THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, JUNE 23, 1908. HOSPITALS AND NURSES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13783, 23 June 1908, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, JUNE 23, 1908. HOSPITALS AND NURSES.

The new wards of the Auckland Hospital, concerning the cost of which so much was recently said by very captious critics, were opened yesterday by the Minister for Hospitals, amid mutual congratulations. The Minister not only approved officially j of the modern and scientific way in j which the work had been carried out, but expressed the hope that it would be pushed 011 until complete renovations gave Auckland a hospital of which its citizens might justly feel proud. The voice of criticism was silent, for with calmer thought and fuller consideration it has been recognised that the structure and equipment of a hospital must necessarily be upon different lines to those which arc followed in the most luxurious mansion or in the humblest cottage. Mr. Fowlds very properly echoed the Departmental approval of the precautions taken against surgical uncleanliness, and pointed out that it is by ever-increasing attention to this all-important matter that the mortality of hospitals has been so greatly reduced. When the question was being, warmly debated, the Herald did not hesitate to support the policy of the Hospital Board as one which was npt only justifiable,' but was imperatively incumbent upon our hospital managers, even though it might be regarded as unduly costly by those who had not considered all the circumstances. With the admitted triumph of the policy of instituting modern and scientific methods wherever such improvement may aid in saving human life and in reducing human suffering, we may therefore draw attention to the strenuous work performed by Dr. Roberton, through whose tireless and unremitting efforts the most creditable condition of the new wards is so largely due. As we have always insisted, hospital problems must be dissociated from too close connection with .petty details, and must be viewed from a broad and public-spirited standpoint. Upon items of administration the best may differ, but with the general principle that our hospitals should be kept abreast of practical science, and should provide for all who claim it the best medical and surgical assistance possible in the community,

every good citizen must agree. Such provision is obviously impossible unless the structure and; equipment of these great public institutions are entirely up-to-date, and unless they conform, so far as we can make them, with the standard set up by the admitted hospital authorities of the world. Mr. Fowlds quoted yesterday the reduction of mortality in hospitals through the acceptance of the principles of Listerism—that is. of perfect scientific cleanliness : we can go further and point to the resultant change in public opinion. Not- many years ago hospitals were dreaded by the poor and avoided by all who could afford to avoid them : to-day,' the hospital is dreaded by none but ignorant foreigners, while one of the most frequent complaints is that admission is demanded by those who are quite able to pay outside for medical treatment and skilled nursing.

The reply of the Minister for Hospitals to the deputation which waited upon him in connection with questions relating to St. Helens Maternity Hospital was not as satisfactory as it ought to have been. One would imagine, from the attitude taken up by Mr. Fowlds, that St. Helens Hospital is something very superior indeed, whereas it is a very ordinarilymanaged and equipped nursing home, to which the comparatively poor are admitted, and where there is quite no greater opportunity to acquire skill in midwifery than in any other equally well-managed institution of the class. We have not one word to' say against St. Helens as a hospital, but it must be evident to every intelligent person that because it is conducted by the Government, and because its matron has been selected by the Government, does not differentiate it in any way, as. an advantageous training place, from private hospitals which are as successfully conducted by private enterprise and managed as satisfactorily by equally competent matrons. Yet a St. Helens nurse may receive a certificate entitling her to undertake a case without calling in a doetor, while no oilier nurse can do so. The situation is preposterous, assuming for a' Departmental institution which, from its nature, cannot possibly be unique of its kind, a privilege which is without reason and is most inimical to the public wellbeing. The poor are the very last; to benefit by the system which has been instituted, for a nurse with a special certificate— B where special certificates are few and far between— will go to those cases which pay her best. What is really wanted is the abolition of the privileges of St Helens; it should be placed upon an equal footing with every other hospital which is competently managed. Lectures could be given which every nurse in training must attend to qualify for a certificate. This is the common sense procedure, and is not discredited by any objections which avoid the real issue. The Government is to be encouraged in making examinations-strict, and in taking precautions against unqualified persons being authorised to undertake cases upon their sole responsibility. But to refuse to recognise good training because it is not obtained in a small Government institution, and to throw impediments and discouragements in the way of the increase of knowledge by refusing certificates to any but St. Helens graduates is most condemnable. For until we have a great nursing sisterhood, devoting itself to the care -of the mothers of the working people, and to the care of their families while the housewife is invalided, we must depend upon the. professional nurse for all classes and conditions of society. Nor should any competent and capable nurse, who can prove her knowledge and demonstrate her skill, be ; denied the legal right to attend the poor without burdening them with the cost of an unnecessary doctor, merely because she has not happened to obtain knowledge and attain skill in a Government institution.