The lunchtime reunion was organised by Yvonne Ballantyne, who said the idea arose on her return to Oamaru after many years away.
She realised she was probably passing people in the street whom she had lived and worked with in her formative years as a nurse trainee at Oamaru Hospital.
"I’d come back to Oamaru and said ‘there’s probably lots of nurses I walked past and didn’t know’, and decided ‘let’s have a reunion’."
It was gratifying that many former colleagues had remained in town.
"A lot of people are still around."
The nurses’ home in itself was an institution, at a time when matron ruled the roost and parents signed their daughters in to her care.
Ms Ballantyne said living at the hostel was "so much fun".
It closed in 1978.
Those attending the reunion all had a story to tell of escapades after hours, including people climbing in and out of windows, and even falling through manholes and ceilings in an effort to evade being caught out late.
As Nadine Russell recalled: "I remember getting hung up in the window latch trying to come in."
"The [students] on the ground floor were very popular," Ms Ballantyne said.
The hospital played a crucial role for the district in the 1960s and ’70s.
It also provided top-notch on-the-job training for nurse trainees.
"In those days the hospital had something like 153 beds."
It included full surgical services with two dedicated wards, two medical wards, a maternity annex, and a geriatric wing.
"It was a great hospital — we had some fantastic times. It was a great training hospital."
Former theatre nurse Barbara Bain fondly recalled the days of the hospital providing vital surgical services under its resident surgeons Mr Reece and Mr Moran.
She said her time there was memorable and satisfying, at a time when surgery was performed in Oamaru five days a week and when staff were always on call.
"It was fantastic — loved it. We got into all sorts of mischief in there ...
"I can remember being called out seven nights in a row. It was a full-blown theatre," Ms Bain said.
Ms Ballantyne said the formational training in Oamaru enabled them to easily step into roles overseas.
"I left Oamaru and went and worked in London at the Royal Marsden in cancer care."
