Abstract:
The study is a descriptive history of the setting up of the Otago
Community Hospice from the conception of the hospice idea and what
influences and issues were involved in its creation in 1980 - 1990. The main
objectives of the project were to understand and interpret the past and look at
how this benefited the nursing profession and public of Otago. Then to
understand the importance of preserving history in this case ensuring an
important archive, the Otago Community Hospice history, is deposited at the
appropriate place - the Hocken Library.
These objectives were achieved by using documentary primary source
research and one oral history. My secondary sources were journal articles,
books, course books, textbooks and patient information booklet.
The story of the setting up of the Hospice demonstrates how a group of
registered nurses, doctors and business people began a journey with an idea
in 1970 by Dr Ivan Lichter, introducing palliative care to a ward at Wakari
Hospital, Dunedin. Then in 1987, a palliative care unit was established in
Dunedin Hospital, and in 1990, a stand-alone hospice. Policies had to be
established, guidelines written, money raised, a suitable site found, issues
dealt with and alliances formed with the Otago Area Health Board. The
knowledge gained from this project will help nurses to understand their
potential specialist role within the hospice movement and hopefully, provide
a process for other nurses or health institutions to record and archive their
own hospice history.
