The Australian Women's Register

1 hour 40 minutes Ruth Hurn, nee Derbyshire, was born in Melbourne. She came to South Australia with her parents in 1920. During the early years of the Second World War she was a Red Cross volunteer at the Port Lincoln Hospital. In 1945 she commenced training at the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH). She nursed in Queensland for a year, before returning to South Australia where she had appointments at the RAH and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. She also successfully completed the Sister Tutor Diploma course at the College of Nursing, Australia. In the 1960s Ruth was matron first of the Naracoorte hospital and then at Port Pirie. In 1969 she was appointed Nursing Advisor to the Hospitals Department. During five years in this post, Ruth was associated with several developments in nursing education including the tertiary nursing course at Sturt College. After retirement from the Hospitals Department she spent five years as Director of Nursing at the Berri Hospital.