The 10 started at St John of God Hospital on April 8 in 1965, all 17 years of age and living out of home for the first time.

They were the 19th intake of nurse trainees, but with about three intakes each year they were in the first few years of the hospital's intakes. At that stage, all St John's nurse trainees lived at Marion House.

Nine of the 10 caught up for a few days last week on their 50th anniversary. The 10th they were unable to contact.

As they celebrate their half century, so to does their hospital celebrate its 100 years.

"If we didn't have one another, I don't think we would've got through," Janet Renkin said.

Pat Sharp said there were so many tears and struggles, but they all helped pick each other back up again.

"One day - I came back after a bad night shift - and they picked me up and put me in the bath, fully clothed. I still had my cap on," Pat said.

Like in any first job or training program, Pat said they all went through testing times where they thought about going home.

"Those days were tough. Being a nurse can be tragic - coping with people dying at such a young age. You needed that support network."

She said they practically lived in their pyjamas.

"We came home and put them on straight away. We would sit around and talk in them, and go out in them."

During their reunion, they visited their old haunts.

"We used to go to Steve's Fish and Chips, sometimes in our pyjamas. I remember wearing our shower caps down there once - just for fun," Pat said.

They celebrated on their anniversary evening by having dinner at the Park Hotel Bistro, where they had their finals dinner together on completion of their training.

Claire Thorpe still has the menu from that very night 47 years ago.

After moving into Marion House, the group undertook six weeks at a preliminary training school before they got to work at a hospital.

"It was very nerve racking - to be learning on patients," Therese Watson said.

They followed a strict uniform code, with no hair showing, and no jewellery - even if they were engaged.

Rules ruled their lives, with nuns in charge of their residency and the hospital.

They weren't allowed out during the week, and only on the weekend when a late pass was granted.

Upon mischief, they were punished with no late passes granted. At one stage they were barred from late passes for the following month.

Rules included boys were only allowed in the house foyer and you weren't allowed to marry while training.

Claire became engaged during her first year and Rosemary Linton a short time later. The nuns told Claire her fiancée wouldn't wait for her, but they're still happily married today.

Upon coming home from being out, the nuns would come out and a shine a torch into the car to tell them to come inside.

Janet's sister graduated a couple of years before her.

One day, Janet walked into the elevator in front of her, and was reprimanded for walking in front of a senior nurse, even though it was her sister.

"As a third year nurse, senior on the night shift, you'd have to give a hand over report of all the patients to the nun taking over the day - with no notes or paper. You were checked off if you forgot something."

"The nuns were our bosses. You wouldn't back answer," Pat said.

"You got fabulous teaching from the nuns. We learnt so much from them. They were tough. They expected perfection so you gave it," Claire said.

They were paid eight pounds two and six - most of which went to new outfits.

"A twinset was a fortnight's pay. We had to put them on layby," Helen Newton said.

"I don't know how we bought all the dresses. We had board and food, and the boys bought us drinks - so it's all we spent our money on really," Maria said.

When it was sunny, they would smother themselves in coconut oil and go up to the roof to try and get a tan.

"The more burnt we got the happier we became," Janet said.

They would dance with each other to the Righteous Brothers and The Seekers, putting their nurses caps on the light bulbs to dim the lights.

Helen said they all went down and had a drink at Craig's Hotel the first night of 10 o'clock closing, with the pubs forced to close at six before then.

On weekends, they attended dances at St Pat's, the Civic Hall and the Boatshed.

"You had to wait for guys to ask you to dance. So the girls all stood lined up as the men would walk past looking you up and down," Helen said.

"But most of us met our partners there."

"It was really sad when we finished our training and broke up because those days were over," Janet said.

Claire was the only one to stay at St John's in Ballarat, where she stayed for 49 years, retiring a year ago.

"It was hard being the only one left, but I went on to another phase," she said.

After a few years away, Pat returned to Ballarat and worked at the Queen Elizabeth Centre, but the other eight never returned to work in Ballarat.

Janet Renkin now lives in Burpenyang in Queensland and Janece Stevenson near Lake Macquarie in New South Wales.

Marg Williams lives in Bendigo and Helen Newton in Albury and they are the only two of the 10 still practicing nursing.

Maria Shaw now lives in Western Australia and, after a career change, now works with the electoral commission.

Therese Watson lives in Geelong and Rosemary Liston lives in Westmere as she chose a family lifestyle after finishing her traineeship.

All got married within about five years, with Claire and Rosemary married within months of finishing. Helen was the last to marry, after spending time in Sydney, working in Norfolk Island and London and going back to Warrnambool before moving to Albury to settle.

"It was all the best years of our lives - for all of us," Helen said.

"Nursing has been very kind to me. I've been a lot of places, earned a lot of money, had some great times and met amazing people.

"I'll be so upset when this time is over, and I have to go home again, from all these wonderful people."

The group have said they will have another reunion, only leaving it two years this time.

As Maria moved to Western Australia, it had been 40 years since many of the women had seen her.

"She came out at the airport, and straight away we were yack, yack, yacking. It's like no time had passed."

And that's the feeling of all the women.

"We haven't really done much the past few days - apart from talk the whole time. We all can talk," Janet said.

"We just pick up as if it were yesterday," Pat said. "No other of the nursing groups were as close as we were - group 19."

It's never the end for these ladies.

"Even though at the end of our three years we all went our own way, we stayed together in so many ways," Helen said.