The Australian Women's Register

1 hour Merla Garrett was born at Sudan, near the Barossa Valley. She attended Immanuel Lutheran College for secondary schooling and in 1951 began training at the Memorial Hospital and later did midwifery training in Hobart. After two years overseas she worked in Sydney and then Mount Pleasant. In 1962 she left South Australia for Papua New Guinea where she served as a missionary nurse for 18 years. During this time she studied at the College of Nursing, Australia (Queensland Branch) and qualified as a tutor sister. Since 1981 Merla has been a lecturer at the School of Nursing, Sturt College (now Flinders University of South Australia). Her extra curricular activities include several assignments with the World Health Organization.