HOSPITAL BOARD.

Mataura Ensign, 15 December 1911, Page 2

HOSPITAL BOARD.

At the meeting of tho Southland Hospital and Charitable Aid Board €>ri Thursday .Mr James Ward (actingehairinaii) in the course of his report stated that since last report the following matters of district interest had rece;vi-d ai.eiuion: Tho construction of tin- concrete nalh in front of the ne.v laundry block at tho Gore Hospital, ant horised at last meeting and left in the hands of the Gore members "

to aiterd to, has been completed. Th» s-ocretary reports that thero have been I'd hj« avy demands on the Hoard'* ("lMrhaWe aid fund."., and that the pre- «(•!< 4'. I ,v evpnwlniKo is, with the exception of the menth of May thi* year, lower than it has been for some years. Ho also anticipates that the Widows' Pension Act, which comes into operation on January 1, should to some extent further relieve the Hoard'* funds in this department. The expenditure for the monili was £1465 Bs, the Southland Hospital's proportion being £4/50 Is Gd and the (.'ore Hospital's projnirtion £192 10s. Th<* maintenance accounts were ill 10 17* and £'l7 Is respectively. Eleven widows with young children at present assist ;d by the Hoard were recommended to m ike application for pensions under the Widows' Pension Act, 1911, which comes into o|X'ration on January 1. I)r Barclay and Miss Eivart (matron) furnished reports on the nurses' working hours. J)r Barclay gave it a» hi* opinion that the eight-hour system was suitable for junior nurses but it wa* not so good for seniors. In the new archarge of the wards would lie responsible for the working of the wards even though the actual hours of duty would bo much the same as before. Miss Ewart. in her report considered the eight-hours system satisfactory, more so than the twelve-hours system. The probationers worked eight hours and attended operations when off duty, never more than two and a-half hours unless they wero nursing a special case. The 6isters visited their wards at any hour they pleased, otherwise they could not be responsible for their wards. One sister must be about the hospital during the afternoon to bo ready if called in cases of emergency. She did not ihink the eight-hours syslcni took away from the thoroughness of the nurses' training. It depended a got! deal on the probationer herself. A nurse was not properly qualified until she had complete charge of a ward. A nurse's training should extend over four years instead of three. Sisters must work longer hours than probationers, otherwise the comfort of the patients and the training of the probationers would suffer.