Now, at 76 she has clocked off for the last time on a nursing career spanning 59 "wonderful" years.

She retired on September 5 from Dungog Hospital - where she started as an Assistant In Nursing in January 1962.

She said the best part of her career is that it has gone on for so long.

"I liked the job too much to retire earlier," she said.

"The most rewarding thing is the fact I've worked for so long, I've enjoyed it for so long and I've seen so many people grow up from babies and I've looked after generations of people.

"Nursing has been a really satisfying job. I liked being with people, and I liked the staff. They are like a second family to me."

She came into the profession after high school when she was babysitting Trixie Hayes's children, who suggested she try nursing as a career. Mrs Dowling, then Carol Burns, was hesitant at first, questioning if she capable.

"She (Trixie) said 'of course you are!".

Trixie's husband Vic was on the board of the hospital at the time and helped arrange her papers.

After turning 17 in August of 1962 she began her training as a student nurse at Maitland Hospital on September 3.

The eight weeks of preliminary training she had at Maitland included a trip to the Maitland abattoir. Her clipping of the Newcastle Herald and Miner's Advocate from that time features a photograph of herself and other trainee nurses having "a brief but enlightening lesson combining general anatomy and hygiene."

In 1966 she finished her training and moved to the Royal Women's Hospital in Paddington as a Registered Nurse where she then took on midwifery training.

She came back to Dungog for a time and then worked at Maitland in midwifery for many years before becoming back to Dungog.

On her retirement she held the position of night supervisor at Dungog Hospital where she has also held the roles of Director of Nursing and Deputy Director of Nursing.

She has seen many changes to her town's hospital.

"It's really heartbreaking," she said.

"At one stage we did theatre there, we did deliveries."

While there was once only one doctor in town the hospital was then a 40-bed facility. Now of course the town boasts four general practitioners but the hospital has been reduced to 12 beds.

She said despite that decline in the bed numbers Dungog was extremely lucky .

"We are just so fortunate to have a hospital and doctors available and an ambulance service in town.

"We've got everything in Dungog, like Meals on Wheels and palliative care and Neighbourcare, all with that personal touch."

She said while many nurses now specialise in one area, you have to be proficient in all areas to work in a small country hospital.

"You have to be au fait with emergency department, medical, surgical.

"You have to have your wits about you and know most things about everything.

You adopt to the ever changing system and ensure you maintain your skills and your knowledge."

She said working in maternity was an overwhelmingly joyous job.

One memorable night at Dungog she had nine deliveries.

"I had one on the street, one in the back of a car, I had them in the wards, in the labour wards," she laughed.

There were nine maternity beds - but they were not always filled in one the night.

Mrs Dowling worked a lot of night shifts over the years but said this enabled her to be there for her four children - Jane, twins Sara and Kate and Michael.

"I used to go to work of a night-time and I'd be home by the time they got up in the morning and give them their breakfast and take them out and put them on the bus," she said.

"I'd come home and have a sleep and the dog would bark when the bus was coming down the road so I would get up and get them from the bus stop."

The drive from their home which was 15 kilometres out of Dungog through to Maitland Hospital when she worked there was very tiring.

"Their father was there during the night and I was there during the day. The night shifts meant I could attend all their sports carnivals and all the things at the school. They never missed out on anything which was really good."

Reminiscing about her career Mrs Dowling said she can recall every ward she had worked on.

This included the inmates from Maitland Goal coming to Maitland Hospital handcuffed to the beds with a prison guard either side of them.

She seen a lot of changes to nursing including to the uniform which were once so stiff they could stand on their own.

"The stiff white collar used to leave marks on your neck from the starch.

As a Registered Nurse she also wore a starched hat with a veil. At Maitland she wore a black and white striped starched uniform with white cuffs at the collar and her sleeves, black stockings and black shoes.

At the Royal at Paddington the uniforms were mauve with a stiff white apron - until there was a baby on the way.

"We had to take it all off to do a delivery," she laughed.

"They would buzz and everybody would run and go to the change room and put on a gown and then race into the delivery ward."

As part of her midwifery training she had to witness 1000 births.

"There were a lot of babies around in that time."

She also recalls the view from the hospital windows.

It was during the Vietnam War and American naval ships would pull into the harbour, blowing their whistles. It was not unusual for those American sailors to call the hospital and ask if there were any single nurses available to go out with.

"We lived at Waverly and we would get home at midnight after our shift and there would be a group of sailors hanging around the outside of the nurses' units."

While she has travelled extensively in the past, her idea in retirement - pending the restrictions from COVID lifting - is to travel some more. She also plans to spend plenty of time at her Bendolba farm, tend to her beloved animals and garden.

One of the nurses at Dungog Hospital described Mrs Dowling as a very caring and knowledgeable nurse.

"She was known by many in the community for the outstanding professionalism when caring for their loved one. She was able to pass on this knowledge to her colleagues and support them in their roles."

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