“It shaped the women we became,” says Jennifer Richmond.

A registered nurse at UBC Hospital (UBCH), Jennifer is referring to the VGH School of Nursing. Fifty years ago — on Valentine’s Day 1966 — Jennifer entered the school and launched her career in nursing.

“Within two weeks I was on the ward,” she says. “The program provided practical clinical experience in all the specialities, including three months in the operating rooms.”

Like many large hospitals at the time, VGH had its own nursing school and students were required to live in residence on the hospital campus. During the school’s 99-year history, more than over 8,000 student nurses graduated, entering hospitals, private practices and military service in Canada and abroad.

Today, Jennifer works at UBC Hospital, where her patients and colleagues benefit from her years of experience.

Since graduating, Jennifer has worked at the bedside in Vancouver, abroad in the United Arab Emirates and as an educator, including as an instructor for the VGH School of Nursing after acquiring her degree from UBC in 1983. Today, she still works on a casual basis at UBCH, where she is part of an award-winning team.

In 2015, UBCH won the Meritorious Performing Hospital Award for outstanding surgical outcomes from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) for the second consecutive year — a first for any hospital in Canada.

Looking back at how it all began, Jennifer remembers the hard work and the hard knocks of learning on the job. “We would work the large open wards in Heather Pavilion where the temperature soared in the summer. And I still laugh about the time a classmate brained a surgeon on the head when moving an overhead light in the OR.

“Most of my career has been at VGH and UBC Hospital, as well as the VGH School of Nursing, and I will feel forever fortunate to have begun my career with such an excellent program.”

Alumnae spring luncheon on May 1

On Sunday, May 1, the VGH School of Nursing Alumnae Association is hosting its annual spring luncheon. To learn more about the event, the association or the school, visit the VGH School of Nursing Alumnae Association website.