NURSES IN NEED

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 97, 20 January 1944, Page 6

NURSES IN NEED

Cared For Through N.Z.

Memorial Fund

Begun 27 years ago as a memorial to the 10 New Zealand nurses who lost their lives in the last war, when the hospital ship Marquette was sunk in the Mediterranean, the New Zealand Nurses Memorial Fund fittingly perpetuates the memory of these women by providing practical help for nurses in the Dominion who may 'be in need ot it through sickness, old age, accident or other misfortune. To date 142 nurses have received assistance, a total of £25,000 having been distributed. ■ All nurses on the New Zealand State general or obstetric nurse registers, in needy circumstances, are eligible to_ receive relief from the fund. Help is given in different forms, as a life annuity, a temporary annuity or a single grant to help over a difficult period occasioned by illness or other circumstance, and every deserving case brought before the notice, of the committee has been assisted. All business is conducted in a strictly confidential way. Work in connexion with the fund is voluntary, the cost, of administration last year, only £35, being concerned with printing and postages. The president of the central committee is Sir H. Lindo Ferguson, Dunedin, who gave the project warm support from the tifne of its proposed formation by the Otago branch of the Registered Nurses Association. Eventually a strong provincial committee was formed in Dunedin and it was decided to launch the scheme in all large centres simultaneously. In some centres it was not easy to get suitable committees to undertake the work, but as a result of the untiring efforts of the committee in Dunedin and those of Dr. William Young, Wellington, difficulties were overcome and the fund was begun. The growth of the capital fund to its present substantial figure is the result of local public appeals, contributions from branches of the Registered Nurses’ Association and other organizations, and Of legacies from people to whom the objects of the fund appealed. Last year, nurses generously supported the fund by contributing £646. Increased interest in the fund is reported from hospital staffs and the Student' Nurses’ Association. The central committee comprises a president, two vice-presidents, and 12 other members representing Wellington, Auckland, Canterbury, Otago and Southland. Wellington members on the committee are Miss M. I. Lambic am] Mrs. T. T. Lowry, and Dr. William Young, Wellington, is one of the vice-presidents.