Complaints About Hostel Rules

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31761, 19 August 1968, Page 18

Complaints About Hostel Rules

Complaints about the boarding regulations at the Christchurch dental nurses’ hostel, made in a letter to the editor of “The Press” by “Emancipated,” were answered yesterday by the principal of the School for Dental Nurses (Dr R. B. Nevin).

“Emancipated” writes:— “There is a pressing need for an examination of boarding regulations at the Christchurch dental nurses’ hostel. The girls there (17-20 years old) are not allowed out after 7 o’clock on a week night or 11.30 on Saturday night; they can’t go to the pictures during the week unless special leave is given. If their rubbish tins are full or

if they sleep In, one hour is taken off their Saturday night leave.

“The rooms of the girls are searched up to three times a day. ‘Bad’ behaviour is reported to the clinic at which they work rather than disciplinary action being taken at the hostel. I seriously question the right to impose such needlessly strict and trivial regulations that elsewhere would be called oppressive.”

Dr Nevin replied:—“lnquiries do not substantiate any nurse having been deprived of routine leave because of lack of tidiness. I would in any case be disappointed if undue difficulties had arisen over tidiness; we hope we have in training responsible young citizens with proper consideration for the feelings and rights of others sharing the same room.

“It is also part of a dental nurse’s job to keep herself and her clinic neat, clean and tidy, as befits all health ser-

vices; surroundings properly kept encourage the development of these qualities. “As for searching rooms three times a day, I am sure the busy staff must wish they had available the extra time that this would imply—in any case they have no inclination to do it. It is certainly necessary, though, to have a periodical round-up when the shortages of cutlery and china from the dining room become too hampering. “Regarding the regulations on leave, these student dental nurses are junior nurses, nearly all in the 17 to 18 age group and in their first year of the course. In that year, there are 18 quite demanding lecture and practical courses to be undertaken, with 16 important examinations to be sat, apart from additional class tests in between.

“Success in this aspect of the course necessitates good daily application in classes and proper regular study, both of which can be tiring.

“Long experience in our hostels confirms that adequate sleep, regular habits and control of outside distractions are important. Conforming to hostel rules is, in any case, one of the assurances signed by all applicants for dental nursing as part of the admission requirements. “Your correspondent may or may not appreciate that standards of practical performance in a profession cannot be disassociated from the personal qualities of the worker. The all-round standards of behaviour are most important in a service which has gained world-wide renown for its high quality and which shows what an eminent overseas visitor has described as ‘a very striking esprit de corps.’ “Quite correctly, therefore, behaviour in the hostel is very much the proper concern of the matron of this school, whose official duties include over-sight of all hostel matters.”