NELSON PLUNKET SOCIETY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 10 May 1939, Page 8

NELSON PLUNKET SOCIETY

ANNUAL MEETING OF BRANCH ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL YEAR’S WORK ELECTION OF OFFICERS A review of a successful year's work was presented at the annual meeting of the Nelson branch of the Plunket Society held in the Cathedral Sunday School yesterday afternoon, when Mr A. Gould was elected chairman. In opening the meeting Miss Nevin. the President, expressed pleasure with the good attendance. particularly from the country districts. She took the opportunity of welcoming Miss B Ogden, senior Nurse in the Plunke’ service, who was present to give an address to members. Miss Nevin referred to the appointment of Dr Helen Deem as Medical Advisor to the Plunket Society and on behalf of Nelson members she congratulated Sir Thomas and Lady Easterfleld on their daughter's appointment. PRESIDENT’S COMMENTS The President, Miss Nevin, in moving the adoption of the report and balance sheet, commented on the year’s working. She said: “As will be seen from the balance sheet our financial position is satisfactory, and there is no particular feature which I need dwell on. The work of the nurses has gone steadily on, and although the visits of mothers and babies to the rooms shows a decrease, this may be explained by the wide-spread epidemic of measles which persisted for many months. Mothers were requested not to bring their babies to the rooms from an infected household. That there was little serious illness amongst our bab'es is largely due to that precaution. “Our ideal of every mother becoming a financial member of the Society draws perceptibly nearer for there is a decided increase in membership among those directly benefiting from our nurse’s services, namely the mothers. It will be a very proud day when we achieve a full membership of mothers. “That highly important branch of our work, the ante-natal section is one we should like to see every expectant mother taking full advantage of. Perhaps it is not realised how helpful the nurse can be to her. All instruction

to or supervision of expectant mothers is given in conjunction with the patient’s own medical adviser. The nurse reports to the doctor any untoward symptoms that occur and advised the patient about many details which seem to fall naturally into a woman’s sphere —such as the mother’s diet, the baby's clothing, cot and bedding. The privacy afforded at these interviews is greatly appreciated and inspires the expectant mother with confidence and trust in the nurse, a most valuable asset. I do hope that this section of the work will be greatly extended.

“ Our nursing staff liac provided us with our greatest changes. In December we lost the valued services of Nurse Pascoe who retired on superannuation after seventeen years service with our branch. Her long and faithful service had made her so much part and parcel of our branch that we somewhat selfishly dreaded losing her, but the realisation of how well she had earned her retirement in some measure consoled us. We sought to express our affection and gratitude to her at the farewell parties given , by comnjittee, members over those years, and by the mothers who knew he.* as nurse and friend. Nelson has cause to feel deeply grateful for Nurse Pascoe's work amongst the babies. As I have said before she leaves behind her a most honourable record. “The good fortune which has always attended the Nelson Branch sent to us Miss Iva Hunt, late Matron of Truby King Karitane Hospital. Auckland, a nurse of high character and splendid qualification’s in her work. She is a fitting successor to Nurse Pascoe. surely the highest term we can use in regard to her. The vord change applies also to our valued nurse Mrs Mason, who during the year changed her name to that of Mrs Lumsden. In extending their good wishes to her on ! her marriage, the committee presented her with a crystal rose bowl accompanied by their appreciation ox her fine service?;. As Nurse Lumsden she continues to give of her best both in town and country. We thank our nurses one and all for their devoted service-' I ihroughoul the year. “Our counlry branches maintain their steady progress and all appear to have had a satisfactory year. Though we generally manage one visit a year to them it is a matter for regret that we cannot have closer contac*. but the outlying position of at least two makes it very difficult. I should like to mention how gratified we were to hand on Murchison’s splendid donation of £5 to the Wellington Karitane Hospital, and we can assure them that it was received with like gratification. No more worthy object could be found for their gener* osity. “Owing to the fine response of the pubjic to our house to house col-

