GRADUATION OF NURSES

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26514, 31 August 1951, Page 2

GRADUATION OF NURSES

CEREMONY AT PUBLIC HOSPITAL

He had been on the staff of the Christchurch Hospital for 25 years, and several times during that period he had been a patient, said the Director of Medical Services at the hospital (Dr. R. H. Quentin Baxter) at a nurses’ graduation ceremony in the nurses’ home last evening. “On one occasion at least, my survival was due in no small measure to the skill of the nurses who attended me,’’ said Dr. Baxter. One of the causes of the current shortage of trained nurses in New Zealand was the tendency among newlyqualified nurses to go overseas almost immediately after they graduated, said Dr. Baxter. “Trained; nurses are helped in travelling by > the fact that the demand for nurses exceeds the supply in nearly every overseas country.”

There was nothing wrong with travelling, which did much to offset the native smugness of New Zealanders, said Dr. Baxter. “I feel, however, that nurses should agree to stay in New Zeaand for one or two years at least after their graduation before going overseas.” All 36 of the student nurses who had sat their final State examinations from the training school at Christchurch had passed the test, said the Lady Superintendent of the hospital (Miss G. Widdowson). “I was pleased to note that the highest marks were gained in practical nursing, in the case of nearly every candidate. Some gained as high as 75 per cent, of the total marks in this section of the examination. This is a very good sign, inasmuch as the practical part of a nurse’s work is the most important.” “What you have learned here is largely the technical or material side of your profession, but I would assure you that technical proficiency is not the final word,” said Mrs W. Mackay, a member of the North Canterbury Hospital Board. “That is just equivalent to saying that there is nothing more in tennis than hitting a ball over a net. The training for tennis is largely material—the training for a nurse (a good nurse) is to a very large extent spiritual. “You have deliberately embarked upon a profession which deals in trouble—other people’s trouble—and your reward will be less in material things than in the affection and gratitude you will inspire in those you have served.’’

Special prizes were awarded to the following:—Nurse E. M. M. Scott, Florence Nightingale Medal and practical prize, presented by the Registered Nurses’ Association; Nurse G Jones, senior medicine and dietetics; Nurse P. McColl, senior surgery and nursing: Nurse R. Telfer, junior medicine and nutrition; Nurse A. Z. Kaneps, junior surgery and nursing; Nurse J. Wood, anatomy and physiology and nursihg. The list of graduates, with honours given m parenthesis, is;—Nurses L. E. Adamson N. E. Aitken, C. M. T. Back, P’ J- Bisset, N. Browne, L. J. Buchan, J. Cameron, G E. Caverhill, M. F. P. Chapman. P. M. Cookson, B. Davison (surgerv and dietetics), N J. Farquhar, B.'M. Franklin (nursing), p. M. Gibbs, G. A. Grant (medicine and dietetics), B. K. J. Hardy, G. Jones (medicine and dietetics). P. L. Jones (medicine, surgery and dietetics), B. A. Kelk (medicine), A. D. Leishman, P. Mclntyre, J Milne (medicine), J. L. Ramage, P. M Rid«n, I P Rodda, S. D. Rodger L L Rose, E. M. M. Scott (medicine), M. J. Seque, N. E. Stevens, L. M. Stringer, Vincent, J, M. Werren, E. A. Williamson, and M. H. Young (nursing).