Prince Henry Hospital Nursing and Medical Museum

01/09/2026

30/08/2026

Bedpan Diaries of PHH@
Settled for the Night

8 PM MEANT ONE THING: Evening round and back care

If you worked 3–11 back in the day…
you already know.

Visiting hours ended.
The hallway got quieter.
And the four of you lined up like a well-oiled machine.

One RN for medication
3 junior nurses or Enrolled nurses.
About 24 patients.
Start at one end of the hall… and work your way down.

Hands washed.
Faces freshened.
Teeth brushed.
Foleys emptied.
Linen straightened.

And then—

The back rub.

Not rushed.
Not skipped.

We’d warm the lotion between our palms first.
Because nobody wanted cold lotion on tired skin.

It sounds small.

But it wasn’t.

Patients relaxed.
Shoulders dropped.
Breathing slowed.

You could feel the difference.

Water pitchers refilled with fresh ice water.
Bathroom trips handled.
Lights dimmed.

And for the next few hours?

Hardly any call lights.

Because we didn’t just didn’t give out the medication.

We settled people in.

We made them comfortable.

We worked as a team — real team nursing.
No one drowning alone.
No one saying “that’s not my patient.”

And when you finally sat down for a minute?

You felt proud.

Not because it was glamorous.
But because it was thorough.

Older nurses know…

That 8 p.m. routine wasn’t just part of the shift.
It was the heart of the shift.

25/08/2026

Today we had the pleasure of welcoming the Nursing Graduates of August 1966 back to Prince Henry Hospital Museum and the Coast Chapel for their 60‑year reunion. Some nurses travelled from afar to reconnect with old friends, share memories, and revisit the place where their nursing journey first began.

It was a lovely day filled with stories, laughter, and reflections on their time training and working at PHH. We are honoured to help preserve these memories and celebrate the enduring bonds formed all those years ago.

Thank you to Jane Mahon for her touching words during the service, and to the PHHTNA Volunteers whose support and dedication helped make today truly memorable.

23/08/2026

Bedpan diaries of PHH
Remember……
The absolute crushing weight of that heavy, cracked, old lead apron. It smelled of metal and dust, and always seemed to settle differently on your shoulders every time. Someone had to step up behind you, lifting the edge, taking a third of the burden as you secured the buckles...
the weight on your shoulders was so heavy and standing for long periods in X-ray wishing they would hurry up. One nurse recently told me the theatre nurses got paid for the time they wore them!

11/08/2026

Hello Prince Henry Hospital (Little Bay, NSW) Members,

Less than 3 months until the 2026 Nurses Reunion. Have you got your tickets yet?
Follow the link below to purchase your tickets and spread the word amongst your former colleagues and friends.

https://events.humanitix.com/2026-prince-henry-hospital-nurses-reunion

Please note the museum landline is currently out of service, please email the museum should you have any enquiries [email protected]

2026 Prince Henry Hospital Nurses Reunion

02/08/2026

Bedpan diaries of PHH

Strict Matrons vs. Modern Management

They called her “The Matron.”
She didn’t need emails.
She didn’t need performance dashboards.
She didn’t need a leadership seminar.

She just walked onto the ward — and everyone stood a little straighter.

In many hospitals back then, the matron was the standard.
Uniform crisp. Shoes polished.
If a corner wasn’t perfect? She saw it.
If a chart was sloppy? She knew.
If a nurse was overwhelmed? She knew that too — even if she didn’t say it out loud.

There were no “coaching conversations.”
There was The Look over the reading glasses.
And somehow… that silence said everything.

She would choose a nurse to take her on a ward round. They had to know their name and diagnosis and answer her questions. None of us would dare say “he’s not my patient”

Today, management looks different.

Meetings. Policies. HR departments. Emails at 2 a.m.
Staffing ratios. Budget discussions. Compliance audits.

Leadership now is often about systems, metrics, and documentation.

