HOURS OF NURSES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 217, 13 September 1930, Page 7

HOURS OF NURSES.

MATERIAL IMPROVEMENT.

INTEREST BY MINISTER.

SYSTEM TO BE REVIEWED.

(By Telegraph.—Parliamentary Reporter.)

WELLINGTON, Friday.

"The general position regarding the hours and conditions of work of nurses has been very materially improved in the last IS months," said the Hon. A. J. Stallworthy, Minister of Health, in the House to-day, during the debate on the health, estimates.

The Minister said that on September 11 1929, he had directed the following memorandum to the Director-General of Health on the subject of the hours of sisters and nurses (trainees) at St. Helens hospitals: — __^

"Following upon information given by matrons, in reply to my memorandum asking for copies of duty lists of sisters and nurses (trainees) at St. Helens hospitals, I to-day visited the Wellington St. Helens and conferred with Matron Baglev on the general question of hours and conditions of work. A study of the summary of duties, etc., for the mouth of July "at the seven St. Helens hospitals, leads me to believe that, with reorganisation, a material improvement could be made in the matters of working hours and conditions. It is desirable that what improvement can be made should be made. Take the Wellington St. Helens Hospital, ior example. It would appear that a little extra domestic help would relieve trainees of a good deal of uneducative duties and give scope for shortening of duty hours without involving the lengthening of period of training. Matron Bagley appears to ba a very competent woman, and I feel sure of her co-operation along the lines I now suggest. Please be good enough to ask the matron to submit a draft scheme of the organisation to provide for nurses (a) an eight-hour working day, exclusive of meals and lectures, (b) a "weekly day of rest, and (c) reasonable facilities for relief and recreation. "She would, of course, indicate what extra domestic or other assistance would be necessary. Will you plea.se give the matron a free hand to submit such draft scheme for our discussion. If satisfactory, it could then be tried out with a view to its extension to other St. Helens hospitals." Mr. J. McCombs (Lyttelton) declared that the St. Helens nurses were working anything from 10 to 15 hours a day for seven days a week. The Minister replied that he had asked the matron at Auckland for particulars of the hours worked last month, and had been advised that the trainees worked not more than S-} hours a day and had 24 hours off, with permission to sleep out of the institution. The staff worked 53 hours in a sis-day week, the seventh being a holiday. Nothing had been Done. Mr. W. E. Parry (Labour, Auckland Central) said that on examining the statistics for August he found that the births in that

month w-ere the second lowest during the year, which, of course, accounted for Si hours worked during that month. He had raised the question of nurses' hours in the last three or four years and nothing had been done. iS'urses

were not mere girls

as was understood Mr. W. E. Parry, in some places. They were fully qualified nurses, having served four years at the public hospitals on very small pay. They -were then called upon to serve eight months without pay, and at the same time to buy their own instruments and pay their own expenses if called to attend cases outside of hospital. Year After Year. These women, Mr. Parry said, performed a splendid service to the community, and he wanted a definite reply from the Minister as to whether the conditions were going to be altered. It became tiresome to have to bring to the question on the floor of the House year after -year and find that nothing was being done. He knew that the conditions prevailing were not the outcome of the Minister's adminstration, but he wanted Mr. Stallworthy to attend to the matter. The Minister promised to have the whole system reviewed during the recess.