• HOME
• THE LANGUAGE OF MADNESS
• THE ASYLUM
• • Asylum Design
  • Patient Buildings
• SOCIETY
• • Urban & Rural Life
  • Class & Gender
  • The Hysterical Female
  • The Evils of "Self-Abuse"
  • Family
  • Visitors
• LEGISLATION
• • Legislative Influence
  • Origins of Legislation and the Criminality of Insanity
  • Teenaged Years: Marked Custody Transition
  • Turn of the Century: Voluntary Admissions
  • Updated Act: The Mental Hospital Act
• SUPERINTENDANTS
• STAFF
• • Working at the LAI
  • Hiring Practices
  • Rules for Employees
  • Employee Roles in Moral Therapy
  • Doctors at LAI
  • Doctor Connections to UWO
  • Training School for Nurses
  • Attendants
  • General Staff
• PATIENT PERSPECTIVES
• • Introduction
  • Patient Art
  • Patient Letters
  • Their Voice
• MEDICAL TREATMENTS
• • Medical Treatment Introduction
  • Use of Restraints
  • Drug and Alcohol
  • Hydrotherapy
  • Female Surgeries
  • Neurosyphilis
  • Shock Therapy
  • Lobotomies
• MORAL THERAPY
• • Moral Therapy Introduction
  • Labour
  • Amusements
  • Diet
  • Religion
• THE WORLD WARS
• • Before the First World War
  • During the First World War
  • After the First World War
  • The First World War and the LAI
  • First World War Veterans at the LAI
  • The Second World War
• MEMORIES OF RMHCL
• • Introduction
  • Their Memories

Training

Attendants   |   Duties and Hierarchy   |   Training

In the early days of the Asylum, attendants did not receive formal training. Until 1970, attendants were trained on site while on the job. Later it was thought that attendants, due to the challenging situations that they faced, should be trained. And in 1971, attendants were required to complete a one year, paid Registered Nursing Assistant Course, with the Department of Heath, which was located at 205 York Street in London Ontario, now the site of the present day VIA rail station. After 1971 attendants were no longer found at the London Asylum. From this point on male and female attendants became Registered Nursing Assistants (RNAs) or they were also referred to as Aids.

The nursing profession entirely took over for attendants. In modern mental health centers in Ontario, attendants no longer exist. They have been reclassified as Registered Nurses (RN) and Registered Practical Nurses (RPN) who now perform the valuable attendant duties.