Back then, it felt more personal.
Stricter in some ways. Simpler in others.
You didn’t always agree with the matron.
You might have feared her a little.

But you respected her.
And years later… you still remember her name.

Because whether strict or supportive — she shaped the kind of nurse you became.
Did you train under a matron?
Or are you navigating modern management now?
What’s the biggest difference you’ve seen?

26/07/2026

Bedpan diaries of PHH

NO AIR CONDITIONING. JUST FANS IN THE HALLWAY

One of our older nurses said……
“And we did it with no air conditioning. Just fans in the hallways…”

And if you know… you know.
Because nursing back then wasn’t just hard.
It was a whole different world.
The halls were hot.
The rooms were hotter.
And those old fans didn’t “cool” anything… they just moved warm air around like it was doing you a favor.
If a patient had a high temp, we would sponges , place wet washers and get the bedside fan!
You’d walk into a shift already sweating.
By midnight your uniform was sticking to you.
And by morning? You looked like you survived a storm.
And then there was the part people today don’t even believe when you tell them…
Not every room had a bathroom.

So what did we do?
Bedpans.
Commode pans.
Carried down the hall like it was just part of the job… because it was.

And you didn’t have fancy disposal systems.
You had a place some nurses today have never even heard of…
The pan room.
That little room with the smell you could recognize with your eyes closed.
That was nursing.
It wasn’t glamorous.
It wasn’t Instagram-worthy.
But it was real.
And the funny part is… we didn’t sit around complaining.
We just did it.
You realize how much the world has changed.

But you also realize something else:

Those nurses who worked in that era?

They were built different.

Not because they were better…
but because they had to be.

19/07/2026

Bedpan diaries of PHH

Fluid Balance Checks
6:30 AM at the nurses' station. The ward was finally settling into a fragile morning quiet, but the hardest mental math of the entire night was just beginning. Hunched over the metal desk, gripping a pen with stiff, aching fingers, trying to force bleary eyes to focus on the wrinkled Intake and Output sheet. Manually tallying every single CC of fluid in and out, re-adding the columns when your exhausted brain was practically begging to shut down. It was a grueling, solitary ritual of transition—the final, heavy burden of absolute accuracy before you could finally pass that metal clipboard to the day shift and walk away.

12/07/2026

Bedpan diaries of PHH

Oxygen tanks

When Oxygen Tanks Were HEAVY
Before lightweight portable oxygen systems and wall ports to deliver oxygen
There were the tanks.
Tall. Solid metal. And unbelievably heavy.
If a patient needed oxygen for transport, you didn’t grab a small portable unit.
You lifted the tank.

If you trained back then,
you didn’t just use oxygen……
You wrestled with it.
That big cylinder
standing in the corner like it owned the room.
The “Workout”
Rolling it across the floor….or let’s be honest
sometimes walking it
when the trolley was nowhere to be found.
Your hands gripping tight,hoping it didn’t tip.
The Sound
That sharp HISS
when you cracked the valve open—
everybody heard it.
Everybody looked.

The Setup
Heavy equipment.
Awkward corners.
Making it all work anyway! On a busy shift you might move that same tank five or six times in one night.
From room to X-ray. From X-ray back to the floor. From the ward to another test.
Your back felt it. Your arms felt it.
But you did it anyway — because the patient needed oxygen, and the job had to get done.
It was one more part of nursing that required strength, determination, and teamwork.
Today oxygen systems are lighter and easier to move.
But nurses who worked the old hospital wards will never forget the feeling of lifting one of those steel tanks and hoping the cart wheels cooperated.

05/07/2026

Bedpan diaries of PHH
They should never have been replaced!
We used these over bed tables for many things.
Placing meals in front of patients
Administering inhalations
Taking the flowers out
Hanging towels to dry
Occupational therapy
Stripping the bed
Wash bowl for face and hand and teeth bowl
Can you think of anything else??