Mary Lewis Richmond

Mary Richmond graduated with an RN from the Vancouver General Hospital, a Diploma in Teaching and Supervision as well as a BSN from McGill School of Nursing, and an MA from Columbia University.  

She played an influential role in British Columbia’s nursing education programs. In the period following World War II, nursing education was going through a significant time of transition, moving from hospital-based training programs toward college and university programs, where nurses were educated in a manner more similar to other health professions. 

Mary was an Assistant Professor at McGill for four years. In 1960, she returned to BC to serve as Director of the School of Nursing Education at the Royal Jubilee Hospital (RJH) in Victoria. She introduced programs in tuberculosis care, public health, and psychiatric nursing. During that time she contributed to the development of the Council of Hospitals with the Schools of Nursing, which included representation from all nursing schools in BC.  

In supporting the transition from hospital-based nursing schools to college and university programs, she was a leader and an innovator. Her education and her insights provided the impetus needed to lead the changes in nursing education.   

During her retirement, Mary kept touch with the UVic School of Nursing and was honoured with the establishment of the Mary Lewis Richmond Bursary in 1998.  

In 2014, Sandra Lynn Hlina wrote a thesis/dissertation about Mary in order to fulfill the requirements of her program at the University of British Columbia. Titled Mary Richmond and transitions in nursing education 1940–1990: a biographical perspective, it can be found at the University of British Columbia Library in Vancouver.