The Museum of Nursing History acknowledges the importance of the nursing profession and notable pioneering nurses and midwives who trained and worked at the hospital over the years since its inception as the Brisbane Hospital to what is now Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (RBWH).

The Museum proudly showcases the history of nursing through a collection of photographs and memorabilia dating from the late 19^th century. It provides a historic glimpse for past and present generations of nurses and midwives to reflect and remember nursing as it once was and how it has evolved over the decades.  The Museum also features a display of nurses involved in wars, particularly WWI and WWII.

Our historical collection tells a unique story and includes:

• Historical photographs of individual nurses, groups and graduations
• Items of nursing and medical equipment
• Uniforms, caps and aprons and badges
• Furniture from nurses quarters
• Diaries, competency and registration certificates, lecture notes, scrapbooks, poems and newspaper clippings
• Texts, small reference books and nursing dictionaries

The Museum is located at Herston campus, Brisbane, in what was the former original infectious diseases ward (or fever ward) from 1875 and subsequently became female wards.  It is one of the heritage-listed buildings that exists on the campus.

The Museum is close to the historic Lady Lamington buildings which are central to the history of nursing at Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital and is where generations of nurses lived during their years of training.

The Museum is managed by the Royal Brisbane Hospital Nurses’ Association (Inc) and run by a team of passionate former nurses and volunteers. To find out about volunteering opportunities email: rbhnursesassn@gmail.com

In 2017, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital celebrated 150 years of care.  A selection of the Museum’s collection is on permanent display in the Level 1 Atrium at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.

More information about the Museum is included in The Museum of Nursing History brochure.

Herston Heritage Trail

Nurses on the balconies of the Lady Lamington Nurses’ Home 1906

Heritage walks at Herston provide insight and stories of what once was. The Museum and the historic buildings of the Herston campus are key points of interest along the Herston heritage trail. To join in on a heritage trail and to learn about the heritage of the area contact rbhnursesassn@gmail.com.

Historical buildings

Generations of past and present nurses have a deep connection with the Lady Lamington buildings located on the RBWH campus. The Lady Lamington Nurses Home was the social epicentre of life as a resident nurse at RBWH. The Nurses’ Home included the staff dining room and recreational areas. The two eight-storey Lady Lamington towers were the former Nurses’ Quarters and are the earliest surviving nurses’ quarters in Queensland. The building’s foundation stone was laid by Lady Lamington, wife of the Governor on 14 September 1896.

Historical timeline

The first hospital in Brisbane, the Moreton Bay General Hospital, was established in 1849 near the site of the present Supreme Court in the CBD. In 1867, a new hospital was built at Herston and patients were moved to the Brisbane Hospital.  The first nurses graduated from the hospital in 1888. Since that time, the hospital has provided training for thousands of nurses and midwives.