MARIA ASGILL WAS WEARING a St Patrick’s Roman Catholic Secondary School uniform on a Friday. By the following Monday she had slipped into a nurse’s uniform to begin what would turn out to be a 42-year career in the nursing profession. She was 18 years old, going straight from school into her chosen field.
The retired matron of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital discussed her life as a nurse with the SUNDAY SUN last week, touching on changes in the island’s health care facilities over the years, while reminiscing on the job through which she had made a significant contribution to Barbados’ health service.
“I have had a very rewarding experience,” she said.
The rewards have come in the form of letters of gratification for her care; verbal acknowledgement from former patients who often greet her warmly on the street; and fellow nurses who, from time to time, remind her of some impact she had made on their lives and careers.
“I was eight years old and went into the hospital with a serious puncture to my leg. I spent about three weeks in the hospital and I really admired the way the nurses went about their work. I said then, I have to be a nurse.”
Her dream was realised when she was accepted to begin formal training at the Barbados General Hospital just before turning 18.
Today she treasures the wide exposure gained over four decades as she moved through the ranks, from student nurse, to staff nurse, midwife, ward sister, senior sister all the way to the top nursing position in the hospital.
Asgill assisted in the move from Jemmotts Lane to the sprawling new Queen Elizabeth Hospital on Martindales Road, a move that had not come too soon.
It was a shift that brought relief from a facility she described as “old-fashioned and antiquated”. Patients on the public wards were being addressed by surname only, Mr, Mrs or Miss being reserved for patients on the pay wards. Tin spoons and cups and enamel plates were the common implements and utensils provided for patient use. No knives and forks.
But Asgill credits the leadership of a former matron for the transformation that followed.
“The hospital was reformed under Dr Ena Walters. She saw to it that all patients were given due respect and courtesy. She asked for a whole set of equipment for the patients . . . . Persons started to feel like they were really being treated well.”
Asgill retains vivid memories of the night Indian cricketer Nari Contractor was brought into the hospital after being accidentally struck in the head by a ball at Kensington Oval; the feverish battle she, then a heavily pregnant scrub nurse, fought alongside the late surgeon Jack Leacock to save Contractor’s life in a four-to-five-hour operation.
She proudly shows off the letter she received from Mr Leacock for the part she played in that operation.
Over the years she saw significant improvement in opportunities for nursing resulting in expansion of the nurse’s role; improvements in training and a wider range of training opportunities.
“Many changes came about . . . we had more consultants like Dr Haynes [Sir Richard Haynes] who started the surgical Intensive Care Unit, and we had
nurses who had specialised care in that area; nurses went off to do public health training to work in the polyclinics; and some also did the advanced nursing education course in Jamaica and some came back into the wards; and others became tutors.”
Asgill has fond memories of the former Tercentenary School of Nursing with tutors like Carmen Blackman and the late Ilene Murray-Aynsley, the crisp white uniform with the smart cap worn proudly by nurses of the day.
Asgill contrasts the present classroom emphasis with her own training experience in which most of the student nurse’s time was spent in practical exposure and experience at the patient’s bedside.
“I am told by reading the newspapers that people are concerned now about the training which is at the Barbados Community College.”
“Now, they [student nurses] spend the majority of time in the Community College, whereas I think they should be at the patient’s bedside where they are needed. After all, you join the nursing service to render care to the patient.
“I became a nurse to care for persons. I have seen people come into the hospital virtually dead, and you nurse them back to health; and it is such a good feeling.
“Nurses need to interact with relatives coming to visit, because this way you can find out a lot about the patient.”
In retirement Asgill continues to lead a very active life, with membership in several civic organisations. Her days are full, and national bodies such as the National Committee On Aging and the National Advisory Council On Family Matters continue to draw on her expertise.
In the Queen’s Birthday Honours this year, she received the Commander of the British Empire for her contribution to nursing, an honour befitting four decades of service to the nursing profession.
