MEDICAL TRAINING

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 182, 1 May 1931, Page 10

MEDICAL TRAINING

Need for Amenities HOSPITAL CONDITIONS Dr. Campbell Begg’s Views “If nurses and house surgeons are harassed and discontented it will have a deleterious influence on the care of patients,” stated Dr. Campbell Begg, Civic League and Ratepayers’ Association candidate for the Hospital Board, last evening. The candidate said he bad read with amazement an advertisement in “The Dominion,” stating that house surgeons of the Wellington - Hospital would be glad to hear of vacancies in other hospitals or of locums. It seemed to imply that conditions of service were not satisfactory, and the question merited close inquiry. Dr. Begg said that physical fitness and ability for hard work were essential in any girl who wished to become a nurse. The nurses’ home should be in the real sense a home for those who had to stay there three or four years. Leisure for study, good sleeping quarters, and particularly good food in ample quantity, and well served, were absolute essentials to- counteract the effect of long hours, heavy duties, and responsibility. The sisters or i>ermanent staff, as distinct from trainees, should be specially looked after, and these senior departmental .officers should have the privileges and salary commensurate with their position, he said. There should be a council consisting of the senior sisters with the matron presiding to discuss all matters of nursing detail. The matron should be surrounded by her. general staff, and must rely on the accumulated knowledge of experienced sisters in or.der to make her recommendation to the proper authority. Decentralisation in the nursing service was just as important as in the medical. These experienced sisters should be the material from which to fill the position of matron in other hospitals. The training should be taken right up to the top. “The house surgeon of to-day. is the practising physician and surgeon of tomorrow,” said Dr. Beggj “In his hospital life he is a learner. He must work long hours and get ample opportunities for observing clinical work and for study. His conditions should be made particularly good in order that he may stand the strain of the confined and strenuous life. He is entitled to a good table and to proper service, and to the considered, treatment which his status demands. He should have a comfortable, well-heated room, and privacy to carry on his studies. “The matter of pay is not one of indifference, as in many cases these boys have had a hard struggle to finance themselves through the long and expensive medical course. Their remuneration should, of course, be based on the fact that they are still students in fact, although qualified medical men in name and they must be able to save enough money to take them to England to complete their training.” Dr. Begg added that considerate treatment of house surgeons and nurses would have a direct ( effect on the efficiency of the medical service to this and future generations of patients.