Ellen Dougherty (20 September 1844 – 3 November 1919), a
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
nurse, was the first
Registered Nurse
A registered nurse (RN) is a nurse who has graduated or successfully passed a nursing program from a recognized nursing school and met the requirements outlined by a country, state, province or similar government-authorized licensing body to o ...
in the world.
Biography
Ellen Dougherty was born at Cutters Bay, Port Underwood, New Zealand. Ellen was inspired to be a nurse after learning about Florence Nightingale. It is believed that before nurse training, she worked with Charles Barraud in his Wellington pharmacy. She trained at
Wellington Hospital from 1885 and completed a certificate in nursing in 1887. In 1893 she accepted the post of matron of the newly opened
Palmerston North Hospital
Palmerston North Hospital is the main public hospital in Palmerston North, New Zealand. The hospital is located at the northern end of Ruahine Street, northeast of The Square. It is the main hospital run by the MidCentral District Health Board, ...
. In 1899 she was formally registered as a pharmacist.
In 1901, New Zealand became the first country to pass legislation, the
Nurses Registration Act, on the registration of nurses. Dougherty was then the first to be registered on 10 January 1902.
She retired in 1908.
Dougherty is buried at Clareville Cemetery,
Carterton, New Zealand. Her medal is at the Nurses Chapel at Wellington Hospital. For the centenary of Nursing, it was arranged with Nursing Council in Wellington that her grave be restored, and on the anniversary of 10 January 2002, the grave was rededicated with family, historians and media attending.
The UK began nurse registration in 1919, the year Ellen Dougherty died.
References
Further reading
* Macgregor, Miriam (1975) ''Petticoat pioneers; North Island women of the colonial era'' Book 2 - cited in Dictionary of New Zealand Biography
External links
Openshaw, M. G. ''Dougherty, Ellen 1844 - 1919''. Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, updated March 2006
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dougherty, Ellen
1844 births
1919 deaths
New Zealand nurses
People from Palmerston North
Burials at Clareville Cemetery
19th-century New Zealand people
New Zealand women nurses