NEED FOR NURSE AT GIRLS’ SCHOOL SEEN

Press, Volume C, Issue 29468, 21 March 1961, Page 2

NEED FOR NURSE AT GIRLS’ SCHOOL SEEN

The appointment of a parttime nursing member of the staff was approved in principle at a meeting of the board of governors of Avonside Gipls’ High School yesterday afternoon. The headmistress (Miss V. F. Towfish end) said that she had conferred with three members of the school staff on the question and that their reaction had been to say “What a boon that would be." “Sickness of girls at school seems to be on the increase.” said Miss Townshend. “Girls are allowed to come to school when they are cases for home nursing. It is a very big problem.”

Miss Townshend said that she had spoken to Miss R. I. Gardner, headmistress of Auckland Girls’ Grammar School, who had told her that they had a retired nurse in attendance between 10 a.m. and 3 p-m. each day. Miss Gardner considered it to be of value to the staff. Miss Townshend said. “It means that there is a person on call all the time to girls for any emergency,” said Miss Townshend.

“Some of our girls who cycle to school are sick cases before their get to school at 9 am.," she said. The scheme at Avonside was to have a person who would do some clerical work

as well as nursing. This meant that the nurse’s salary could be partly paid out of incidental expenditure. The Department of Education did not make any provision for employing a school nurse. “My opinion is that an establishment of 750, if it were a private concern, would be required to have a staff-wel-fare officer. I cannot see the difference with a community of adolescents,” said Miss Townsend.

Avondale College had instituted the scheme, Miss Townsend said, but after a year the Education Department had said that Government money was not to go towards the paying of the nurse’s salary. The board also decided to inform the Education Department that it thought that an institution like Avonside Girls High School had a need for a service of this kind.

The secretary (Mr P. J. Halligan) said that at the conference of the Secondary Schools’ Boards Association the suggestion that nursing staff be appointed to schools was defeated on the grounds that nurses were already in short supply in hospitals. “The sort of person we require is not the sort of person who would be in a hospital in any case.” said Miss Townsend.