Historic nursing archives are restored and displayed at University Hospital Waterford
Artist Marley Irish, also a nurse at University Hospital Waterford, pointing to herself in her year’s nurse graduation photo. Photos: Noel Browne
The long tradition of nurse training at University Hospital Waterford is being highlighted by a display of photographs now on permanent display in the hospital.
Launched at a ceremony to coincide with International Nurses' Day, seven decades of University Hospital Waterford’s annual nurse graduation photographs have been placed along the walls of the link corridor connecting the main hospital building to its Dunmore Wing.
Réalta/Waterford Healing Arts supported the restoration, reframing and relocation of the images to form the historical archive.
Spanning from 1968 to the present day, the collection beautifully documents the changing faces, styles, and traditions of nursing graduates in Waterford across the decades, while celebrating the enduring contribution of nurses to healthcare in Waterford and the Southeast.
Launching the display of photographs, Niamh Sheehan (Director of Nursing, UHW) said: “We are delighted that the contribution of nurses to this hospital and to healthcare more widely is being recognised by this montage of photographs, with accompanying captions containing the names of those pictured.
"To date, we had some of them on the walls in the nurse education section in a part of the building not accessible to patients and visitors.
“The display will be a source of interest to visitors to UHW, in that there will be so many connections between the viewer and those in the images. We look forward to adding annual UHW nurse graduation photographs to these corridor walls into the future.”
“Through time, now and into the future, nurses perform a vital service as part of a multidisciplinary team in promoting and maintaining health of individuals, families and communities and in systematically caring for those who develop health problems and supporting them to live their lives to their maximum potential.”
The restoration and reframing work was carried out by photographer and framer Tom Quilty, who is also one of Réalta’s Art Installers at UHW, with support from Réalta Curator Aisling Kennedy and Assistant Administrator Ann Murphy. The Réalta team worked in collaboration with UHW’s General Manager Ben O’Sullivan, Director of Nursing Niamh Sheehan and Nurse Practice Development Co-ordinator/Assistant Director of Nursing Nora Flynn.
