Jessie Bicknell

Jessie Bicknell (1871 to 1956) was a New Zealand nurse and health administrator who helped shape how the country regulated nursing, midwifery and private hospitals in the early twentieth century. Born in Oamaru, she trained as a nurse at Nelson Hospital, placed first in the country in the national nursing examinations in 1903, and completed a midwifery certificate in Dunedin in 1906. In 1907 she became an Assistant Inspector of Hospitals, travelling to remote districts to inspect and advise private hospitals, nurses and midwives. She served as honorary secretary of the New Zealand Trained Nurses' Association from 1909 to 1923, sailed in 1916 as matron of the hospital ship Maheno, and was made an Associate of the Royal Red Cross. From 1923 she directed the Division of Nursing in the Department of Health and sat on the Nurses and Midwives Board, retiring in 1931.