Alberta Assoc. of Registered Nurses, Chapter 16, fonds. — 1910-1998. — 6 cm of textual records. — 11 photographs.
Agency History
The Alberta Association of Registered Nurses was formed in 1916. Subsequently, districts and chapters were formed throughout the province for the support, continuing education and mobilization of their members. The first Grande Prairie Chapter of the Alberta Association of Registered Nurses was formed in 1950, long after nursing services came to the area in 1909. A forerunner of the Association was the Nurses’ Club formed in 1941. In January 1950, this club moved to become a chapter of the AARN for the purpose of the support, continuing education and mobilization of their members. Members included nurses working at the Municipal Hospital, the Auxiliary Hospital, the Grande Prairie Health Unit and the Victorian Order of Nurses. In 1966 the AARN divided the province into districts and the Grande Prairie Chapter became part of Chapter 16. They were an active chapter in the North District until the dissolution of the district in 1999.
Custodial History
Some of the records, including a group of framed photographs, were donated to the Grande Prairie Museum by the Grande Prairie Nurse’s Club in 1970. A further accrual was acquired by the museum in 1999 from Barbara Bragg, a member of the Grande Prairie Chapter of the AARN.
Scope and Content
The fonds consists of the by-laws, minutes, reports, membership lists, newsclippings and newsletters from Chapter 16; articles on the history of the AARN in Alberta; publications from the AARN including Nursing Legislation, the 1989 Rainbow Report which detailed the provincial government’s vision for health care in the province, and a group of photographs illustrating the medical and nursing history of Grande Prairie.
Notes
Title based on the contents of the fonds
Table of Contents
| Series 034.01 | Executive Records |
| Series 034.02 | Structure and History |
| Series 034.03 | Publications |
| Series 034.01 | Executive Records. — 1975-1980. — 2 cm of textual records.The series consists of the minutes of the executive committee and lists of members in the Grande Prairie Chapter of the Alberta Association of Registered Nurses from 1975 to 1980. | |||||||||||||
| Series 034.02 | Structure and History. — 1910-1992. — 0.5 cm of textual records. — 11 photographs.The first Nursing Service in Grande Prairie was started by Presbyterian Missionaries Rev. & Mrs. Alexander Forbes. The first nurse was Miss Agnes Baird and the first patient was treated in the Forbes “Caboose” at Flying Shot Lake. The next year the Forbes built a hospital annex containing six beds onto their home on their homestead, next to the newly surveyed “Grande Prairie City.” In 1914, the mission built the Kathryn Prittie Hospital which became a Municipal Hospital in 1923. In 1929 a new brick hospital was built, and in 1937 a Nurses’ residence. As the population increased, additions were added: a second floor in 1949, a new addition in 1959, a third floor in 1964. In 1960, the Auxiliary Hospital was built. In 1967, when a pictorial history was collected, the total bed capacity was 182 beds. The series consists of a written history of nursing services in Grande Prairie, both from the standpoint of practical nursing and from the standpoint of nursing clubs and associations. Included in the history are photographs dating from 1910 to 1967, and articles relating to the history of the Alberta Association of Registered Nurses and its chapters. | |||||||||||||
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| Series 034.03 | Publications. — 1980-1997. — 4 cm of textual records.The series consists of a copy of the “Rainbow Report,” an Alberta Government report on future health care for Albertans; The AARN Response to The Rainbow Report and other changes proposed for health care; various booklets and pamphlets regarding nursing practice and position papers; and clippings regarding the activities of the AARN, both in the Province and the Grande Prairie area. | |||||||||||||