• HOME
• THE LANGUAGE OF MADNESS
• THE ASYLUM
• • Asylum Design
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• SOCIETY
• • Urban & Rural Life
  • Class & Gender
  • The Hysterical Female
  • The Evils of "Self-Abuse"
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• LEGISLATION
• • Legislative Influence
  • Origins of Legislation and the Criminality of Insanity
  • Teenaged Years: Marked Custody Transition
  • Turn of the Century: Voluntary Admissions
  • Updated Act: The Mental Hospital Act
• SUPERINTENDANTS
• STAFF
• • Working at the LAI
  • Hiring Practices
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  • Employee Roles in Moral Therapy
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  • Training School for Nurses
  • Attendants
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• PATIENT PERSPECTIVES
• • Introduction
  • Patient Art
  • Patient Letters
  • Their Voice
• MEDICAL TREATMENTS
• • Medical Treatment Introduction
  • Use of Restraints
  • Drug and Alcohol
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  • Female Surgeries
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  • Lobotomies
• MORAL THERAPY
• • Moral Therapy Introduction
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• THE WORLD WARS
• • Before the First World War
  • During the First World War
  • After the First World War
  • The First World War and the LAI
  • First World War Veterans at the LAI
  • The Second World War
• MEMORIES OF RMHCL
• • Introduction
  • Their Memories

Training School for Nurses

Training School for Nurses |  Application |  Training |  Graduation
Accommodation and Recreation |  The Faculty of Nursing at UWO

Dr. George A. McCallum, Medical Superintendent of the former London Asylum for the Insane, established the Training School for Nurses in 1902. In his Annual Report that year, Dr. McCallum paid special attention to the efficiency of the attendants for the welfare of the whole institution. He believed that if attendants were given systematic training, they would be able to provide more efficient and intelligent care and treatment to the patients. The Training School for Nurses was established to fulfill this purpose. As well, Dr. McCallum hoped that the school would create a sense of community among the attendants and increase their interest in performing their duties. The training school was open to both male and female attendants. However, the designation of "nurse" came to refer only to trained female attendants.

The Training School for Nurses at the LAI was the third nursing school established in Canada. It was the second school set up in the province of Ontario, following the establishment of the Training School for Nurses at the Rockwood Asylum in Kingston in 1888. The first class of ten nurses at the LAI graduated in 1904, after two years of training. The program was extended to three years a few years later, and a six-month affiliated course was added in 1925. Beginning May 1, 1931, the training for nurses in Ontario was two years and six months, which was followed by nine months of work-training at an affiliated General Hospital.