lection and our collection on Founder’s l : Day, there has been no special money 1 raising effort by our committee, excepting our annual ball, which I regret 1o say agaiiT proved unsuccessful financially, bringing very little to our exchequer. It is doubtful if this once popular feature will be repeated. The committee's very fine endeavour to raise money by individual efforts was an unqualified success. I thank them most heartily for it. and also for the hard work and energy they put into our collecting We ai*e only too conscious that collecting is not the most pleasant of jobs, but they must feel some compensation in the good result achieved. I thank them for their loyalty and co-operaticn which has made for such smooth working of our affairs. My executive committee has my special thanks, particularly the hon. secretary and the hon. treasurer who I devote so much time to the efficient handling of the work. “Once again 1 have to thank the hon. I auditor. Mr H. C. Fletcher, who has, stood in this good office.to us for sol many years. I also welcome thisi opportunity of thanking the business ! people of Nelson for their continued j support and interest which is evidenced | i:. many and various ways.” The motion • was seconded by Mrs Wallace and carried. ELECTION OF OFFICERS The election of officers resulted as[ follows: President. Miss M. E. Nevin. Vice-presidents, Lady Rigg, Mesdames : Fell. T. Field, T. E. Hudson, F. V. | Knapp, W. Rogers. K. S. Farmer, Wallace, E. R. Neale, R. H. Davies, Misses j L. Hunter-Brown and Ledger. General committee, Mesdames G. L. Page (Mayoress), Dawson. M. Rout, T. H. Duthie. J. Ingram. Parker. Pitts- j Brown. Pownall, R. Grace, Biddle, Hurrell. R. Hunt, A. R. Griffin, Woods. | Stride. Craighead. Rhodes. J. A, liar- j ley, H. V. Searle. H. G. Brodie, ’ R. C. I Jennens. I Associate Committee: Lady Easter- j field. Mesdames Bisley, Campbell- , Smith. Chamberlain, Maunsell. Gould. H. Hurst, Kirby, Jamieson, Tasker, T. Johnston, Earle, Wiggins, Wade, S. A. Lucas. Misses Blackett and Knapp. Country Representatives: Mesdames Haycock (Richmond), Win (Dovedale), Hill (Murchison), Closs Wakefield). Executive Committee: Miss Nevin. Lady Rigg. Mesdames Farmer, R. Hunt, Craighead. Parker and Williams. Advisory Board: Messrs C. M. Collins. R. Dagger. H. R. Duncan. R. C. Fell, A*. Gould. J. A. Harley. H. V. Searle. J. N. Smith: Drs Bett. Jamieson. , Low. and Williams. Hon. Secretary: Mrs J. U. Williams. Hon. Treasurer: Mr S. Blomfield. Hon. Auditor: Mr H. C. Fletcher. , Warm tributes were paid to the work during the past year by the president, and the honorary secretary. Lady Rigg said the society was very grateful to the nurses for their able, conscientious and fine work throughout the district. The nurses were really the society and it was their work so I ably carried on which made for the | success of the movement. A vote of I thanks to the Nurses was carried. I CHAIRMAN’S GOOD WISHES | The chainnah congratulated the soc-

I iety on electing Miss Nevin as presi- 1 dent, as her energetic work had been I most valuable to the city and district. I He always felt that thousands of people I in the Dominion had an admiration for I the Society for its great work which ; was doen so silently. He-expressed * the hope that the good work of the society would be carried on even more e successfully in the future than in the past. ANNUAL REPORT v The annual report inter alia, was as follows: — NURSING STAFF J The committee desire to thank our * nurses for their work in the past year, * which has been carried'out in the most efficient manner. * After seventeen years of faithful ser- 1 vice Nurse Pascoe retired in September, j* i The esteem in which she was held was * evidenced by the enthusiastic gather- j f lings of committees and mothers. An 1 I appreciation of her services appears j ! under a special heading. Miss Ivor j 1 ‘ Hunt, formerly Matron of the Auckland j* j Truby King Karitane Hospital. sucI ceeds Nurse Pascoe. Miss Hunt’s high! 1 i ° T j qualifications and the responsible posi- j tion she has held in the Plunket ser-; 1 vice, are such that the Nelson Branch 1 | is indeed fortunate in securing her. , J I The committee recently organised a ; 1 ; party to welcome Miss Hunt, and a very pleasant evening was spent in the ,' Plunket Rooms. In addition to friendly | chat Miss Hunt gave a talk on Karitane Hospitals, their aims and adininistra- ; : tion. engaging the interest of her hear- ! ers and proving her ability as a speak- ( ' er. During the evening Miss Nevin } , and Miss Tomlinson acted an amusing j little play. On the occasion of Nurse j Mason's marriage to Mr Lumsden. the committee presented her with a ' i crystal rose bowl accompanied with j 1 their good wishes and sincere appre- . | ciation of her services, particularly J -; among the country branches. Best . . i wishes were extended to our relieving ( , nurse, Miss Knapp, who lately left on -1 a holiday visit to England. i NURSES’ REPORT i We can again report quite a busy ' j year. Our figifres show 297 new cases , and of these 81.1 per cent,, were ’ j breast-fed or partially breast-fed when ’; first seen by the Plunket Nurse. ! There is a slight decrease in our numbers of expectant mothers. We ’ J would be pleased if more prospective _ j mothers would realise ihe importance . I of medical supervision, coupled with j i the help offered by the society at this i [ ' time. In the country districts the work has i . gone steadily on. We are pleased to report an increase of new cases in Rich- \ mond and Murchison, i We wish to thank very sincerely our £ j president and committee for their ever- | ’ j ready help. Also our thanks are due to ! y j the Sister-in-Charge, Maternity Block. !, ! Public Hospital, and other midwives I for their co-operation. To the Waimea : _ | Dairy Co. for sulphuric acid: to Miss , Q ! Goodman for her willing help: and to e ! all mothers and friends for their don(f | ations of flowers and toys. | The street collection on Founder’s I I Day and the annual house-to-house col- ; i lection by the committee in September. ■ : which again reached record figui-es. | were our main source of income. We express our gratitude to the Nelson i public for its generous support. CONFERENCE The president. Miss Nevin. and Mrs Stride, were delegates to the conference in November and as usual brought back much of interest to Hie committee. Once more we have to thank Mrs D. C. Low for lending her home for the annual bridge party whereby our delegates’ expenses are defrayed. . REST ROOM Under a capable House Committee the affairs of the Rest Room have proceeded smoothly. The necessity of planning two floors and placing felting under all the linoleums was an unexpected expenditure. A separate maintenance fund has been instituted. We express our appreciation to Miss Goodman for her meticulous care of the rooms and courtesy to Ihe public. At the request of the committee the care of our grounds was taken over by the City Council in April, 1938. SUB-BRANCHES Visits were paid to Murchison. Dovedale, Wakefield and Richmond for thenannual meetings by Hie president and members of the committee, and as All branches reported a satisfactory year. The interest and enthusiasm of these country branches, maintained sometimes under great difficliles. is a continual inspiration to the Nelson Committee. Mrs Closs. Wakefield President. invited us to a Garden Party in her beautiful grounds where a very pleasant afternoon was spent. The splendid contribution of five pounds from Murchison for our Karitane donation must be specially noted. It is a fine example to us all. SYMPATHY Our sympathy has been extended to those members of the committee who have suffered bereavement. To Nurse Hay, who has helped us so willingly in I past years, we offer our sincere condolences on the loss of both her par-

