About
The Northern District School of Nursing Collection includes photographs, newsletters, correspondence, minutes, personal records and records of interviews, lecture notes, course notes, teaching resources, historical records and uniforms. Parts of the collection include some aspects of the Northern District School of Nursing that operated at Lister House. This Collection was acquired by the Northern District School of Nursing Graduates' Association. In 2019 the NDSNGA employed an archivist to assess and record the contents of the Collection.
The NDSN Collection is now a sub collection of the Bendigo Historical Society Inc. managed by BHS volunteers, supported by members of the NDSNGA.
The NDSN opened in 1950 in to address the issues around nurse recruitment, training and education that had previously been hospital based. The residential school was to provide theoretical and in-house education and practical training over three years. The students would also receive practical hands-on training in the wards of associated hospitals. The Northern District School of Nursing operated from Lister House, Rowan Street, Bendigo.
The Northern District School of Nursing was the first independent school of nursing in Victoria.
When the NDSN closed in 1989, the correspondence, meeting minutes, training and student files relating to the NDSN from 1945 to 1989 were collected by a staff member from Latrobe university. After use as a teaching resource, the NDSN memorabilia was eventually packed up into boxes ready for disposal. An archivist employed by Latrobe University came across all the boxes and recognized their significance. The collection was sent to the Archives section at the Bundoora campus to be catalogued and archived. Latrobe University also hold the NDSN collection of original framed photographs of each of the School groups (1-108).
