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Patricia Violet Slater was born on 6 December 1918 in St Kilda, Melbourne. An ambitious character, Pat, as she was known, achieved great deal during her lifetime.
She undertook basic nursing training before completing her midwifery training at the Royal Women's Hospital in Sydney. She later became a nurse teacher at the Royal Melbourne Hospital in 1955.
Pat's education and working life was devoted to the acquisition of knowledge. She held a Master of Arts in Nursing Education and received an extraordinary number of diplomas, degrees and honours with a total of 23 qualifications. In addition, Pat was a Lieutenant in the Australian Army Nursing Service in both Australia and Borneo during the war.
Among her other achievements, Pat Slater was involved with the General Training Committee at the Victorian Nursing Council (VNC). She began lecturing at the College of Nursing, Australia (later RCNA) in 1962, as part of a consultancy with the Florence Nightingale Centenary fund, and was appointed as the College's second director in 1965. She held this position for the next 12 years.
Patricia Slater died in 1990 at the age of 72. This award is a befitting memorial to her life's work in nurturing nurses to achieve professional excellence.