Jen was born in north Co. Mayo in 1981 and she describes her idyllic childhood growing up on the family farm. Jen shares the impact of her father’s sudden death when she was 13, relating this to her interest in counselling and psychology. Jen describes what it was like moving from Mayo to Dublin to pursue a career in nursing, and she notes the experiences and excitement of living and training in the city. Jen’s family was Protestant and she talks about the role of the church in her social life before and after leaving Mayo, including a six-month placement with a child’s charity in Russia.

Jen talks about what it was like being a trainee nurse in Dublin…

“It was changing at that time, there was a lot of changes in nursing. They were trying to make it as kind of elevated to be a more professional- to be seen as a profession. So at the time we were in a kind of- we were a transitionary group. So as I say, the hospitals were amalgamating and, in that time, they were also changing a lot of things. So our uniform reflected the two hospitals, but it was tunic and trousers. Whereas at the time, they were still wearing dresses in the other hospitals, and some people who were on the wards, they were wearing dresses. The Adelaide had apparently had a uniform where it was a dress and an apron and hat and puffy sleeves and all this kind of thing, and that was just literally the year or two before us.

So nursing was very much in a transition way. We were the first kind of group- I think maybe the first or second year of a group that was going to the university for some of our lectures. They were really trying to move towards a research-based model of care. There were other people finishing their training that were using the old methods, the old training. So it was a very interesting kind of time. Even by the time I finished, they were bringing in something new again, because we were kind of like this testing and trying in our group. We spent two days off campus, so we were based mainly in the hospital, and we had a kind of big lecture hall in the hospital. But we would have our lunches with the other staff members. So it very much felt like you were immersed in it from the word go. And then we spent two days in college, so the college we were assigned to was- or connected with- was Trinity College at the time. We actually spent one day there and one day in a different hospital. So we went to a different education centre in and around hospital, which was also connected to Trinity. […] There were tensions, at the time when we first went out on placements there was managers, they had the title Clinical Nurse Manager, but there were others that still wanted to be called sister because again, most of the hospitals were run by nuns. Now these people weren’t even nuns because that was the title that was handed over to those that were in charge. They would wear the old garb and they were really kind of still flying the flag for the old way. I remember some of the issues that you would be called, maybe they’d shout their name from the other end of the corridor. There was a lot of keeping and putting you in your place with certain people. I remember being asked to bring someone a glass of milk and to make sure it was on a saucer with a doily [laughs]. I just remember thinking they must be off their heads, where will I find a doily. So I was trying to get this up to the person without knowing I was never going to find a doily, like this hospital was not equipped with doilies, and so you had things like that.

There was one matron, we called her that. She used to measure the sides of how the blanket would fall. You had to have it exactly the same amount. So you had some of that really old school and then you had some younger managers. It was an interesting time, it was kind of a transition period, there was a lot of growing pains and obviously there was a big change for them because they were moving from other buildings and trying to amalgamate. But for me I just thought it was very exciting.”

For more information on accessing Jen’s full interview or transcript please email faisneis@unaganaguna.org