On September 29, 1913, Miss Jean I. Gunn was appointed the new Superintendent of Nurses. She was born in Belleville, Ontario and graduated from the Presbyterian Hospital of New York in 1905.
Gunn was head nurse and supervisor there for four years, followed by two years of social work in the City of New York. She also spent a year as Assistant Superintendent of Nurses for the Morristown Memorial Hospital in Morristown, New Jersey.
Miss Gunn was quiet, but thoughtful, and, under her leadership, there was constant change in the way the school was run.
The services provided by the nurses expanded and the training became more focused. Consequently, the graduates left the school better prepared for the challenges they would face.
She was a strong proponent of public health nursing and after World War One encouraged students to take post-graduate courses in that field.
Her efforts in this field were widely recognized not only in Canada, but in France and England where she was awarded the Order of the British Empire.
Like Miss Snively before her, Miss Gunn was highly respected and admired by both her students and her associates. At the Alumnae dinner held in honour of her 25th year in the position, 600 people turned out to take part in the celebration.
Unfortunately, towards the end of her career, Gunn’s health began to fail, and she was hospialized in 1941. When the time came to present her annual report, her assistant, Helen Locke read it in her absence. Upon finishing the report she added, “Dr. Gunn is the noblest and wisest of all our leaders in the profession, which makes her respected wherever good nursing practice exists. This has won for her a devotion which makes her the idol of nurses.”
Miss Gunn passed away on June 28, 1941.
Helen Glen Rae Locke trained as a nurse at Presbyterian Hospital, New York. Locke primarily worked as a Private Duty Nurse until 1913 when she was hired by Miss Jean I. Gunn, Superintendent and Director of Nurses at Toronto General Hospital, to become her assistant.
She would serve in that position for 28 years. Following Gunn’s death in 1941, Locke served as acting Superintendent and Director of the School for just over a year before retiring in 1942.
Mary E. Macfarland was born in the Ottawa area and received her nurses training at TGH, graduating in 1926.
She became a head nurse on the staff and remained there for over a decade before registering in a course in Administration, Supervision and Teaching, at the University of Toronto.
In 1938 she returned to the hospital where she became part of the staff of the school. Upon Miss Locke’s retirement in 1942, Macfarland was appointed Superintendent of the School for Nurses. She was the first Toronto General Hospital graduate to become Superintendent of the school.
In 1950, the name of the school was changed to School of Nursing, Toronto General Hospital and her title was changed to Director of Nursing.
Macfarland was an active member in nursing associations at provincial, national and international levels. She served on Red Cross committees, the Council of the University of Toronto, School of Nursing, and the Advisory Committee, University of Western Ontario.
She left her position of Director of Nursing in 1960.
With Mary Macfarland’s departure, Miss M. Jean Dodds became the new Director of Nursing.
Dodds was a Toronto native who graduated from the School of Nursing, Toronto General Hospital program with distinction in 1946. She also completed a year of post-graduate studies in Nursing Education at the University of Western Ontario.
Dodds’ career in nursing began at Toronto General Hospital when she took the position of an operating room nurse in Gynecology. She later became an operating room supervisor at the College Street building and one at the Central building when it opened in 1959.
Before succeeding Macfarland in 1960, she served as Assistant Director of Nursing Services for one year. Dodds also served three separate terms as president of the Alumnae Association, and was a member of the committee that organized the 100th anniversary of the School in 1994.
Patricia Stanojevic was the last Director of the Toronto General Hospital School of Nursing, since the school ceased operation and was absorbed by George Brown College in 1974.
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