SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb., – Eight of the 19 young women who graduated in 1952 from West Nebraska Methodist Hospital School of Nursing will gather this week in Scottsbluff for their 60th nursing school class reunion.

June Barber Bauer of Hemingford, Neb., one of the alums, said she looks forward to every class reunion; however, this one will be special. In addition to a tour of both the hospital and Western Nebraska Community College, where many nursing classes are now held, the classmates will have tea with one of their former instructors, Lydia Cahoy, who lives at The Residency. The reunion celebration will begin with a dinner Thursday evening and conclude Monday morning with breakfast.

Bauer was raised in Akron, Colo. She discovered her career interest through a high school nursing course. A one-year scholarship allowed her to attend college at Greeley, Colo., after which she accepted a year-long teaching position to earn the money for nursing school. In the early 1950s, the three-year program cost $900.

The West Nebraska Methodist Hospital opened its School of Nursing six months after the hospital opened in 1924. During the 1940s, a dormitory was purchased in Gering to house the students, who were bussed to and from the hospital for classes and work. That was “home” for Bauer and her classmates during nursing school.

The WNMH School of Nursing students started each day with Chapel, then took the bus to the hospital at 18th Street and Broadway. Among the nursing students, the school’s initials “WNMH” stood for “We need men here.” She, like several other nursing students, met her husband to be while attending nursing school.

“I loved the program and we always had a good time on the bus,” said Bauer.

Her favorite part of nursing school was “working on the floor” because it helped her to retain the information they learned in class and from books. Her least favorite part was working in the diet kitchen, which all nursing students were required to do. She worried about preparing special diets, such as diabetic diets.

“Working in the diet kitchen was good for us because we learned about low-salt diets, counting calories for diabetic diets, soft diets, and clear diets. We realized what our patients were eating and what they should be eating,” she said.

Also as part of their training, student nurses were required to periodically spend the night at the hospital to assist with emergencies. She said the local physicians were good about teaching procedures to the student nurses. Dr. Kenneth Ohme taught her to change dressings properly and Dr. Walter Harvey, Sr., taught her to start an I.V.

Bauer worked briefly in Akron, Colorado before she married. She then worked for nearly 50 years at the Crawford hospital and in Home Health Care in northwest Nebraska.

West Nebraska Methodist Hospital School of Nursing alumnae who will attend the 60th reunion include: June Barber Bauer, Marilyn Otto Pischer, Betty Nelson Thomas, Joyce Keifer Gibson, Fern Pearl Huffman, Marjorie Monosmith Kissack and husband John, Midge James Curtis and husband Carl, and Charlotte Blackburn Lodge and husband Jim.

Regional West Health Services, with over 1,800 employees, provides comprehensive and innovative health care services for the people and communities of western Nebraska and the neighboring states of Colorado, South Dakota and Wyoming. With over 110 active physicians, 95 percent of whom are board certified or board eligible, plus an additional 25 consulting specialists, Regional West offers care that spans more than 30 medical specialties. Regional West Medical Center, a subsidiary of Regional West Health Services, is accredited by The Joint Commission and is one of three Level II Trauma Centers in Nebraska.