The Saskatchewan Registered Nurses Association marked its 100th anniversary with a community celebration in Assiniboia on October 3. The SRNA held a flag-raising and program with current and past Registered Nurses and other health care workers in attendance.
The SRNA held a large gala in Regina this past spring to mark its formation on March 10, 1917. For the remainder of the year, the SRNA aimed to hold 100 celebrations across the province. The event in Assiniboia was one of them.
With Registered Nurses looking on, Mayor Bob Himbeault raised the SRNA’s 100th anniversary flag in front of the Town Office. It will fly for the month of October in recognition of Registered Nurses. The group then gathered at the 55 Club to watch a video on the history of the SRNA and nursing in Saskatchewan and to socialize with old friends over coffee.
Mayor Himbeault was on hand to bring greetings from the Town of Assiniboia. “I have had many experiences with the medical system over the years and every RN acted with compassion.”
The video presented the beginnings of nursing in the province with the Sisters of Charity Grey Nuns. It noted that, at the turn of the 20th Century, there were few hospitals in Saskatchewan. For example, there was a seven-bed cottage hospital in Regina and a few years later additional hospitals had been set up in Saskatoon and Regina. They were still of small size. For example, the Victoria Hospital only had 25 beds. But the typhoid epidemic put pressure on health care, and by 1910 rural hospitals became established in larger centres like Yorkton.
With these developments soon came the need to standardize training and uniforms. The Saskatchewan Registered Nurses Act was established in 1917. Registered Nurses made a large contribution to Canada’s war effort. Between 1914-1918, there were 3,141 single Canadian women serving in the Canadian military with many serving overseas. There were 4,480 Canadian nurses serving in all branches of the military between 1944-1948.
The post-war years of 1947-1971 were a time of opportunity for the SRNA and it reached several milestones. For example, in 1920 a minimum standard of curriculum was adopted, and by 1943 it saw its first graduates. The SRNA continues to see developments. In 1988 a new Registered Nurses Act was adopted. Most recently, there has been introduced a designation of RN with additional practice that permits RNs working in northern communities to diagnose and treat a limited number of conditions according to a specific protocol.
The SRNA council has nine members and its mandate is to protect people, explains SRNA President Joan Peterson, who is also an RN. The council achieves its mandate by approving RN education programs, setting practice standards, licensing and maintaining competency assurance programs.
This 100-year history of the SRNA stands as a testament to the evolving role of Registered Nurses in the province’s health care system. Today, there are over 11,000 RNs in Saskatchewan.
