AUCKLAND NURSES’ FAILURE RATE

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30511, 5 August 1964, Page 1

AUCKLAND NURSES’ FAILURE RATE

Board’s Protest Evokes Little Response

(New Zealand Press Association)

AUCKLAND, August 4.

The Auckland Hospital Board passed a resolution at an informal meeting today, protesting strongly at the failure of the Nurses’ and Midwives’ Board to give urgent consideration to its representations.

The resolution stated that by not calli as requested, to discuss the Auckland nurses’ it indicated that the Nurses’ and Midwive whole matter less seriously than the Auckl

After a meeting of the Hos-, pital Board last month, a let-1 ter was sent to Miss E. B.' Orbell, registrar of the Nurses and Midwives Board, expressing concern over the results achieved by Auckland candidates in the recent final professional State examination for nurses. The letter asked the board to review the papers of all nurses who failed in the examination. and to indicate whether failure arose from poor performance in straightforward questions or from low marks in ambiguous or contentious questions.

In a letter received by the Hospital Board, Miss Orbell stated that she was deeply concerned over the results achieved by the candidates of several hospitals. She said the situation was disturbing and investigations were being made. Miss Orbell said that all papers of candidates who

failed had been reviewed by two examiners.

The Hospital Board’s letter also asked for the return of the papers of the unsuccessful candidates so that the causes of failure could be revealed and corrected.

To this request, Miss Orbell replied that was a matter for the Nurses and Midwives Board to decide.

In answer to a question asking the Nurses and Midwives Board to release the examination questions to all schools of nursing after each State examination as a routine rather than an exception, Miss Orbell said this had already been done together with a copy of the comments on the papers. Right Of Appeal The question of nurses having the right to appeal, said Miss Orbell, was again a

ing a special meeting, i’ examination results, Board viewed the land Hospital Board. matter for the Nurses and Midwives Board to decide. The Hospital Board asked for a special meeting of the Nurses and Midwives Board to be called. Miss Orbell said in her letter that special provision was being made for the board to have adequate time to discuss the whole situation with regard to examinations at its next meeting on August 21. The resolution passed by the Hospital Board today authorised the superintend-ent-in-chief to ask the Nurses and Midwives Board for further information in relation to ambiguous and contentious questions and for a statistical analysis of Auckland results since 1960.