M.P. questions end to nursing training

Press, 3 July 1986, Page 9

M.P. questions end to nursing training

Wellington reporter Questions have been raised in Parliament about why the psychopaedic nurse training school at Templeton, near Christchurch, will close this year. Miss Ruth Richardson (Nat., Selwyn) said the school at Templeton was being closed while similar facilities would be maintained at Mangere, south of Auckland, and at Kimberley, near Palmerston North. She asked the Minister of Health, Dr' Bassett, what guarantee there would be of a continuing supply of trained psychopaedic nurses at Templeton in the absence of specialised training there.

Dr Bassett said the Canterbury Hospital Board had resolved in March, 1984, to phase out its three-year nursing pro-

grammes. That decision had taken account of the staffing requirements of the board’s services and indicated that a greater contribution could be made by employing more enrolled nurses, specially in long-term care. The final intake of students had been in September, 1984, and those students would graduate at the end of 1986, he said. The decision to phase out any three-year nursing programme rested with the hospital board concerned. Neither the Auckland Hospital Board nor the Palmerston North Hospital Board had yet indicated an intention to phase out their psychopaedic nursing programme. The Canterbury Hospital Board would be responsible for conducting

recruitment campaigns to attract more registered nurses, including comprehensive nurse graduates, to its employment at Templeton Hospital, Dr Bassett said. Those nurses would be recruited from the national pool of nurses and possibly, in the short term, from overseas as well. The intake for comprehensive nursing students at Christchurch Polytechnic was 144 students a year, he said. The intake of students for enrolment with the Canterbury Hospital Board was 85 a year. Opportunities for specialist nursing training continued to be available at the post-basic level. Those included the advanced diploma in nursing courses at technical institutes and courses at universities.