Rex Hospital School of Nursing - Nightingale Yearbook (Raleigh, NC)

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Hirst gaculty xg A' 5 a f if 5 i! '2?gQ E 7V I . JAMES MCKEE, M.D. A.W. KNQX, M.D. PETER E. HINES, M.D if W.I. ROYSTER, M.D. KEMP B. BATTLE, M.D. MARY LEWIS WYCHE Director of Nursing

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Rex Hospital School of Nursing l89Ll-l96l-l And in the beginning - Died in the city of Raleigh, North Carolina, on Wednesday the 29th day of january 1839,John Rex, an The first Rex Hospital old and respected citizen. When the will of john Rex was probated it was found that he had willed his entire estate, in North Carolina, in trust to Duncan Cameron and George W.Mordecai whom he had appointed executors and trustees. These trustees were instructed, in the will, to first pay his debts, free his seventeen slaves and establish them in a colony in Africa, and then use the balance of his remaining estate to establish a hospital for the care of the sick and afflicted poor of the city of Raleigh. From this beginning came Rex Hospital which, fifty years later,opened its doors to the people of Raleigh on May 1, 1894. The hospital staff consisted solely of volunteers who, except for the physicians, had no training in caring for the sick. The Trustees soon found that, to give the care needed by the patients, someone trained in the art of nursing was necessary to carry out the orders of the doctors. In June of 1894, Mary Lewis Wyche, a North Carolinian who had just graduated from the Philadelphia General Hospital School of Nursing, was employed by the Board of Trustees of Rex Hospital to act as head nurse, matron and bookkeeper. After working with the young volunteers at the hospital, Miss Wyche began to dream of a school of nursing in her own state where eager young women could learn the art of nursing. She soon convinced the physicians and the board members that this would be the best thing for the welfare of the patients. On October 6, 1894 the FIRST SCHOOL OF NURSING IN NORTH CAROLINA was established at Rex Hospital with an enrollment of five students. The candle of Nursing Knowledge lighted by Mary Lewis Wyche at Rex Hospital School of Nursing SEVENTY YEARS AGO has not dwindled but has grown bigger and brighter with each year. The class of 1964, which numbers 30 students, will bring to a total the number of 1098 nurses who have grad- uated from Rex Hospital School of Nursing. alma kermon, R.N. Bessie Mordecai and Rosa Hill, first graduates of Rex Sue Wright and Jane Painter, 1964 graduates of the Rex Hospital School of Nursing. Hospital School of Nursing. F' .sail

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Gut Prayer O, Lord, in my important task I need Thy guiding hand. Give me the qualities, I ask, To care, to understand, To do the many things each day Which rise in this, my calling, In which, with Thy great help, I may Avoid mistakes befalling. Help me make this, my place of work, A happy one-a glad one. May I avoid the perils that lurk That could make it a sad one. Help me to earn respect of those Who, with me, form the team In this vocation we all chose With All for one our theme, That one -our patient-child of Thine Whose health and hopes have faded. Help us our efforts to combine So that he may be aided. And may I always understand His loved ones' apprehension, And give them too, a helping hand To ease their mental tension. Fill all men's hearts with charity. May it be kept alive So that, with regularity, They give and we survive. Bless doctors, nurses and each one Who works with daily zest Within our walls. When work is done Grant them their well-earned rest. May those, with fears and those in pain Who toss in our white beds Take heart and rapidly regain Their hopes and health instead. Without Thy help our work is naught- Our efforts all in vain. Help us to do the things we ought, Thy mission to attain. Amen John I-I. Hayes I 1 o