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Community Hospital School of Nursing - A lesson of a lifetime Donna Bond, DNP, RN, CCNS, AE-C, CTTS, FCNS (Class of 1981)
Community Hospital of the Roanoke Valley School of Professional Nursing (CHRV SON) was in existence less than 20 years but graduated 428 students eligible to take nursing boards. The school was established in 1965 with students from Jefferson Hospital School of Nursing and Lewis-Gale Hospital School of Nursing after the respective schools chose to consolidate when the hospitals planned to close. According to a history written by Donna Mathews in 1967, the administration at Jefferson Hospital and Lewis-Gale Hospital made the decision in November of 1959 to consolidate the services of the two hospitals to form Community Hospital of the Roanoke Valley (CHRV). The target date of completion was the fall of 1965. As part of the consolidation the two nursing schools were combined. Later, possibly because of construction delays and courting by the then city of Salem, Lewis-Gale joined the Healthcare Corporation of America (HCA) in 1968 and began construction of their hospital in Salem, completed in 1972. The new Lewis Gale hospital did not have an associated nursing school. The newly formed CHRV School of Nursing graduated the first class of nurses in 1968. The diploma nursing program was 33 months in length, which included college classes at Roanoke College in Anatomy and Physiology, Chemistry, and Microbiology. All other classes were in the Carlton Terrace building located on Jefferson street. The nurses lived on the eighth through tenth floors with classes held on the seventh floor. The curriculum changed in 1967 from the approach that student nurses were treated as staff, which was typical of diploma nursing schools at the time, to students being treated as learners. The first year was comprised of basic nursing classes and academic classes. The first summer the students started clinical rotations. For psychiatric experiences the students would rotate through Catawba and Western State Hospital, where they also lived, and later at the Veteran’s Administration Medical Center and Lewis-Gale Psychiatric Center. After 1966 their medical, surgical, pediatrics and mother-baby rotations were all at Community Hospital of the Roanoke Valley (CHRV).
Being a new school there were several “firsts” for the students.1969 was the first class to spend all three years at the Carlton Terrace dorm. The first male student was Richard Cowling who graduated in 1969. The first class to spend all three years of nursing clinicals at CHRV was the class of 1971. Linda Gardner (Class of 1967) was married in the chapel of the then uncompleted CHRV. During the 1960’s and early 1970’s, students who wanted to marry had to ask permission of the school administration. If a student became pregnant, she had to leave the program. In 1969 a set of twins graduated, Brenda and Linda Dickinson. According to Brenda, the administration was fearful of admitting both sisters to the program in case one would excel, the other not, and cause family problems. Both sisters graduated in 1969. Along with the marriage and pregnancy rules, the diploma program also retained more traditional practices that were not in tune with the general college age students. Until the 1980’s if the student walked towards downtown, they were required to wear a dress. This included anytime they went to the hospital cafeteria for meals. There was a 10-minute limit on phone calls (from a pay phone). Lights out occurred at 11 pm nightly, students were required to sign in and out of the dorm, and no men were allowed in the dorm until the mid-80’s, except for a few hours on Saturday and Sunday. Male students lived on a separate floor. When a male did visit, including fellow students, brothers, fathers, or dates, the door had to remain open 12 inches. House mothers were on duty around the clock to enforce dorm rules. Several traditions identified as unique to diploma nursing schools continued at CHRV SON. Three items identified the CHRV nursing students from other nursing schools - their uniform, pin, and cap. The first Nursing Director of CHRV SON was from Lewis Gale School of Nursing. To avoid favoritism from Jefferson or Lewis-Gale students, new uniforms, pins and caps were developed by a committee formed from both schools. A pale yellow one-piece dress was chosen for the uniforms. The school administration made the decision to not require an apron over the uniform. Pant uniforms were first allowed in 1980. The school pin was circular in design with the words “Community Hospital of the Roanoke Valley School of Nursing inscribed around the circle. A cut-out of the state of Virginia was in the center of the pin. A star representing Roanoke was added to the southwest part of the state cut-out. The colors were blue and gold
