Practical Nursing in Waterville


Maine School of Practical Nursing Brochure, 1963

Maine School of Practical Nursing Brochure, 1963
Item 35228   info
Kennebec Valley Community College Archive

As a profession, practical nursing or attendant nursing as it was known until the 1950s, has a long history in the United States and in the state of Maine.

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1958

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1958
Item 35226   info
Kennebec Valley Community College Archive

Until the middle of the 20th century most of the training provided was through private groups and institutions with little or no public oversight.

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1958

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1958
Item 35253   info
Kennebec Valley Community College Archive

In 1945 the Maine Legislature passed a bill providing licensure for this crucial area of health care.

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1959

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1959
Item 35235   info
Kennebec Valley Community College Archive

A handful of years later another important step was undertaken when the governor appointed a committee to review the nursing resources and needs of Maine.

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1959

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1959
Item 35242   info
Kennebec Valley Community College Archive

The results were dramatic enough that within two years, 1953, the legislature appropriated the funds necessary to establish two campuses for a publicly accessible practical nursing program.

Maine School of Practical Nursing class officers, Waterville, 1959

Maine School of Practical Nursing class officers, Waterville, 1959
Item 35219   info
Kennebec Valley Community College Archive

The first campus of the Maine School of Practical Nursing was established at the Aroostook State Teachers College at Presque Isle in 1954.

The MSPN very quickly outgrew its place at the Teachers College.

Maine School of Practical Nursing class, Waterville, ca. 1959

Maine School of Practical Nursing class, Waterville, ca. 1959
Item 35231   info
Kennebec Valley Community College Archive

The MSPN's mandated second campus opened at Waterville in 1957 on Highwood Street across from Sister's Hospital.

It ran a one-year training program that admitted two classes per year -- in February and September.

Maine School of Practical Nursing class officers, Waterville, 1960

Maine School of Practical Nursing class officers, Waterville, 1960
Item 35188   info
Kennebec Valley Community College Archive

Many of the admission requirements would no longer be viable by today's standards.

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1960

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1960
Item 35189   info
Kennebec Valley Community College Archive

For instance, in its early years the school admitted women exclusively with preferences given to unmarried women between the ages of 18 and 50.

Practical Nursing class officers, Waterville, 1961

Practical Nursing class officers, Waterville, 1961
Item 35234   info
Kennebec Valley Community College Archive

The program proved successful enough to lead to the establishment of a third campus in Portland shortly after the second.

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1961

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1961
Item 35232   info
Kennebec Valley Community College Archive

By 1968 the Presque Isle campus had been absorbed by the Northern Maine Vocational Technical Institute.

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1961

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1961
Item 35243   info
Kennebec Valley Community College Archive

The Portland campus was also merged into the local Vocational Technical Institute between 1972 and 1974, leaving Waterville with the only branch of the Maine School of Practical Nursing.

Maine School of Practical Nursing class officers, Waterville, 1962

Maine School of Practical Nursing class officers, Waterville, 1962
Item 35239   info
Kennebec Valley Community College Archive

Feasibility studies in 1972 and 1974 explored the possibility of merging the MSPN and the nursing program at Kennebec Valley Vocational Technical Institute.

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1962

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1962
Item 35237   info
Kennebec Valley Community College Archive

The idea of merging what remained of the MSPN was firmly established but proved far more complicated when it came to carrying out the process with the Waterville campus.

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1962

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1962
Item 35238   info
Kennebec Valley Community College Archive

The Waterville branch had maintained dormitory space since its inception.

Maine School of Practical Nursing class officers, Waterville, 1962

Maine School of Practical Nursing class officers, Waterville, 1962
Item 35245   info
Kennebec Valley Community College Archive

Dormitories were the first aspect of the school to be phased out.

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1962

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1962
Item 35244   info
Kennebec Valley Community College Archive

Being strictly a commuter school made moving onto a new campus a little easier.

Maine School of Practical Nursing class officers, Waterville, 1963

Maine School of Practical Nursing class officers, Waterville, 1963
Item 35241   info
Kennebec Valley Community College Archive

The Kennebec Valley Vocational Technical Institute began leasing the Gilman Street School building in 1977.

