Salmon, Evelyn Beatrice (Bea)

Salmon, Evelyn Beatrice (Bea)

25 July 1925

Born

30 Jan 2006

Died

"Her appointment as Senior Lecturer in 1973 realised a vision of university education for registered nurses that had been championed by Professors C. L. Bailey and A. Fieldhouse in the University’s Education Department and made possible by the fundraising efforts of nurses and others in the C. L. Bailey Nursing Education Trust.

Beatrice Salmon trained as a nurse at New Plymouth Hospital and as a midwife at St. Helen’s Hospital in Wellington. She gained a Bachelor of Nursing degree from McGill University in Montreal and later an MSc (Applied).

Associate Professor Pamela Wood, of the Graduate School of Nursing and Midwifery, said Beatrice had a strong belief in quality education for registered nurses. This could be seen in her involvement in Ghana as a WHO consultant in a project to establish university education for nurses, her subsequent work at McGill and her position as principal of the School of Advanced Nursing Studies (SANS) in Wellington.

“She broadened the range of subjects registered nurses studied, drawing on humanities and social sciences, encouraged them to be critical thinkers and set high standards. The nurses who studied at Victoria speak of her as an inspirational nursing leader, elegant in appearance and thinking, who challenged and supported them as both lecturer and mentor.

At the heart of her work was a constant focus on improving care for patients by developing reflective, adaptable and well educated nurses. Her establishment of nursing as an academic subject in the University paved the way for the current Graduate School."

Source: Obituary, VicNews, 2 March 2006 pp.4-5.