On June 18, 1900, the Sacred Heart Hospital Nurse's Training School (later known as Sacred Heart School of Nursing) graduates its first two students, Ella Sullivan and Anna Arnold. The school is the first of its kind in Spokane and the second in the state of Washington. Dr. J. B. Luhn gives the opening address at the ceremony. Bishop Edward John O'Dea (1856-1932) delivers the closing address and bestows the graduating honors before a crowd full of family and friends of the graduates. The two young women receive their diplomas after two years of diligent study and on-the-spot training at the hospital. Sullivan will go on to become the first president of the Sacred Heart Hospital Alumnae Association in 1907. The Sacred Heart School of Nursing will graduate more than 2,600 nurses before closing in 1973.
Medical and Religious Training
Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane opened its Nurse's Training School in 1898 after leaders realized that nurse numbers were inadequate to serve community and national needs. Catholic sisters from the Sisters of Providence, based in Montreal, Quebec, operated the hospital. The sisters had founded the hospital in 1887 and for the first decade served as the main nursing staff, but the workload for the growing city was becoming more than they could supply alone. Leaders in Quebec urged the sisters in Spokane to train young women in the area to serve the hospital. The first director of the school was Sister Emerita, who held the position for 12 years. The first two students were Ella Sullivan and Anna Arnold, both of Spokane.
In the beginning, the school offered a two-year study program. For many young women, "nursing was an excellent preparation for later responsibilities as mothers and homemakers" (Shideler, 48). For two years, the student nurses lived at the hospital and were provided basic necessities. They were given a stipend of $5 each month and received one afternoon off per week. In 1899, the duties of the nurses were explained in a Spokesman-Review article:
"They live in the hospital, having their working hours and their leisure moments. During 10 months of the year, a series of three lectures a week is delivered (by Sacred Heart staff physicians) for the benefit of these apprentice nurses ... and they must be skilled in many things ... assisting in the operating room, making up prescriptions and conducting the duties of the professional nurse" (Thordarson, 9).
In 1899 and 1900 four students enrolled in the nursing program each year. These first students seemed more like religious postulants than nurses in many ways. They were instructed in Catholic doctrine along with their medical training:
"Then constantly were they further enlightened and admonished as to how the Master wanted His work done: 'Love thy neighbor as thyself for love of Me;' 'Suppose that patient were your Father or Mother;' 'The poor are God's own;' 'To be a good nurse one must first of all be a good woman;' 'Everything done in the presence of the Master;' 'The medicine must be given on time;' 'Wash your hands between each service you perform;' and thus, on and on through the hours at the bedside and in the classroom until after three years, those who had amply demonstrated integrity, devotion, fortitude, and courage coupled with intelligence and good judgment, were granted a medal and a diploma testifying that they were graduate nurses" (Fifty Golden Years, 53).
In the summer of 1899, Anna Arnold converted to Catholicism, but not without a few trials.
"The sister chronicler remarked that the young woman, 'while not flighty, enjoyed too much her freedom and was not always submissive; [the chaplain] wanted to correct her while testing her steadfastness. With joy we saw that she made notable progress. She persisted and this happiness [baptism] was accorded her'" (Shideler, 47).
The First Graduates
By 1900 both Arnold and Sullivan were thoroughly versed in bedside nursing and Catholic standards. On June 18 an excited crowd of parents and friends celebrated as the two nurses received their nursing diplomas, the first awarded in Spokane. The opening address was given by Dr. J. B. Luhn. Bishop O'Dea delivered the closing address and bestowed the graduating honors. The Spokesman-Review reported that the program was of "exceptional merit and well rendered" and that "the applause was frequent and hearty" ("First Graduating Class").
Ella Sullivan became the first president of the Sacred Heart Hospital Alumnae Association in 1907. Twenty-four of the school's 32 graduates joined the association. The group's goals were to promote "the professional and educational advancement of nursing, to increase the proficiency of its members, and to keep them in contact with the work of the student body" (Thordarson, 12).
As it continued to grow in size, the school was recognized nationally as having one of the highest standards for its students. Nurses from the Sacred Heart School of Nursing went on to serve throughout the nation and in both world wars. By the time the school closed in 1973, it had graduated more than 2,600 nurses.