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1963

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1963
Item 35240   info
Kennebec Valley Community College Archive

As Kennebec Valley Vocational Technical Institute began to move in and utilize its first independent campus, the Maine School of Practical Nursing also was moved into the new facility.

Maine School of Practical Nursing students, Waterville, ca. 1964

Maine School of Practical Nursing students, Waterville, ca. 1964
Item 35229   info
Kennebec Valley Community College Archive

The physical merger of the two post-secondary schools was a major step, but proved to be somewhat superficial since the administrations and identities remained independent.

Maine School of Practical Nursing class officers, Waterville, 1965

Maine School of Practical Nursing class officers, Waterville, 1965
Item 35246   info
Kennebec Valley Community College Archive

The Maine School of Practical Nursing had the entire second floor with the exception of the Library.

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1965

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1965
Item 35247   info
Kennebec Valley Community College Archive

The two continued to be funded from the same source and operate out of the same facility but with two separate administrations.

Maine School of Practical Nursing class officers, Waterville, 1967

Maine School of Practical Nursing class officers, Waterville, 1967
Item 35248   info
Kennebec Valley Community College Archive

The pressure to end this arrangement reach its zenith with the release of the Joint Select Committee to Study the Vocational-Technical Institutes & the Maine School of Practical Nursing's "A Study Of The Vocational-Technical Institutes And The Maine School of Practical Nursing: Final Report."

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1969

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1969
Item 35249   info
Kennebec Valley Community College Archive

The committee made its intentions quite clear in its statement:

"The Maine School of Practical Nursing shares the Gilman Street facility with KVVTI. We believe that this dual administrative arrangement is unnecessary and costly."

Maine School of Practical Nursing students, Waterville, ca. 1969

Maine School of Practical Nursing students, Waterville, ca. 1969
Item 35230   info
Kennebec Valley Community College Archive

The committee report continued:

"Following the administrative structure of other VTIs, we believe that the School of Practical Nursing should become one program component of KVVTI."

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1970

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1970
Item 35250   info
Kennebec Valley Community College Archive

Officially, the MSPN came to abrupt end in 1980.

Unofficially, however, the school survived a little longer in practice.

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1972

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1972
Item 35220   info
Kennebec Valley Community College Archive

The identity of the school was carried not only by the faculty and staff of the MSPN but by the students and faculty and staff of KVVTI.

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1973

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1973
Item 35252   info
Kennebec Valley Community College Archive

The entire staff of the MSPN -- Eleanor Cutler, Margaret L. Davis, Lola Newton, Lorna Smith, Patricia Toto, Rose M. Veilleux, and Joanne Williams -- continued on at Gilman.

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1975

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1975
Item 35217   info
Kennebec Valley Community College Archive

All sanctioned publications used "KVVTI School of Practical Nursing" but almost no one referred to it as such in daily conversation.

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1976

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1976
Item 35218   info
Kennebec Valley Community College Archive

It was still commonly referred to as the Maine School of Practical Nursing by everyone at Gilman whether they had any connection to the nursing program or not.

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1977

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1977
Item 35227   info
Kennebec Valley Community College Archive

The Maine School of Practical Nursing identity gradually faded away, largely because of further changes in staffing, campus location, and developments in the nursing profession.

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1979

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1979
Item 35221   info
Kennebec Valley Community College Archive

The last references to the Maine School of Practical Nursing in memos and photos receded during the transitional period of 1983-1986.

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1980

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1980
Item 35222   info
Kennebec Valley Community College Archive

It was during this time that the Vocational Technical Institute began to move from the Gilman Street facility in Waterville to its current home in Fairfield.

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1981

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1981
Item 35223   info
Kennebec Valley Community College Archive

The handful of MSPN faculty and staff either moved on or transitioned to new roles at the school.

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1982

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1982
Item 35224   info
Kennebec Valley Community College Archive

The profession was moving away from Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) toward an Associate Degree Nursing (ADN) program.

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1983

Maine School of Practical Nursing graduating class, Waterville, 1983
Item 35225   info
Kennebec Valley Community College Archive

Though there are still LPNs in the field today they are themselves being phased out.

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