THE HEALTH OF OUR NURSES

Dominion, Volume 27, Issue 69, 14 December 1933, Page 8

THE HEALTH OF OUR NURSES

It is. disquieting to learn from the Minister of Health that the ■abnormally high percentage of tuberculosis among hospital nurses has been the subject of Government investigation in New Zealand and abroad. The Health Department is attempting to meet the situation by improved training in aseptic precautions, and closer supervision and care against infection. That the Government is taking action in the matter is. so far satisfactory. The danger of attack by tuberculosis is not confined to the consumption sanatoria, but is a risk which in the nursing, profession is regarded as a haunting menace, especially in hospitals where the nurses- are overworked through under-staffing and are not given their proper periods of rest. Under such conditions physical resistance to tubercular infection is diminished, and susceptibility to the disease increased.- The Minister’s statement in this connection that the Health Department is endeavouring to improve the working conditions of the nurses is therefore very welcome. Working, hours and time off are provided for by regulations,,but as reported discussions of hospital board meetings have shown, these regulations are difficult to apply, and frequently break down altogether. To make the conditions of the nurses ideal would involve carrying much larger staffs to allow of adequate provision for sick and holiday reliefs. On the other, hand, if the nurses were not over-worked there would be less sickness and fewer complete breakdowns. Inadequate staffing is a poor economy. Nursing is a hard profession, and its very nature imposes demands upon the time, energy, aq,d patience of those who embrace it that are extremely difficult to regulate. Larger staffs would be . the most successful solution of the problem of the over-worked hospital ‘nurse; with a margin for reliefs there would be no need for rules. Such a solution, of course, would mean increased expenditure, but it would be an outlay which, even if it meant-an extra call on the public’s resources, would be sympathetically arid gratefully endorsed. Much public money is spent on less worthy objects. _ Nursing is a humanitarian service the record of which has exalted it to one of the noblest of the professions. The very essence of nursing efficiency is self-sacrifice, uncomplaining response to sudden demands for protracted and onerous spells of duty; and the superlative qualities of cheerfulness and sympathy. These virtues should not be exploited. The willing horse is entitled to considerate treatment. Too often is it the case that the long-suffering animal is kept at the collar till he drops in the traces. We should not treat our nurses like that.