SALARIES OF NURSES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 64, Issue 8, 20 October 1943, Page 2

SALARIES OF NURSES.

ASHBURTON VIEW REJECTED. SOUTH CANTERBURY OPINION. Disapproval of the views expressed by the Ashburton Hospital Board on the recent decisions of the executive of the Hospital Boards’ Association in relation to salary rates payable to nurses was expressed by members of the South Canterbury Hospital Board yesterday. A circular letter was received from the Ashburton Hospital Board expressing strong criticism of the attitude of the Hospital Boards’ Association and inviting the endorsement of the board.

The chairman (Mr E. Macdonald) explained that the executive of the Hospital Boards’ Association had given the fullest consideration to a proposal to adopt a universal scale of payment for nurses. Consultation had been held with representatives of the nurses and an amicable and fair arrangement had been made. “I’m afraid,” said the chairman, “our Ashburton friends are always a little critical of what other people do.” He added that it had been suggested that if the Ashburton Board had a woman among its members the viewpoint of the nurses would have been better understood. Something really useful had been accomplished and the South Canterbury Hospital Board was in agreement with other bodies, which had come to the conclusion that the scale of nurses’ salaries should he made on a Dominion scale, otherwise there would be trouble with boards outbidding one another for the services of nurses.