September Count Down to Reunion 9 Months
Our goal in sending monthly class emails has been to create a sense of anticipation for the Reunion and we are delighted to hear from many of you that you have enjoyed the Walks Down Memory Lane and the mhsn1972.com website. Following our March Mask Pandemic Madness event one of our classmates commented that the monthly emails and, in particular, the mask challenge was a wonderful way to take her mind off the pandemic. She suggested it would be nice if we could find additional ways to continue to engage the class. We’re taking her up on this challenge.
An unanticipated bonus for the Committee, in preparing for the Reunion, has been receiving various anecdotes from our training days and also seeing how rapidly some classmates responded to our email requests. We decided to use some of the communication we received to develop a contest we are calling the MHSN Class of 1972 September Stories Matching Quiz We hope many of you will respond. Let’s see who from our class can make the most correct matches! We’ll provide the name of the winner and the correct responses in our December email.
The purpose of this exercise is to have FUN. A perfect score would be 10 and we really don’t expect anyone to achieve that. To narrow down the task we’re providing 20 names for you to choose from (in alphabetical order). To date, we believe all of these classmates are planning to attend the reunion. Catch up with them then to let them know how right or wrong you were in selecting their name! To further assist you in narrowing down your responses we can tell you in the list of names there are some classmates listed whose name is not correct for any answer (names chosen randomly from class list) and three classmates who are referred to in more than one question.
Joanne Albert Belliveau, Gail Blair Storr, Louise Carrier Deschenes, Phyllis Caron Porter, Wanda Firlotte MacLellan, Pat Flannagan Doyle, Donna Fraser Lerette, Marilyn Hatchard Crawford, Marion Hicks Steeves, Joanne Logan Simpson, Cathy MacDonald McJanet, Nancy McArdle Martinez, Noreen McKearney Hubley, Helen McGrath Brown, Mary McLellan Keenan, Marlene Myers Hill, Mary Nicholson Duschesne, Geraldine Norman, Paula Oulton Stiles, and Brenda Tingley.
The questions are worth a point each with 1/2 point for each correct name in Question 9 and 1/3 point for each correct name in Question 10.
- Who wrote the following? “My first patient was Mrs. Pebbles; I remember her well. After making her bed I rolled up the head of the bed, the sheet moved down and the plastic mattress appeared. I had made the bed wrong tucking in the bottom part of the sheet instead of the top part.”
- Who told us? “Miss MacDonald was my first clinical teacher. She seemed so strict and did not show that warm, caring side my 18-year-old self thought nurses lived by! Turns out nursing students were not always on the top of recipient list!! Still hate that anatomy test where we had to ID all the bones on the desk! I wanted to perfectly provide morning care to my senior patient…spent 30 minutes trying to exactly line up his slippers and could only find one. Turns out I forgot he had only one leg!! I also remember that he had a BM that I had to clean up… would take a big breath, go the bedside to start the process, run away to take another big breath. Goal was never to breathe while cleaning him!!!!”
- Mrs. Wright was known for sliding a box of Kleenex across her desk to students who were sent to her office. Who pulled out a roll of toilet paper and said “no thanks, I brought my own” when offered the Kleenex?
- One of our classmate’s Big Sister told her that she caused quite a stir daring to arrive in pants! and that she had better change into something more “suitable” for our September 15, 1969 meet and greet at West Lane. Who was that student?
- One of our classmates had these stories to tell us. “First mistake was cleaning a bed pan of urine with hot water. Never did that again. Later, I was on an evening shift and had to prepare my first body for the morgue. I thought I had done just perfect. After shift, and (amazingly), I was in bed, the Housemother came to tell me that my instructor wanted me on the phone. Oh, oh. I had forgotten the patient’s dentures in the bedside table. The instructor told me to take them to the morgue and insert them in the patient. Off I went, shaking in my nice white sneakers. I located the patient and awkwardly and with difficulty, inserted the dentures. Oh crap! the jaw snapped shut after I put the dentures in. Scared the wits out of me! I quickly slammed the drawer closed and ran all the way back to Anne Street. I never forgot the dentures again.” Who was that student?
- Another student disclosed that “My first patient was a 90-year-old man who was unresponsive on 1P. I was so very scared, I thought he had died. I had to do a bed bath without unduly exposing him and make his bed. I was told that hearing was the last to go so I had to think of things to tell him all along the way. I believe Mrs. Crowther was the head nurse. Thanks heavens I didn’t quit that day”
- Many of us lived in apartments in our 3rd year. A classmate reminisced that “that five (5) boxes of macaroni and cheese cost $1.00”. Who was that classmate?
- Someone reminded us that 50 cents was deducted for CPP from a $15.00 cheque? Who was that student?
- 50 years ago hitchhiking was a common way for some students to travel home or to the Nurses Cottage. One student told us stories of carrying a scalpel or a hat pin with her and another said she kept a rock in her pocket at all times while hitchhiking. Who were these two students?
- Three classmates were “rapid responders” to some of our emails. See if you can guess who they were.
a) First to respond to the July 2020 initial email about the Reunion
b) First to send recent photo and update over the 50 years for our slide presentation
c) First to send mask picture for March Pandemic Mask Madness.
Dates to Remember
September 6, 2021
October 1, 2021
April 30, 2022
May 11, 2022
June 11-13, 2022
Submit Recent Photo and Summary of Life since Graduation
Expect to Receive Registration Details
Notify us if you wish to be a Reunion Buddy or if you wish to have a Reunion Buddy
Deadline for Hotel Registration – Call Rodd Hotels & Resorts Toll Free Reservations at 1-800-565-RODD (7633). Advise you wish to book a room under the room block for “Moncton Hospital 50TH Nurses Reunion”.
Reunion Dates
MHSN Class of 1972 50th Reunion Planning Committee: Joanne Albert Belliveau,
Marlene Myers Hill, Joanne Logan Simpson, Gail Blair Storr and Phyllis Caron Porter.
