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Jane Bell was born in Scotland in 1873. Following the death of both her parents and four of her siblings from tuberculosis in 1886, she and her three remaining siblings migrated to Australia with the help of their local Presbyterian Congregation. She commenced nurse training at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Sydney in 1898, rising to the position of Night Superintendent. Following this, she was Matron of the Bundaberg Hospital in Queensland in 1903, and from 1904, Matron of the Brisbane General Hospital. In 1906, she went to London to undertake obstetrical training at Queen Charlotte’s Hospital, followed by a period as Assistant Lady Superintendent at the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh, Scotland.

In November 1910, she was appointed Lady Superintendent of the Melbourne Hospital, a position she held until her retirement in June 1934 . During her tenure, she created the position of Theatre Sister in 1912, appointed the first ‘Sister Tutor’ in an Australian hospital in 1921, established the Nurses’ Preliminary Training School in 1927, and created the first Special Diet Kitchen in an Australian hospital in 1929. In addition, she was involved in the formation of the RMH Past Trainees’ Association in 1917 (now the RMH Graduate Nurses’ Association) and was instrumental in the introduction of State registration for nurses in 1924.

She was very active in professional nursing affairs. She was a foundation member of the Nurses’ Board of Victoria from 1924-1950; a member of the Royal Victorian Trained Nurses’Association from 1911, including its President in 1931-34 and 1938-46; helped to form the Australasian Nursing Federation in 1899 and the Royal Australian Nursing Federation in 1924.

For a period in 1914-15, she was Principal Matron of the First Australian General Hospital during World War One, based in Egypt and treating Gallipoli casualties. At the time the position, status, authority and working conditions of army nurses were undefined. Miss Bell waged an incessant battle with the Army Medical Service, seeking to clarify the position and responsibilities of the nursing service and to place its control and discipline in the hands of its own members. A later inquiry vindicated her views and implemented her recommendations.

In 1937, she represented Australia at the meeting of the International Council of Nurses in London. Miss Bell’s interests were in nursing education and the promotion of post-graduate nursing qualifications, salaries and working conditions and the raising of nursing standards. She was appointed an Order of the British Empire in 1944 and died in 1959 as a patient at the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

Sources: UNA, Nursing Journal, October 1959; The Australian Dictionary of Biography; Jennifer A. Williams and Rupert D. Goodman: Jane Bell, OBE (1873-1959), RMH Graduate Nurses’ Association, 1988; Alan Gregory: The Ever Open Door: A History of The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Hyland House, 1998.

http://www.mh.org.au/2011-nursing-great-jane-bell-s-memorabilia-donated/w1/i1016709/