Biographical entry Bell, Jane (1873 - 1959)

Summary

Jane Bell was lady superintendent of Melbourne Hospital 1910-1934. She made many innovations, including replacement of male orderlies by sisters in the operating theatres; the appointment of tutor-sisters to instruct trainees and of a house-sister to supervise the nurses' quarters; the introduction of a six-week preliminary course; and pay for trainee-nurses.

Details

Events

1898

Career position - Nursing Certificate completed at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney

1898 - 1903

Career position - Various staff appointments

1903 - 1904

Career position - Matron at Bundaberg Hospital, Queensland

1904 - 1906

Career position - Matron at Brisbane General Hospital

1906 - 1907

Career position - Midwifery training at Queen Charlotte's Hospital, London

1907 - 1910

Career position - Senior Assistant Superintendent of Nurses at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary

1910 - 1934

Career position - Lady Superintendent of Melbourne Hospital

1913 - 1915

Career position - Australian Army Nursing Service

1924 - 1950

Career position - Member of the Nurses' Board

1931 - 1934

Career position - President of the Royal Victorian College of Nursing

1938 - 1946

Career position - President of the Royal Victorian College of Nursing

1944

Award - Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science Exhibitions

• McCarthy, Gavan; Morgan, Helen; Smith, Ailie; van den Bosch, Alan, Where are the Women in Australian Science?, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, 2003, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/wisa/wisa.html. Details

Books

• Goodman, Rupert and Williams, Jennifer A., Jane Bell, OBE, Lady Superintendent: the Royal Melbourne Hospital, 1910-1934, Spectrum Publications, Melbourne, 1988, 281 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Gardiner, Lyndsay, 'Bell, Jane (1873-1959), hospital matron', in Bede Nairn and Geoffrey Serle (eds), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 7, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1979, p. 257. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A070254b.htm. Details
• Williams, Jennifer, 'Jane Bell (1873-1959) hospital matron', in Heather Radi (ed.), 200 Australian Women: A Redress Anthology, Women's Redress Press Inc, Sydney, 1988. Details

Edited Books

• Radi, H. (ed.), 200 Australian Women: a Redress Anthology, Women's Redress Press Inc, Sydney, 1988, 268 pp. Details

Online Resources

• 'Bell, Jane (1873-1959), Biographical Entry', in Australian Women's Archives Project, National Foundation for Australian Women, 2002, http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/IMP0098b.htm. Details
• 'Bell, Jane (1873-1959)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-763085. Details

See also

• Alexander, John A. (ed.), Who's Who in Australia 1944, vol. 12, The Herald and Weekly Times Ltd, Melbourne, 1944, 906 pp. Details