Sister Rita Kennedy served in health care in the Sault 30 years

From the archives of the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library:

The Grey Sisters have always played an integral part in the operations of the General Hospital since its creation. Sister Rita Kennedy devoted 30 years of her life to the cause of nursing and nursing education in Sault Ste. Marie.

Sister Rita Kennedy graduated from Lorrain School of Nursing, General Hospital in Pembroke. She received a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Ottawa and her Master’s Degree in Nursing from the University of America in Washington DC. When Sister Kennedy arrived in Sault Ste. Marie in 1944 she was the floor supervisor at the General Hospital and science instructor at the St. Mary’s School of Nursing.

During her time in Sault Ste. Marie, which amounted to 30 years, she was the Director of Nursing at the General Hospital, director of St. Mary’s School of Nursing of Algoma Regional School of Nursing. She also served as a member of the hospital Board of Directors, the Ontario Colleges of Nurses and as a past president of the Catholic Hospital Conference of Ontario.

Changes were implemented in Sault Ste. Marie’s nursing program, a three-year course was decreased to a two-year course. These changes were a result of the increase in nursing instructors which meant that they relied less on physicians to instruct the students. They believed students should be more involved, more self-directed with seminars and role-playing. Students would present cases, then develop nursing plans and care that was specific to the individual patient.

Sister Kennedy did comment on this change stating, “A graduate from a two-year program requires additional clinical experience before she is able to take on the demanding role of a registered nurse then in a three-year program”.

Sister Kennedy was an outspoken advocate of the role nurses should play in safeguarding both the quality of nursing education and their professional standards. She stated, “Nurses must stop being passive and take a more active part in keeping themselves informed on legislation regarding their profession”.

In 1974 Sister Rita Kennedy was elected to the Central Executive of the Religious Community as the coordinator of ministries within the community. She returned to Pembroke Ontario to coordinate services between the Grey Sisters and their services which included hospitals, senior homes, high schools and missions.

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