SCHOOL DENTAL CLINICS

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25589, 2 September 1948, Page 3

SCHOOL DENTAL CLINICS

SHORTAGE OF NURSING STAFF TWELVE MORE NEEDED IN CHRISTCHURCH There is a shortage of school dental nurses throughout New Zealand, and in Canterbury and the West Coast, where there are some 80 or 90 clinics, full-time duties could be found for at least 23 more nurses. Of that total, 10 or 12 are needed for the 30 odd clinics in the Christchurch area. . .Nurses at present are unable, to cope with the work offering. Where one nurse could normally look after about 450 children, some now have to attend to as many as 800. About 70 nurses qualify from the training school in Wellington each year, but the number is not sufficient to meet the demand. Many replace nurses who leave to get married, or for other reasons. The Department of Health aims to admit 50 trainees to the school every six months, but the number is often not achieved. In each class there are candidates who prove unsuitable, and others who lose interest, or who find that the twoyears’ course is too difficult for them. High wages in offices and industries undoubtedly attract many girls who might otherwise have taken up dental work as a career.

During the war the same difficulty was not experienced in recruiting or keeping staff, but since the war many of the qualified nurses have been married and left the service.

Another difficulty facing the department is the preference many nurses have for work in Christchurch; Many have very good reasons for wanting to work and live in the city, and the department usually has to accede to their requests or lose them. Mr H. M. McCutcheon, the senior dental officer of the department for Canterbury and Westland, said yesterday that although about 12 more nurses could be employed in Christchurch at present that did not mean that only 12 clinics were atiected. The nurses, he said, could be allocated to different clinics to ensure a full service. At one clinic, for instance, an extra nurse could be used for three months of the year and the work would be overtaken and the demand met.

A high standard is required from girls applying for training at Wellington, but the department welcomes applications and inquiries. Girls must be 17 years of age and have passed the school certificate examination. Good physique, manual dexterity, and the ability to handle children are other prerequisites for the vocation, which most nurses find pleasant, and which has a direct bearing on the health of the community.