Brandon celebrates psychiatric nursing history

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This article was published 29/04/2023 (1038 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brandon’s centennial year of supporting residents with their mental health needs puts the profession in a much-needed spotlight, says a former instructor at the Brandon Mental Health Centre.

The first psychiatric nursing program of its kind in Canada was offered on the North Hill hospital grounds in 1923, when the facility was called the Brandon Hospital for Mental Diseases (just seven years earlier it was known as the Brandon Insane Hospital).

Retired psychiatric nurse and past assistant professor, 85-year-old Beverley Hicks, said even though the institution is celebrating its 100th anniversary, there are a lot of firsts to recognize.

“Brandon is so unique in the history of psychiatric nursing across the country, with the first post-diploma baccalaureate at Brandon University in 1986, the first four-year baccalaureate in 1998, and the first master’s program in 2011. Brandon has all the firsts in psychiatric nursing education,” Hicks said.

Hicks is the author to two books on the history of psychiatric nursing in Brandon. She came to the Wheat City from New Zealand in 1967 to take a six-month course in psychiatric nursing, which led to a degree with a specialty in psychiatric nursing from McGill University in Montreal, and then back to Brandon to teach.

“I liked teaching the first-year courses, because these were young people coming in to take psychiatric nursing who’d never been inside a mental hospital, who didn’t really know what to expect. And it was wonderful, explaining to them that this is what psychiatric nursing is about.”

Psychiatric nursing was taught at the Brandon Mental Health Centre (BMHC) until 1996, when the four-year bachelor of science in psychiatric nursing was initiated by BU. The number of graduates in the last 100 years is staggering, Hicks said.

“There are more than 5,000 registered psychiatric nurses in the four Western Canada provinces. At BU, we’re graduating between 40 and 50 a year, and they’re all getting jobs almost immediately.”One of those graduates is 25-year-old Adam Kowalchuk who just completed his bachelor of science in psychiatric nursing and has a job waiting in acute psychiatry at the Parkland Mental Health Centre in Dauphin.

Being in the historical 100th class, he said, is not only a huge achievement for the program but says a lot for how far understanding mental illness has come.

“If you look back, mental illness was definitely put in a very, very negative way, and we’re not there yet,” said Kowalchuk. “But what has been the same over 100 years is building relationships and carrying clients to a point where their mental illness may not be gone, but they’ll be able to deal with it effectively.”

Kowalchuk hopes that after several years of experience, he can take his education one step further, which would be to attain his master’s degree in psychiatric nursing.

The longevity of the program is something that Brandon should be proud of, said Brandon University president David Docherty.

“Our unique program really fills a niche, even though it’s one of those dubious honours that we need psych nursing now more than ever, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and other things that add to the pressures of mental health. But there’s a huge need, and we’re helping to fill it,” Docherty said.

For Vivian Hildebrand, her psychiatric nursing graduating class was in 1950. Now 93, she remembered living in residence, which she described as a “wonderful experience with beautiful living areas, complete with silk wall coverings and large wooden pillars.”

She was offered a job the day after she graduated, leading to a 37-year career in which she was a head nurse and assisted doctors in several treatments.

“It was a wonderful career, and I loved every day of it. We helped people with mental disorders of all kinds, like schizophrenia, manic depression and emotional problems. People who were destined to be there forever, I saw walk out the door to wellness,” Hildebrand said.

Hicks and numerous other speakers are presenting at a virtual conference on the 100 years of psychiatric nursing in Brandon May 1-3 with keynote speakers, panel discussions and a locally produced documentary.

For more information, visit https://rb.gy/g0evl.

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