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(1875 - 1974)
 In the early years of the hospital, the nurses who cared for
the sick and injured were untrained men and women. Quite often
these attendants were former patients who had shown some aptitude
or desire to nurse others after their own recovery. At that time,
such employees were usually the working poor, commanding low
wages and having limited access to education. However, some individuals
demonstrated a real vocation for the care of the sick, and were
a great resource to the hospital community.
In 1875, the Board took under consideration plans to establish
a training school for nurses. A program was developed, and certificates
were awarded for successful completion of a year's worth of training,
which included medical and surgical components. Four years later,
Pennsylvania Hospital agreed to co-train student nurses from
the Woman's Hospital of Philadelphia, and this arrangement lasted
until 1882.
In 1883, the hospital re-established its independent training
school, graduating four nurses in its first year. Lectures were
systematically delivered to students by members of the medical,
surgical and outpatient staffs, which supplemented instruction
given by the school's superintendent. Such quality training and
staff support led to an important precedent in 1885, at which
time three female nurses were allowed to work on the men's medical
wards. The first public commencement of the nursing school happened
in 1893, when students received class pins that incorporated
the seal of the Good Samaritan in the design.
Some luminaries in the hospital's training school included Miss
Lucy Walker, an English nurse who became superintendent in 1896.
Under her tutelage, the nursing school became known as one of
the best in the United States. Miss Margaret A. Dunlop became
head of the school in 1909 and was instrumental in the overseas
organization of the American Ambulance Service and Base Hospital
No. 10 during World War I. Her assistant, Miss Helen G. McClelland,
recipient of the American Distinguished Service Cross for valorous
service during WWI, succeeded her predecessor in 1933. During
her 23-year tenure, Miss McClelland played an important role
in the changing dynamics of the nursing profession. She instituted
a shorter work day for nurses, comparable to that of other fields;
encouraged continuing education; designed nursing educational
programs; and solicited friends of the hospital to endow scholarships.
Miss McClelland also organized the nursing component of the 52nd
Evacuation Hospital at the onset of World War II.
In 1964, restructuring within the hospital's administration
and changes within nursing accreditation organizations necessitated
the merger of the School of Nursing for Women at 8th Street and
the School of Nursing for Men at 49th Street. The hospital's
nursing programs had always been based on the "diploma school" format,
in which student nurses divided their time between clinical experience
and classroom instruction. Pressures within the rapidly growing
nursing profession created an imperative to transition from the
hospital-based diploma schools towards academic education. The
faculty of the merged program developed an improved curriculum
in light of the changing patterns in nursing education. However,
in 1974 the hospital graduated its last class of nurses. More
than 2,800 students had graduated since the first public commencement
in 1893, all proudly bearing their caps and "Pennsy" Good
Samaritan nursing pins.
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