Grace General Hospital - Our Days of Grace Yearbook (Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada)

Page 12 text:

Sincere congratulations to the Class of 1964 in the passing of an important milestone. Your Instructors have guided you in seeking answers to the problems of nursing today. Yours is the challenge to ans¬ wer the questions which have not yet been asked. Continue, then, in your active search for knowledge; accept the best of new ideas, or, perhaps, develop your own. If you do this with the enthusiasm and discern¬ ment which you have shown in the past, we can be assured that you will serve your pro¬ fession faithfully, and will bring honor and credit to your school. Director-Inservice Education My Congratulations to each one of you as you graduate. The world now opens before you, and my hope is that you may find the work that God has set apart — for you — and for you alone to do. As you strive to fulfill your des¬ tiny, let the “Idealist” in you reach for the stars; and let the “Realist” in you keep you steady through the joy and sorrow that is life. John Townsend Trowbridge has said: “Not in rewards, but in the strength to strive, The blessing lies.” May God be with you and Bless you. Director of Nursing Education. • -»g 1 Page 10

Page 11 text:

I extend to you all my sincere congratulations. As you leave Grace Hospital School of Nursing and work with other nurses in the care of the sick, may you ever remember that first consideration should always be given to the safety and welfare of your patients, whose life and happiness has been entrusted to your keeping. Associate Director Nursing Service President, Medical Staff

Page 13 text:

If I Hod Known The other day a group of seniors stood watching some of the new probies go by. As the usual chorus of “poor kids,” “boy, if they only knew . . etc., died away, someone commented: “What gets me is the big smiles of anticipation they all wear. If they only knew what they were getting into, they would quit right now. If I had known, I would have”. I wonder! If I had known — that I would study harder than I ever had before; that I would wear hard starched collars and oxfords until my neck and my feet were both well-calloused; that I would come in promptly at 10:00 or 11:30 every night (or nearly so) for a year; that I would walk into church late so often I would almost get used to it; that I would leave parties and concerts early, but never get used to that; that I would have seven different roommates; that I would not get home as often as I would like; that all my friends would be getting engaged and married while I retained my “single blessedness . . .” If I had known that I would meet so much that was new and interesting; that study was so easy; that I would be proud of my uniform; that I would be so busy that I would go with less sleep all the time and feel fine; tnat I would make so many new friends inside and outside the hospital that I would hardly miss my old ones; that I would catch a very nr» e boy friend. I would have missed if I had stayed at home; that I would kill myself laughing at our unprintable jokes and the tricks played on patients, internes and each other . . . If I had known that I would work nights on half my usual quota of sleep (and stay awake); that I would work overtime without any pay more often than not; that I would spend more time in the operating theatre cleaning than assisting doctors to save lives; that I would clean up a nauseating sight and then go to dinner; that I would stand help¬ less while a strong man wept in pain; that I would see the Dark Angel come for the life of a little child and repeat with tears the question to which not even Job got a direct answer . . . “Why, O Lord, why?” . . . If I had known that I would thrill at being left in charge of a ward of sick people throughout the dark night; that I would actually help in saving a life; that I would have fun cleaning in the operating room; that I would see the ecstasy of a mother with her new born babe; that I would cherish a crude drawing in a childish design because of the little girl it recalls; that I would see a young man return from the jaws of death . . . If I had known that this would grow on me till the very thought of leaving made me shudder . . .! For that, too, there is an answer, and it is, I think, best expressed by the one who wrote: “I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.” And the reply: “Go into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God, That shall be to you better than lignt, and safer than the known way.” If I had known . . .? If you had known, would you have started? Page 11