SEMINAR AT TIMARU

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31376, 23 May 1967, Page 23

SEMINAR AT TIMARU

Drugs, Alcohol Discussed The importance of nurses showing a genuine personal interest and concern when working with drug addicts and alcoholics was emphasised at a one-day seminar on drug addiction and alcoholism held by the Timaru branch of the Catholic Nurses’ Guild last Saturday, attended by 50 nurses from Christchurch, Dunedin, Waimate and Timaru. In discussion with a panel which included a psychiatrist, a general practitioner, a Roman Catholic priest, and two members of Alcoholics Anonymous, seminar, members concluded that the wrong type of attitude on the part of nurses could worsen a patient's condition. Many suffering from alcoholism were shy or introverted, and sensitive to whether or not those in contact with them were genuinely interested in them as people. There was also need to guard against emotional involvement which would make nursing care less effective, and more difficult from the nurses’ point of view Sister Mary David, of the Calvary. Hospital, Christchurch, said. The first half of the seminar, held at the Timaru Hospital, was devoted to the presentation and discussion of a paper by Sisters David and Augustine on modern day tensions which may serve as causes of drug addiction and alcoholism. While there was no definite alcoholic personality, most alcoholics were found to be above average in intelligence, sensitivity, and dependance, Sister Mary David said. The tensions suffered by those who become addicts or alcoholics were very much those experienced by all people. Addicts and alcoholics, however, found they were unable to cope.