OH4154/34 Track 1: Introduction

Summary

Millicent (Millie) Joyce Ebsworthy (nee Blake) was born on 11 September, 1932 in Victoria. She began training as a nurse at Queen Victoria Hospital Melbourne, 1950-1953. After completing her training, she moved to Perth to marry Robert Ebsworthy in 1954. She nursed for a period but it was not until her third child attended kindergarten that she worked at Silver Chain full-time to allow her husband to train as a nurse. Millie remained at Silver Chain for 18 years, beginning as a District Nurse. She studied for her TAE at night and also began her Degree of Science and Nursing at West Australian Institute of Technology (now Curtin University). Her husband completed his Bachelor of Science (Nursing) at WAIT and rose to be Director of Nursing at Albany in 1985 when she resigned from her position as Area Supervisor at Silver Chain. Millie describes her responsibilities, some of the problems she encountered, the people she worked with and some of the everyday life of District Nursing Sisters. The initiation of the Lay Supervisors was one of her responsibilities and she describes the reason for their employment in the Home Help Department and some of the problems encountered with having non-medically trained staff.