Breaking boundaries: Canada's first Black public health nurse

Bernice Redmon broke barriers as Canada’s first Black public health nurse and first Black nurse to be appointed into Victorian Order of Nurses in Canada. Photo courtesy of www.bernicecarnegie.com/carnegie-family

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February marks Black History Month across Canada. To honour the legacy of Black communities, the Faculty of Nursing is featuring nursing pioneers and difference-makers, past and present. We will share their history, successes, sacrifices, and victories.

Bernice Redmon

Born Bernice Isobel Carnegie in Toronto in 1917, Bernice Redmon would become a trailblazer in nursing by breaking barriers as a Black Canadian nurse.

Redmon aspired to be a nurse. However, during the 1940s, Black women were denied admission to Canadian nursing schools. Undeterred, Redmon pursued her nursing education in the United States at St. Phillip Hospital Medical College in Virginia. She graduated with a registered nursing degree three years later. Redmon earned a scholarship to continue her studies and went on to receive an additional degree in public health nursing.

After returning to Canada in 1945, Redmon began her career in Sydney, Nova Scotia. At the Nova Scotia Department of Health, she became the first Black nurse to practise in public health.

Her dedication and passion for patient care led to her appointment to the Victorian Order of Nurses in Canada, making her the first Black nurse to achieve this honour.

Her contributions and accomplishments inspired organizations to advocate for equality for Black Canadians in health-care education and in the workplace. By the late 1940s and 1950s, more Black women began to be employed in Ontario hospitals, opening the door for nursing education in Canadian schools.

For more information on Bernice Redmon and the Carnegie family, please visit www.bernicecarnegie.com/carnegie-family.

To learn more about The Carnegie Initiative, please visit carnegieinitiative.com.

– Gam Macasaet