Lucy Osburn
New South Wales politician Henry Parkes (who would later be premier) was concerned about the
state of the Sydney Infirmary and Dispensary and appealed for help to Florence Nightingale for
trained nurses. Consequently, in March 1868 Lucy Osburn was sent out as Lady Superintendent of
the Infirmary and was accompanied by five other trained nurses. Osburn won Parkes' trust and began
the challenging task of cleaning up the crumbling, foul-smelling and vermin-infested Infirmary.
A week after their arrival they had a royal patient, when the Duke of Edinburgh was wounded by a
would-be assassin at Clontarf.
But in spite of the public acclaim this brought them, Lucy Osburn and her staff faced much
resistance in their efforts to reform the infirmary. In addition to the appalling conditions,
they met with hostility and opposition from doctors and the Board. The idea of gentlewomen working
as hospital nurses was still novel, and to many people shocking. Lucy was continually obstructed
by the surgeons and personally attacked in the Parliament.
A Royal Commission on public charities in 1873 condemned the Sydney Infirmary, accusing the
management committee of neglect and interfering in the duties of the nurses. Osburn was vindicated
and the commission praised her work toward the improvement in the standards of nursing. Most of
the Lucy Osburn sisters took up positions as matrons at various hospitals. By these means the
Nightingale teaching and standards became accepted practice in the hospital system of the colony.
By the time she returned to England she had laid the foundation of modern nursing in New
South Wales.
Lucy Osburn retired from nursing in 1878 and in 1881 the Infirmary's name was changed to the
Sydney Hospital. She left Sydney in 1884 and returned to London. After some years nursing among
the sick and poor in London, Lucy died of diabetes at her sister's home in Harrogate on
22 December 1891.
Ms Osburn was described by her successor at Sydney Hospital, Miss McKay, as "an exceptional woman"
who regarded nursing "as the highest employment" to be entered with "a spirit of devotion". One of
her common recommendations to those taking up the profession was reported as being "you nurses
should exist for patients, not they for you".
The Nightingale Wing
Nurse training in Australia began on site in 1868 when Florence Nightingale sent out Lucy Osburn
and five other English sisters. The brick and sandstone Gothic Revival Nightingale Wing of 1869
off the central courtyard, with its colourful fountain, was built to the plans of Florence
Nightingale to house the first nursing school.
Sydney Entertainment Centre Home Page
Australiamn Statdiums