The eldest daughter of John and Harriet Vance, Gladys was educated at St. Joseph's Convent School. In 1920 she was employed as a telephonist in the Broken Hill and District Hospital, but transferred into a three-year nurse training course at the age of 20. Having completed her examinations in Practical and General Nursing, Hygiene, Invalid Cooking and Anatomy and Physiology, Gladys was employed as a staff nurse for four years. She moved to the Clare Hospital in Adelaide, then the Royal Hospital for Women in Sydney where she undertook a midwifery course in 1930. Gladys became the Senior Sister at the Rosslyn Private Hospital in Arncliffe where she stayed until her return to Broken Hill in 1936. She was initially appointed to the position of Relieving Afternoon and Night Superintendent of the General Hospital and the Obstetric Unit at the Broken Hill and District Hospital. She went on to serve as Relieving Ward Sister, Tutor Sister and Deputy Matron before her appointment as Matron and Superintendent of Nurses in 1943.

For services to nursing, Gladys was admitted as a Fellow of the College of Nursing in July 1949, and was made a Foundation Fellow of the New South Wales College of Nursing in 1952. In 1953, Gladys was awarded Her Majesty's Coronation Medal and, after retiring in 1967, was awarded the Citizen Certificate for the City of Broken Hill. She was an Honorary Member of the Institute of Nursing Administrators of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory from 1967 until 1982. Gladys died aged 86 at the Royal Adelaide Hospital after a motor accident.

This entry was prepared and written by Georgia Moodie.

Sources used to compile this entry: Vance, Gladys, 'A Case of Caring for All', Barrier Daily Truth, 1983, pp. 69-71; Vance, Gladys, 'Reflections on Nursing Training', The Australasian Nurses Journal, Jan/Feb 1983, pp. 26-30; Vance, Gladys, 'Death of Miss G. Vance', Barrier Daily Truth, 8 February 1989, p. 5.