Overview

The summer of 1959 promises to stretch slowly forward, with one exception. The looming deadline of entering the Saint John General Hospital school of nursing as a probationer student, interrupts the worry-free days with a nagging doubt. Is nursing the right choice? Self-doubt is mingled with preparation in advance of the date of entry while Francene gets more jittery as the day approaches. She was born to nurse but did not know it yet. This is a coming-of-age story of a young woman preparing for the challenges of a very disciplined profession. Writing with humour and compassion, the memoir explores what it takes to learn the art and science of nursing, while juggling the demands of work, a private life, and study. Nursing prepared the author for multiple career paths in the decades that followed her graduation. The author believes that every task she set her mind to in her life was enabled by the foundational skills of her profession.

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9781989833308

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Reviews

A compelling read for anyone who would love to take a nostalgic journey into the life and training of a nurse. Francene's passion for her profession shines through this vivid nursing memoir. Margie Whitehouse, RN (retired) Hematology, bone marrow transplant nurse Francene's nursing memoir takes the reader through the journey of a young girl being transformed into a strong, confident, caring, empathetic women, through her nursing educational experience. The reader is taken back in time, with the descriptions eliciting one's sense of sight, smell, and emotions. Lynne Fenerty, Registered Nurse (RN/BN), Osteoapthic Manula Practitioner, Canada D.O.M P. (Can). Nurse! by Francene Cosman is a detail-laden memoir of the St. John General Hospital School of Nursing in St. John, NB, in the last 1950's/60's. The life of a student nurse, in this case the risk-taking Francene, is well-laid out and brought back memories of my own nursing education. I so enjoyed the stories of linseed poultices, diabetes testing, and managing patients of all sorts. So much fun to relive those times! Nursing education was like no other - while intimate and demanding on its own, it also expected such careful behaviour on the part of the students. Nursing was a mission, not a job, and students then (and perhaps some now) were expected to take on not only the science but the culture, wholly and without question. Even in their off hours, students were expected to follow exacting rules. This remained true even in my education, some 20 years later. Cosman does an excellent job highlighting the joys and sorrows of the training. The details of medical and nursing care in the time before widespread use of antibiotics, when nursing care included an evening back rub, and nurses were expected to clean the hospital rooms as well as provide care are all here, and fascinating. So are some details of the poorer sections of St. John, where tenements abounded for years. The shock and sorrows of losing patients are vividly described, as are the joys of learning a new technique, helping a patient, seeing a brand-new baby. This history of Cosman's time in St. John is a welcome addition to the record of hospital-based schools of nursing, and one which will warm the hearts of fellow graduates. Dorothyanne Brown, Graduate Queen's University, Bachelor of Nursing Science, 1981

""A compelling read for anyone who would love to take a nostalgic journey into the life and training of a nurse. Francene's passion for her profession shines through this vivid nursing memoir."" Margie Whitehouse, RN (retired) Hematology, bone marrow transplant nurse ""Francene's nursing memoir takes the reader through the journey of a young girl being transformed into a strong, confident, caring, empathetic woman, through her nursing educational experience. The reader is taken back in time, with the descriptions eliciting one's sense of sight, smell, and emotions."" Lynne Fenerty, Registered Nurse (RN/BN), Osteopathic Manual Practitioner, Canada D.O.M P. (Can). Nurse! by Francene Cosman is a detail-laden memoir of the St. John General Hospital School of Nursing in St. John, NB, in the last 1950's/60's. The life of a student nurse, in this case the risk-taking Francene, is well-laid out and brought back memories of my own nursing education. I so enjoyed the stories of linseed poultices, diabetes testing, and managing patients of all sorts. So much fun to relive those times! Nursing education was like no other - while intimate and demanding on its own, it also expected such careful behaviour on the part of the students. Nursing was a mission, not a job, and students then (and perhaps some now) were expected to take on not only the science but the culture, wholly and without question. Even in their off hours, students were expected to follow exacting rules. This remained true even in my education, some 20 years later. Cosman does an excellent job highlighting the joys and sorrows of the training. The details of medical and nursing care in the time before widespread use of antibiotics, when nursing care included an evening back rub, and nurses were expected to clean the hospital rooms as well as provide care are all here, and fascinating. So are some details of the poorer sections of St. John, where tenements abounded for years. The shock and sorrows of losing patients are vividly described, as are the joys of learning a new technique, helping a patient, seeing a brand-new baby. This history of Cosman's time in St. John is a welcome addition to the record of hospital-based schools of nursing, and one which will warm the hearts of fellow graduates. Dorothyanne Brown, Graduate Queen's University, Bachelor of Nursing Science, 1981

Author Information

Emerging from a challenging and dysfunctional early childhood, Francene was determined to be strong and achieve goals that included continuing education and a career. She chose nursing and entered the three-year program at the Saint John General Hospital in New Brunswick. After graduation in 1962, she enrolled in a six-month post grad at the Margaret Hague Hospital in Jersey City, New Jersey, across from the lights of Manhattan. Her social conscience was awakened, and she participated in the black civil rights movement, joining in marches to support the cause of freedom and equality. At the age of twenty-two, she returned to New Brunswick and became the night supervisor of the obstetrical service (the delivery rooms), post-partum floor and the nursery of the Saint John General Hospital. Later, marriage took her to Fredericton and the Victoria Public Hospital, where she worked in the case room. Following a move to Nova Scotia, she worked in the former Grace Maternity Hospital in the case room, and later became the head nurse on the post-partum floor. After the birth of her second daughter, she retired.Nursing provided strong foundational skills that underpinned future political involvement. A long political career ensued, first as a county councillor, then the first mayor of Bedford, NS. She was appointed president of the provincial Status of Women; four years later she chaired the task force on the concerns of women and became the executive director of the Liberal Party. In 1993, she was elected to the NS Legislature and became deputy speaker. In her second term of office, she was appointed to Executive Council as Minister of Community Services, Minister for the Civil Service and Minister of the Status of Women. She served six years on the board of governors of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. She currently is the curator of the Scott Manor House in Bedford, enjoys painting, and still speaks out on community issues.

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