Today is 12 May and it's International Nurses Day! How wonderful is that!
Florence Nightingale - probably the most famous nurse of all - was born on the 12th May, 1820.
In honour of International Nurse's Day, I'd like to take a very tiny peek at district nursing and particularly some examples of vintage vehicles that were used as transport by the service in Ballarat.
District nurses go out into the community to bring care to patients in their homes. In Victoria, Australia, a home nursing service was introduced in 1885 to following in the footsteps of an idea that had been active in England since 1858.
As part of the Ballarat Heritage Weekend recently, there was a display of early vehicles used by the nurses to get around to see their patients - starting with the bicycle! Those early nurses must have been fit resourceful women.
The introduction of the motor car must have represented a huge advance in mobility for the nurses. And there was an example of Henry Ford's "universal car" - the Model T. Henry prided himself that his car was easily maintained and able to handle the poor road conditions of the era.
These days the nurses of the Ballarat District Nursing Service provide fantastic home and community care, particularly helping patients with stomal management, wound care, diabetes and podiatry.
Anyway, to finish, I'd like to say big thank you to all the nurses out there for the wonderful work you do and the comfort you bring to patients and their families everywhere!