SUMMARY DISMISSAL OF NURSE

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 48, 20 November 1928, Page 12

SUMMARY DISMISSAL OF NURSE

HOSPITAL BOARD’S ACTION CRITICISED UNJUST TREATMENT ALLEGED Dominion Special Service. Auckland, November 19. The summary dismissal of a nurse from Auckland Hospital for sending an indiscreet letter to an ex-patieut at Mount Eden gaol was referred to this morning by Mr. J. O. Gardner, of New Lynn, at whose homo the nurse is staying. "Having been fully iuto the case, said Mr. Gardner, "one can come to no other conclusion than that the girl has been most unjustly treated. I will admit that the young lady was a little indiscreet, but then she was unlucky to have a private letter returned which contained a reference to the matron. The dismissal appears to be on that ground tint! no other, but surely it is monstrous that a young woimt.i can be flung out on he street at a moment's notice without the wherewithal to go to her home, which in this case is in the South Island. Her leave was due, and the tickets were in het-

possession to go home, but they were for a date nearly a week ahead, and the girl had not sufficient cash to keep her even for one day. She was thrown out on the street without a character and with her career ruined, and no chance of again being able to resume her training. She had just received notice that she had massed her first examination in the general nursing department, and previously she had gained her certificate for midwifery. It seems hard that a girl should be so treated by a public institution where she had rendered good service for an indiscretion that reflected more on her good heart than her clear head.” In a written statement which will be placed before the Hospital Board, the nurse states that the prisoner she wrote to had done a lot of the hard work of the ward, and she wished to give him some little token of appreciation of the nurses to help cheer him up. She sent a letter and a packet of cigarettes. The reason she commenced the letter with the words, “Hello, old chap,” was that she did not wish to call him the usual "dear,” and she had never thought of him in any other way than a good help. The way the man was addressed was more in the way of the patients’ language, and was designed to give him a feeling of friendliness. The reason locks were removed from the window was not for the purpose of getting in late at night, but for the admission of fresh air, as she claimed she could not stand the wretched ventilation. The windows opened only about nine inches, and the doors were -kept locked to protect belongings iu the rooms. When she received the letter back from the gaol she consulted the sister in charge of the ward, and she decided that the matron should be informed. In the meantime, the matron sent for her. and would not listen to her side of the case, stating that they had all decided that she was to go at once. The nurse further stated that she had only 7s. 6d. in her possession. As far as the petition got up by the other nurses was concerned, it was stopped by the instructions of the matron. The matron subsequently told her that the matter was in the hands of the board. She had offered her apologies to the matron for the reference she had made to her in the letter. “Although I had three weeks’ holiday pay due,” concluded the statement, “and also a fortnight of this month's pay, I was dismissed without any mention being made of the same.”