Susan Bell McGahey (1862 - November 16, 1919) was the matron of the

Royal Prince Alfred Hospital The Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (abbreviated RPAH or RPA) is a large teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia, located on Missenden Road in Camperdown. It is a teaching hospital of the Central Clinical School of the Sydney Medical School at the ...

from 1891 to 1904. McGahey was also co-founder of the Australasian Trained Nurses' Association in 1899 and president of the

International Council of Nurses The International Council of Nurses (ICN) is a federation of more than 130 national nurses associations. It was founded in 1899 and was the first international organization for :Health care occupations, health care professionals. It is headqua ...

from 1904 to 1909.

Early life and education

Susan Bell McGahey was born in 1862 in Stewartstown,

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. She was partially homeschooled before attending a college in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

where she received multiple awards and scholarships. After moving to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in the 1870s, McGahey completed her nursing training at

The London Hospital The Royal London Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is part of Barts Health NHS Trust. It provides district general hospital services for the City of London and Tower Hamlets and spe ...

in 1886.Susan McGahey, Register of Probationers; RLHLH/N/1/2, 31; Barts Health NHS Trust Archives and Museums, LondonRogers, Sarah (2022). 'A Maker of Matrons'? A study of Eva Lückes's influence on a generation of nurse leaders:1880–1919' (Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Huddersfield, April 2022) with an additional certificate at the Obstetrical Society of London.

Career

McGahey initially started her nurse training as a Paying Probationer at The

London Hospital The Royal London Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is part of Barts Health NHS Trust. It provides district general hospital services for the City of London and London Borough of Tow ...

Whitechapel Whitechapel () is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is the location of Tower Hamlets Town Hall and therefore the borough tow ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1884. She transferred to become a Regular Probationer and completed her training under

Eva Luckes Eva Charlotte Ellis Luckes (8 July 1854 – 16 February 1919) was matron of the London Hospital from 1880 to 1919. Early life Eva Charlotte Ellis Luckes (she spelled her name Lückes with the umlaut until World War I)Rogers, Sarah (2022). ...

in 1886. From December 1887 until August 1889 she worked at The London as a Holiday Sister, and then Ward Sister before moving to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

because of her health. Upon arriving in Australia in 1890, McGahey became a matron at Carrington Convalescent Hospital in

Camden, New South Wales Camden is a historic town and suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, located 65 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district. Camden was the administrative centre for the local government area of Camden Council until July 2016 a ...

. Later in 1890 she became Matron's Assistant at the Prince Alfred Hospital Sydney. The following year, she replaced Catherine C. Downs as

matron Matron is the job title of a very senior or the chief nurse in a hospital in several countries, including the United Kingdom, and other Commonwealth countries and former colonies. Etymology The chief nurse, in other words the person in charge ...

of the

in 1891. As matron, she introduced recommendations about the training and hiring of nurses in New South Wales. One of her charges was Isla Stuart Blomfield who would go on to be another leading nurse. In 1901 McGahey and Blomfield went on a tour of American hospitals. In 1904, McGahey resigned from the RPAH because the then Chairman of the Board of Directors, Professor Anderson Stuart refused to allow her to establish a nurse training school. McGahey moved to Charlemont Private Hospital where she opened a training hospital for nurses.Matron’s Annual Letter to Nurses, No.14, Matron's Annual Letter to Nurses, 1894–1916; RLHLH/N/7/2, No.14, March 1907, 27; Barts Health NHS Trust Archives and Museums, London Outside of her career as a matron, McGahey was a co-founder of the Australasian Trained Nurses' Association in 1899. During her time at the ATNA, McGahey was elected president of the

in 1904. She remained at the ATNA as a secretary until 1912.

Death

McGahey died from cancer on 16 November 1919 in

Carlingford, New South Wales Carlingford () is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Carlingford is north-west of the Sydney central business district in the Local government in Australia, local government area of City of Parramatta. Carlingford si ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGahey, Susan 1862 births 1919 deaths Irish nurses Deaths from cancer in New South Wales 19th-century Australian women 20th-century Australian women British emigrants to colonial Australia 19th-century Irish women Health professionals from County Tyrone