing we were certain: Time flies . . . There were more depart- ments for us to explore. For three months we were away from Mercy for specialized training. We were engaged in the complexities of learning Psychiatry, and our outlook on life was broadened more than ever and our love for the Nursing field became deeper. Pediatrics, the study of children and the diseases peculiar to them, came next. lt was in this field that we realized how much we had matured since high school. Working with children had brought out in us latent mother instincts. We began to appreciate our status in the world, not only as nurses but as women also. At the conclusion of the round of departments we suddenly realized how close to graduation we were, and we worked even harder to prepare ourselves for the State Board Examinations. Our education had been thus far a well-rounded one, and we began to look back on our days as a Probie to recall the exacting techni- calities of our studies. For three years our days were full, indeed. Even our dreams at night began to be filled with symbols of our profession: medicine glasses, the cap and gown of the O.R., hypodermic syringes, charts, heat lamps, needles, sutures, forceps, I. V.'s, dressings. The list was endless but permanently engraved in our memories, never-no matter where our individual lives called us-to be forgotten. August 5, l955: Another BEGINNING, a beginning that was, in some respects anyway, also an END: the beginning of our lives as Graduate Nurses, the ending of our three year's training in Nursing School. We were to be graduates of a school of which we were justly proud: the Mercy Hospital School of Nursing, Charlotte, N. C. That we will reflect credit on our Alma Mater is one of our aims. We will be graduate nurses of Mercy Hospital, but we will be more. True to our training, we will be content with nothing short of perfection in our work, A man's reach must exceed his grasp, or what's the Heaven's for? As we bid Mercy a fond farewell, we thank her most sincerely for her gentleness, for her thorough training, for her high ideals, and for care of us during these three most important years of our lives. We will exert ourselves to grow daily in knowledge and grace, to hold fast to our ideals, that we may at length attain the goal of our striving: the status of REGISTERED NURSE, an individual, who, according to Mercv's ideals, will reflect the characters of Christ and His Mother. JOAN BOWERS, Class Historian

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Most Popular Jo Allred Judy Collins Most Likely to Succeed Winono Torrence Best All-Around Nurse Phyllis Little Best Looking Best All-Around Joon Bowers Best Dressed Anne lngle

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LAST WILL We, the Senior Closs ot '55, of Mercy I-los- ARTICLE Ill: To the following pitcil School ot Nursing, Chcirlotte, North Corolino, being ot sone QI minds ond of the cidded occumulotion ot leorning incidentol to three yeors ot troining in Mercy Hospitol's School ot Nursing, do hereby bequeoth this, our lost Will ond Testoment ond moreover do civer thot oll such popers hitherto given from our hond be considered null ond void. Item I: To our supervisors ond foithful heod nurses, we leove o peocetul mind ond trouble-tree schedule. We bequeoth to our house moth- ers tond to those who love to sleep not occomponied by o rocketl o silent ond colm Nurses' Home. IAlos, how could it be otherwise without usll To Sister Emmonuel ond the Diet- Kitchen personnel we leove tor ci while onywoy, o menu chcirocter- ized by o smoll quontity of every- thing, since now the twenty-three possessors ot hole ond hecirty oppe- tites hove soid Adieu. To our ccipoble tciculty we leove the memory ot our shining morn- ing foces Cot 7:00 ci.m.l our sleep- less eyes, olso our surreptitious yowns. lYou'll never know when these might come in hondyll We leove our incubotor to Sister Gertrude, for onother closs cis tor- tunote cis we. To Sister Cormel we bequeoth our sincere grcititude tor storting us out on the right toot in Nursing Arts, of oll thingsl To Sister Jerome we give our thonks for her ettorts directed to- wcirds the getting out of this on- nuol ond olso for her mony boosts of encourogement. ARTICLE ll: To the uncIei'cInissmen To the Closs of l956 we sodly leove our Blue Bonds, nightly I2 o'clock permissions ond cill other privileges gronted to seniors. To the Closs of l957 we leove the spork of o greot school spirit. Moy it burst into ci flome thcit will il- luminote oll dorknessesl To oll ot those who follow us in the mony yeors to come we leove o wonderful school ond o most ccip- oble toculty. Moy you treosure your doys in trciining cis we hove. Item 2: Item 3: Item 4: Item 5: Item 6: Item 7: Item I: Item 2: Item 3: .n1..,.i Item Item Item Item Item Item Item Item Item Item Item Item Item Item Item Item Item I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 II I2 I3 'I4 I5 I6 I7 I, Dorlene Blockburn, will cind be- queoth my love of night duty to onyone who will tcike it in the hope thot I will never get it ogoin. I, Soro Corter, will my hoppy doys ond new experience ot Stcite, Ro- leigh, to oll those who follow me. I, Nono Torrence, will my glomor ond eye-oppeol in on OR. mosk to Shirley Moore. I, Greto Bellomy, will my obility to write love letters to the one ond only to Groce Shuttler. I, Joon Bowers, bequeoth my title of The Most Compused Girl on Compus to onyone who will grin ond becir it. I, Shirley Wright, will my smcilI oppetite to Joon Beck, hoping thot the excess odipose will help silence her creoking joints. I, Ruth Ncince, will my obility to ploy the piono, golf, tennis, ond dumb to Jody Wolker. I, Judy Collins, bequeoth my spe- ciol tolent to poce the hospitol hcills cit eighty-nine miles-per-hour to Peggy Dole. I, Lucille Smith, will my weekends ot Duke to Shirley Wendell. I, Sorci Mclver, will my shogging to onyone with o bosol metobolism rcite Ot plus 40. To Jeon Tribble I, Gwen Grohom, will my boyish bob. We, Jo ond Jeon Allred, will our quiet notures ond noiseless uke to the remoining Allred Sisters, so cis to keep those gifts in the tomily. I, Emily l-lowkins, will my lpono smile to Mory Ido Godwin. To Sister Mory Elizobeth I, Joonne Corey, will my obility to olwoys be in trouble. We, Joyce Blythe ond Mickie I-Iuitt, do will our gentle voices ond quiet monner to Cloro Kelley ond Sondy Coliendo. I, Jeon Riddle, do will my size 7 gloves to Chorlotte Pressley so thot she moy ossist in removing pock- ings. I, Ruth Hcirris, will my obility to get ploces on time to Jody Wolker. Given from our hand this day of January, 7955, VO. The Senior Closs per JOAN BOWERS