8. A spoonful of .... helps the medicine go down !

Most of the initiation rituals carried out on junior student nurses by more experienced student nurses that I remember were of a psychological rather than a physical nature.

One of the most common practical jokes played on new student nurses - during day-light hours for obvious reasons - was for a more senior nurse to send a gullible PTS (Preliminary Training School) nurse off the ward to the Path. Lab. with instructions to return with "a pair of Fallopian Tubes". Since fallopian tubes are normally only ever found inside the human body or at worse - pickled within a laboratory specimen jar - the embarassed novice usually returned to her ward with nothing more than a red face!

But even at night one or two bright sparks could always be relied upon to conduct ritualised practical jokes that were aimed at putting more junior students 'in their place'. I particularly remember a couple of daring or bored 2nd or 3rd Year student nurses ringing up 1st Year students ("novice night nurses") via the internal telephone system and playing tricks.

On one occasion one of these rogue nurses played a prank on me and mimicking the voice of Mrs Forbes, the Night Nursing Superintendant this imposter asked me - when I was next passing her office in the Admin. Block (on my way to my next meal break) - not to forget to leave a cup of sugar on her desk because she had "run out of sugar" for her tea breaks. "If I am not there when you get there because I am out on my rounds", said the voice, just push "just open the door and leave the sugar on my desk please".

I was obviously very naive and in my eagerness to please her I dutifully carried a cup of sugar through the night and along one of the main hospital corridors until I reached her base. But then you on pushing open her office door perhaps you can imagine how surprised I was at the conclusion of this very important mission to find a dozen or more other cups of sugar sitting ceremoniously on her desk.

Thus I was once again embarassed at having been taken for a ride and I was humbly put back into my role and position as a very junior nurse in the hierachical scheme of things.

In passing, Susan Walker (née Forbes), Mrs Forbes' daughter was in touch with the Nurse's League leadership recently to report that Lilian died in July 2005 at age of 93yrs. She apparently spent the last few years of her life in a Care Home in Darlington, North Yorks, entirely content with her contribution to nursing and with lots of memories of her time in Dartford and at JGH.

And now ... a question for YOU. What initiation rituals can you recall relating to your acceptance into your role or job within JGH ? Were there non-nursing orientated rituals which took place within JG that we nurses knew nothing of ? Look forward to hearing from you.