Inspiring five generations of nursing careers

Gayle (MacKenzie) Cotterall's great-grandmother, Edith Amelia (Ball) Pratt, started it all in London, England.

In 1884, she successfully completed the exam of the Obstetrical Society of London and launched a family nursing line that now extends through five generations based in Alberta.

A year after passing her exam, Edith attended a training school in Westminster, where she obtained the right to perform minor surgery, midwifery and to practice medicine for the diseases of women and children.

Eventually, Edith married a Methodist minister and moved to India where she practiced nursing for 36 years. Later, they moved to Calgary and finally retired on Vancouver Island.

Edith's daughter, Constance (Pratt) Harper, who was Cotterall's grandmother, trained at the Royal United Hospital in Bath, England between 1908 and 1911. In 1913 she passed the Central Midwives exam. She later moved to Canada and worked for many years with a local physician, Dr. Ardiel, in Okotoks. Constance married a homesteader and had three children, including Cotterall's mother, Catherine.

Catherine (Harper) MacKenzie became the next family member to follow Edith's example. She graduated from the Calgary General Hospital in May 1944. She practiced at the Taber hospital for four years and interrupted her practice to raise four children. She resumed nursing in 1961 and worked as a general duty nurse and head nurse. Eventually she was appointed director of nursing at the Turner Valley Hospital, a position she occupied until her retirement in 1984.

Catherine's love of nursing inspired her daughter Gayle to enter the profession.

"I was definitely influenced by my mom and the obvious enjoyment she had for her career," says Cotterall. "Mom often talked about the respect she had in the community and how much she loved the patients. It made me want to do the same."

Gayle Cotterall graduated from the Galt School of Nursing in Lethbridge in 1969 and was awarded the Bigelow-Fowler Clinic Scholarship for outstanding clinical performance. She worked in Red Deer and McLellan before securing a position in 1972 on the surgery unit of the Rockyview Hospital in Calgary. She is currently stationed on the urology unit at Rockyview Hospital.

"I love the patients... the personalities and being able to do something for them," says Cotterall. "I think every nurse has the need to care for someone."

Today, Cotterall finds herself encouraging her own daughter, Leslie, towards completion of the registered nursing degree program through Mount Royal College in Calgary. Leslie will be the fifth generation to enter the profession.

"My daughter was greatly influenced by a 21-year-old friend who stayed with us for three to four months while she underwent chemotherapy," says Cotterall. "It was a devastating experience for all of us but it also influenced her to take up nursing."

In addition to her daughter, Gayle's niece, Sandi Lynn (MacKenzie) Vaudan, is enrolled in the first year of the bachelor of nursing program at Mount Royal College. Sandi is Catherine MacKenzie's granddaughter, and is currently practicing on Unit 64 at Rockyview General Hospital as a licensed practical nurse, bringing the total number of nurses to six in this one family line.

"I'm not sure what made all of us go into nursing but I do know that it certainly was the right career for me," says Cotterall. "I've enjoyed it so much - the laughter, the caring, the sadness, even the wrenching moments where we all learn something. It's been a lifetime of friendships."

Copyright Alberta Association of Registered Nurses Jul 2003
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