THE NURSES' HOME.

Auckland Star, Volume XLI, Issue 172, 22 July 1910, Page 4

THE NURSES' HOME.

The Auckland Hospital is one of the most important public institutions in the city, not to say in the Dominion, and, generally speaking, we believe that its management is efficient and successful. But when defects in the administration of such an establishment do occur they are likely, from its character, to have far-reaching results; and therefore we need no excuse for drawing public attention to certain facts in regard to the accommodation of the Hospital nurses which have lately been brought under our notice. It is well known that the Nurses' Home is far too small for the requirements of tbe Hospital. At the present time, there are 80 nurses on the staff, and though more than 20 are boarded outside, the Home is quite full. Two years ago, when the difficulty of finding accommodation became serious, the nurses were promised that the Home would be enlarged in a few months, but so far nothing has been done. Under such conditions, the Home naturally offers no conveniences for study or facilities for social life of any sort, and the one sitting-room for the staff is permanently overcrowded. We are not surprised to learn, therefore, that there are frequent vacancies on the stair, and as the Hospital is thus shoTthanded the remaining nurse 3 are seriously overworked in consequence. We have no particular sympathy for the young people who from time to time take up the arduous -work of nursing

| without any sense, of the responsibilities it entails, only to give at up when they discover what it Teally :ineans. But the fact that some people merely play at nursing for a time should not blind us to the importance of the work done by those who take it up as a permanent occupation, and the necessity for giving them the utmost encouragement 4 compatible with the necessities of their calling. Unfortunately, on the evidence put before us, it seems that the Hospital authorities have shown very little consideration ior the nursing staff. Girls whose duty is.supposed to be limited to eight hours a day, have been: frequently worked for ten and twelve hours. Those who could not find room in the Home, and could not board out, have been lodged in a leaky cottage, and when they asked for -a fire during the cold, damp weather that has prevailed this winter, their request was A month ago the authorities, apparently driven to the end of their resources, put up a tent in the open outside the Home, and ordered some of the nurses to sleep there. The nurses refused point blank, and considering what "sleeping out" in June means here, we can hardly wonder at it. Apparently this extraordinary treatment is to be traced to the desire of the Hospital management for retrenchment and economy. But though public hodies always deserve credit for trying to save public money, we suggest to the Hospital Board that it is a very unwise policy to economise out of the comforts apd de- j eencies of life which the Hospital staff j naturally expects to find at such an in- | stitution. The nurses are an extremely important factor in Hospital work; to discourage capable and trustworthy nurses from applying for positions there or to treat them so inconsiderately as to drive them away, is surely from the standpoint of the public welfare a grave | mistake; and we hope that the Hospital Board will make a point of see- | ing that this systematic overcrowding i and overwork at the Nurses' Home are romedied as speedily as possible.