HOSPITAL WORK

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 108, 3 November 1937, Page 28

HOSPITAL WORK

THE NURSING STAFF

DUTIES & TRAINING

24 HOURS A DAY

(Contributed.)

A previous article stressed the fac*. that without a highly-organised, well • trained medical staff a hospital coull not function. The same fact applies to. the nursing staff. A hospital's reputation is largely in the hands 'of its nurses. Without their loyal co-opera-tion, the patient's lot would be a very difficult one.

The public little realise the training that a nurse goes through before she becomes entitled to wear a little badge, "N.Z.R.N.," showing that she has passed a State examination and has become a "registered nurse." '

Hours and conditions of nursing are improving though progress in this regard has been slow. It is now recognised that nurses should not be expected to work long hours and that in their off-duty periods they should have some comfort and convenience in the nurses' home.

One nurse, one bedroom, is the standard aimed at in place of the old dormitory type of accommodation. Recognising that this standard is none too high, the Wellington Hospital Board is about to call for tenders for a new block of buildings which will provide one hundred and thirty-two additional single Dedrooms for nurses. These additional, rooms will all be required as soon as the building is ready and they will offer a welcome change from existing conditions where nurses are crowded into various parts of the hospital building as well as the nurses' home, two and three frequently having to share a room.

During her training period a nurse has to attend approximately 338 lectures, and she has to pass four hospital examinations before she is allowed to sit for her State examination. In addition to all this tutorial work, she undergoes practical training in the wards. For the first three months of her hospital life, the young probationer is given intensive training in a "preliminary school." She is taught anatomy and physiology, the ethics of nursing, ward routine, and the treatment of patients. To assist in this training, a small fully-equipped ward is provided. The place of the patient is taken by a life-size model for demonstrating how a patient should be cared for. Probationers are there taught the practical side of their work before coming into contact with patients. After passing the preliminary course, the probationer is drafted to a ward and. her real work begins. Under the supervision of the ward sister, she is entrusted with certain duties for the patients, and soon becomes a part of that large organisation, the nursing staff. POST-GRADUATE STUDIES. After passing the State examination the trained nurse may be invited to stay on as a "staff nurse" for a year or more. Further promotion later would lead to an appointment as a junior sister. The board's policy, however, is to allow its nurses to become fully qualified. With this in view, leave of absence is frequently given to "staff nurses" to enable them to qualify as midwives or maternity nurses, . This necessitates a further course of study at .another training school and a further examination. Some nurses go even a stage. further and obtain a Plunket certificate, testifying that they have made a special study of infant feeding and troubles of infancy. The possessor of these three certificates naturally feels that she is well qualified for most positions aavilable in her profession. The highest qualification, however, is that of the post-graduate nurse. Intensive courses extending over a •period of six months are arranged by the Health Department in a post-gra-duate school at Wellington". Nurses taking these are trained specially in administration and ' later receive appointments as tutor sisters, 7 submatrons, and matrons in hospitals—or they may take up administrative work in the Health Department. To enable nurses on their staffs to take these post-graduate courses, many boards grant leave of absence to suitable members of their staffs and provide bursaries in the way of cash grants towards the expenses of the course. This year two Wellington Hospital sisters undertook the course with much success. Next year two bursaries of £50 each will be provided by the board and applications are being called from Wellingtotf-trained nurses desirous of undergoing the course. Nursing services have to be provided twenty-four hours of a day. When it is stated that the number of patients requiring nursing services in hospital on one day last year reached as high as 772—not to mention other nursing services such as those in operating theatres and out-patient department—it is not to be wondered at that a large staff of nurses is required. For the past two months the daily occupied beds have averaged 720. Furthermore, allowance has to be made for holidays and sick leave. At the present time the Wellington Hospital is employing 287 trainees and 70 trained nurses. The organisation and control of such a staff Is by no means a light undertaking. Not only have duties to be allotted to work in with the nurses' practical training but arrangements have to be made for relief to allow attendance at'lectures and examinations. In addition to this there are frequent alterations on account of sickness and annual holiday leave. The total salaries paid to the nursing staff last year amounted to £20,142, and although practically all the staff live on the premises, this expenditure was by no meanr excessive. The board anticipates that when the new block is open in the nurses' home it will be possible to reduce the nurses' working hours in tha wards to forty per week. There will still be hours of study; and lectures to attend, but a reduction to forty hours in the wards should allow for more rest or recreation. DISPENSING SERVICE. Another department, an essential link in the hospital chain, is the dispensary. This department, tucked away in a secluded corner, provides the ammunition with which many diseases are attacked. There are four fully-qualified dispensers as well as three other assist* ants. New discoveries have led to more efficient treatment in many diseases. The treatment of diabetes by the use of insulin has opened up a new avenue of expense, but when the beneficial results are seen, no one would think of curtailing expenditure in this direction. Sera are being used more and more and the bill for these for a period of twelve months is considerable. A recent case of tetanus (lockjaw) waa given over £30 worth of serum, but the life of a young woman was saved where the outlook would , otherwise have been hopeless. Cases of diphtheria at times cost as much as £5 for serum alone, but would anyone query such expenditure? PATHOLOGICAL LABORATORY. Another department to which little prominence is given but one which is.

regarded as "the eyes of the hospital" is found in the. pathological block Here a group of technicians, in charge of the hospital's pathologist, conduct numerous tests, examine specimens ol all kinds, and generally assist in the detection of disease germs. No one undergoing an operation ever considers the details that are undertaken to ensure that materials used at the operation are sterile. The laboratory makes frequent tests on all suture'materials used at operations: tests are conducted to see that the apparatus which, sterilises gowns, and gloves, and overalls is functioning properly. Frequent reports are asked for on disinfectants and antiseptics. There are a hundred and one other ways in which this department is safeguarding the interests of the patient. The laboratory keeps a check on the hospital's milk supply. Specimens from the out-patients' department, wards, and theatres are sent for examination.

Quite a number of things are manufactured in this laboratory. One of the most interesting products distributed is vaccine. The vaccine station, which is under the Department of Health, is worked in-conjunction with the hospital staff and vaccine is distributed from the one centre to the whole Dominion.