Nurses Badges Through the Years – Royal Adelaide Hospital showcases the evolution of nursing staff badges. Staff in hospitals today are often seen wearing modern identification cards. Often showing their name and photograph. However in the 1920s it was common to see all nurses wearing a brass or metal hospital badge. Their badges identified the […]
Today we celebrate Allied Health and Scientific Professions Day: an opportunity to acknowledge and thank the more than 2800 Allied Health and Scientific professionals working across the Central Adelaide Local Health Network (CALHN). Representing over 24 disciplines, these professionals play a vital role in working to improve the lives of South Australians. Allied Health and […]
Last Thursday was R U OK? Day, a reminder to check in with the people around us and start conversations that matter. To mark the day, our colleague Kellie Branson, put together thoughtful R U OK? packs for staff and volunteers at the museum. It was a simple but meaningful gesture that highlighted the importance […]
Starting work as a probationer or trainee nurse was never easy. For generations of probationers at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, the first day meant stepping into a world of strict rules, heavy workloads, and unfamiliar routines. The CALHN Health Museum’s oral history collection captures these moments, with nurses recalling their first impressions, early mistakes, and […]
In our collection is a small, little book with a very long title: The Gastric Regions and Victualling Department (or the Roast Beef of Old England). It was published in 1860, making it 165 years old, and is attributed simply to ‘an Old Militia Surgeon”. Although the author remains anonymous, what he left behind is […]
For much of the 19th and early 20th centuries, nursing was not just a job, it could be a dangerous calling. Hospitals, far from being the clean, clinical environments we know today, were often a hotbed for diseases. Nurses daily treated patients with diseases such tuberculosis, polio, typhus, smallpox, diphtheria and influenza, not to mention […]
While hospital beds are just part of the hospital furniture, their design, availability and even their cleanliness, have been concerns that directly affected patient care since the Royal Adelaide Hospital opened in 1842. The Black Bed Era The first hospital beds used at the Adelaide Hospital were known colloquially as ‘Black Beds’. These were low […]
Volunteers play an integral part in our community be it as part of a community group or fundraising for the local sporting club. May recognises the amazing work and contributions that volunteers provide to the community. At the CALHN Health Museum we are celebrating our volunteers for their amazing work. May 19th– 23rd was National […]
In a quiet corner of the old Royal Adelaide Hospital, formally located on North Terrace on the western side of the driveway by the East Wing, there was a small garden with the most beautiful roses. For nearly 30 years this garden was developed and cared for by Dr Allan Campbell. Established in 1976, the […]
Window’s are part of our daily lives but some window’s are more than just glass. Stained glass window’s often tell a story and offer special meaning. Lets take a look at some of the stained glass window’s throughout CALHN. Royal Adelaide Hospital In 1972 as part of the Royal Adelaide Hospital Redevelopment a purpose built […]
This week marks the beginning of South Australia’s History Festival. The festival runs through the whole month of May, with this year’s theme being ‘decisions’. The CALHN Health Museum will be offering a range of events throughout the month, scattered over its multiple sites. Tour – Exploring the Infectious Diseases Hospital Explore Hampstead Rehabilitation Centres […]
In 1932 South Australian inventor Edward ‘Ted’ Both invented an electrocardiograph, which was one of the first direct writing electrocardiographs in the world. So how did a man from small town Caltowie come up with this idea? The Idea It was during a visit to the local doctor. While seeking treatment for an injured hand […]
In the decades following World War II, tuberculosis remained one of Australia’s leading causes of death. Often dubbed the ‘silent killer’, tuberculosis could remain undetected for months or even years, spreading quietly through the population. In response, public health authorities launched an Australia-wide initiative that ran from 1948 until 1976. In this post, we take […]
Within the cracked walls of the decaying Metropolitan Infectious Diseases Hospital’s old kitchen, a unique piece of medical equipment and Australian history stands – the whole body monitor scanner. The workers at the atomic weapon testing range, Maralinga, built the whole body monitor scanner. It is one of only two in the southern hemisphere (the […]
Within the CALHN Health Museum is a fascinating collection of pharmaceuticals manufactured by AM Bickford & Sons. Long before Bickford’s became a household name for cordials and soft drinks, it was a trusted name in medicine. As one of Adelaide’s earliest apothecaries, Bickford’s produced tinctures, tonics and remedies for the growing colony. William Bickford William […]