Living History: Caring for Camas Prairie residents
When Lorraine Nuxoll graduated from St. Gertrude’s Academy in 1951, little did she realize she would become a pioneer in her own right.
She was recruited to be part of the first nursing class offered at Our Lady of Consolation Hospital in Cottonwood, founded by the Benedictine Sisters of the Monastery of St. Gertrude.
Making competent nursing care available to residents of Idaho had prompted the state legislature to pass the “Nurse Practice Act” that same year. A practical nurse program was set up at the hospital, and young women trained to be skilled caregivers.
During the three years that the program ran, Lorraine was one of 12 women who successfully completed the intense curriculum. For six days a week, the students spent two hours daily in the classroom, another seven hours in the hospital gaining hands-on experience, with homework to be completed in the evenings.
For this, they were paid 35 cents an hour.
Lorraine’s diligent work paid off. After a year, she took the state licensing exam and, upon passing, her wages nearly tripled to $1.00 an hour.
With the pressing need for nurses on the Camas Prairie, Lorraine was surprised that, when the Sisters opened St. Gertrude’s College in 1956, nursing courses were not among those offered.
She spent her entire nursing career working in Cottonwood, and even donned a nurse’s cap once more to be part of the Living History exhibit at the Historical Museum during the Raspberry Social in August, 2023.