2nts. Owing to the absence of a number of the committee during Fitness Week it I was found impossible to participate actively in the Health Demonstrations, but through the courtesy of the Broadcasting Board the president gave a fifteen minutes’ talk on “The Plunket Society and its Relation to Physical Fitness.” Miss Hunt gave an interesting talk to the senior pupils of the Girls’ College on “The Plunket Society and the i Plunket Baby.” The Principal, Mis* j Stewart, expressed the hope that such ; talks might become a regular feature ( in the school. Help has been give.i by our com- i rnittee in street collections for the j Spanish and Chinese refugees The problem of providing garage j accommodation has been solved by ! Miss Hunt housing the Plunket car at J her home. This is a matter of great j relief to us and we are most grateful, j Also for her gift of a beautiful set of ' baby clothes which is displayed in the j Rooms. THANKS To our Hon. Treasurer, Mr S. Blom- \ field, we extend our special thanks for j the time and assistance he has given us. It is a great comfort to know our financial affairs are in such capable hands. We desire to thank all those who have given us donations or assistance in any form: the Government for their annual subsidy; Mr At roe, M.P., for his interest and support; Mrs Hood, our Dominion Council member, for her interest and advice; the City Council and Waimea County Council for their annual grants, and to the latter for the use of their room for our meetings; the proprietors of the “Evening Mail” for their generous support and co-oper-ation: Messrs Newman and Croucher for free conveyance of our Nitric;' Mr H C. Fletcher for his indispensable services in our book-keeping and auditing; the Nelson Relief Committee for defraying the cost of Karitane foods and milk for poor mothers; Mr and Mrs Hunt and Mi's Worthington of Murchison for their continued and much appreciated hospitality to Nurse Mason on her visits. SUMMARY OF CASES DEALT WITH The following is a summary of cases ‘dealt with: New cases, 297; (headquarters 242, Richmond 18. Wakefield 13. Dovedale 4. Murchison 20). Visits to homes. 2723 (headquarter; 2650. Rich* j mond 2. Wakefield 21, Dovedale 14. ! Murchison 45). Visits to office, 8738 j (headquarters 739 G. Richmond 611. Wakefield 292. Dovedale 124, Murchison 315). ADDRESS BY MISS 3. OGDEN i The chairman introduced Miss B. I Ogden, senior Plunket Nurse, and | extended a welcome to her on behalf of the Nelson Society. | Miss Ogden addressed the meeting on the importance of proper food for i the expectant mother and the pre- | school child, on similar line.: to her ! Motueka address on Monday. Miss Ogden commended the Nelson i branch on its modern Plunket rooms 1 which were a credit and an asset to the cily -