Jessie Mantle

Jessie Mantle has had a unique history of continuing her education across Canada and across universities. She received her nursing diploma from the Royal Jubilee Hospital School of Nursing in 1950, practiced nursing for ten years, and then returned to her studies, graduating from McGill University with a BSN in 1966.  

Jessie continued to expand her academic accomplishments, starting in Boston with a certificate in psychiatric nursing followed by training in public health. She then obtained her master’s degree from the University of San Francisco, and followed it with post-degree work in gerontological nursing while on sabbatical leave from the University of Western Ontario. While at the University of Western Ontario, Jessie developed learning tools for students and chaired the graduate program. 

In 1981, Jessie returned to Vancouver Island to take up a joint appointment as professor at the University of Victoria School of Nursing and Clinical Nurse Specialist at Juan de Fuca Hospitals, with 50 percent of her time spent in each institution. Over the next 13 years, she taught registered nurses at the University of Victoria, developed one of the distance learning programs for the School of Nursing, and established courses in gerontological nursing.  

At Juan de Fuca Hospitals, Jessie helped establish a wide set of clinical programs and committees to improve resident care. The interdisciplinary team she led founded a clinical council, an ethics committee, and care programs for special ailments. The Clinical Nurse Specialist position was so successful that it became permanent. In 1988, Mantle authored “Nursing practise in long term care agencies,” included in Canadian Nursing Faces the Future (eds. Baumgart and Larsen).  

Jessie retired in 1995, but in post-retirement she co-authored a book with Jeanette Funke-Ferber titled The Forgotten Revolution The Priory Method  A restorative Care Model for older Persons (2003). She also established the Jessie Mantle Fellowship in Nursing at the University of Victoria to assist students in graduate programs, specifically those who focus on improving the care and lives of the elderly, and strengthening the relationship amongst service agencies, researchers, and academics.