TRAINING OF NURSES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15885, 5 April 1915, Page 7

TRAINING OF NURSES.

HOSPITAL ROUTINE.

WORK OF ASSOCIATION'

MEMBERS FOR THE FRONT,

Without doubt the nurses who left Auckland by last night's express, en route for the front, are. with their companions from the South, the most envied of their profession in New Zealand. On the reserve list made tin in Aiuklaud on the outbreak of war from the | Trained Nurses' Association membership, there are close upon 200 names, and it' is safe to assert there is not a trained | nurse at work in Auckland who would | not gladly he numbered among those ' ( leaving Wellington on April 8. Of their j final destination nothing is known further I than that they are to report at the i War Ollii e in London. For every nurse who realises her ambition ot service on the battlefield, j however, there are stores who must I remain at the less sensational work of I nursing. Among Auckland girls the nursing profession is a very popular one The total number on the staff of tile General Hospital is 114, but it is impossible to give the entire number of women engaged in nursing in Auckland. The waiting list at the city hospital numbers about 30. so that any vacanty arising is filled without delay. Sometimes a (undulate has to wait as long as six months before a vacancy occurs ; sometimes her call may tome within a couple of weeks. There are very few cases where a girl finds the work too hard ; every candidate must pas? a strict medical test, which usually ensures her fitness to complete her course of study. The first three months of service are spent on probation. In years pone by these first months were filled with heavy and arduous work, and th.> lot of the probationer was by no means an enviable one. Nowadays conditions are greatly improved, tho eight-hour day introduced into hospitals bringing relief to what, without doubt, was formerly one of the worst over-worked, if noblest, of all professions. Having passed a preliminary examination and nroven her physical fitness to continue training, the probationer commences work at the rate of 5s a week— with uniform and keep—for the first year, 10s the second, and £ ' the third. Having finished training and obtained her certificate, she receives £3 3s a week for ordinary nursing of private cases. Hospital Training. Formerly the prescribed course of hospital training occupied three years. It is now four years. The first year is devoted to the study of anatomy, the second to medical and elementary surgical nursing, also invalid cookery, for which a special certificate is given ; in the third year the use of drugs and more advanced nursing is taken, while fourthyear nurses do three months' work in the operating theatre, and specialise in practical dispensing and massage. Maternity work is also included in the fourth year's subjects, but as there is no maternity ward in the General Hospital, training is mostly gained at St. Helens and similar institutions.

The annual examinations are conducted iiy .1 doctor appointed from the honorary staff, in conjunction with the lecturer. Having gained their certificates, most of the nurses leave to take up private work. A few fortunate ones, however, are retained for hospital work, and as "sisters" they are placed in charge of the various wards, where they attend to the training of the juniors, there being about 18 charge-nurses at the General Hospital. Each six months nurses are given night duty, from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. While this duty in some respects is a very trying one, it is, in the opinion of experienced nurses, not so hard as day duty, hilt without doubt it is always more or less of a relief when the two months are up. A hospital ward is ever a place of suffering, of unceasinc struggle between the great forces of life and death, and the dark hours of night accentuate conditions, bringing an added sense of responsibility I very trying to unseasoned nerves. The hardest part of the nurse's training is, perhaps, her introduction to the operating theatre. As a general rule, no nurse is permitted to be present at an operation until her third year, by which time surgical dressings have in some measure prepared her for the scene of the actual operation. As a rule nurses stand , the test very well, however, cases of fainting or collapse being very rare. Nurses' • Social Life-

The Nurses' Home at the hospital is a fine building, where every nurse has a room to herself, and her quarters are most comfortable. Nurses in training have but little time for social life, however, with their duties and studies, and, as most of the "iris have homes of their own, the sociaF life of the institution is mainly represented by the easy good-fellowship and in formal friendliness that obtains where a large number of girls holding a common interest, live together. There are a couple of tennis lawns, grass and asphalt, which are well patronised, tennis forming an excellent form of exercise and relaxation from the strain of duty. Nurses at the hospital have an annual vacation of three weeks, sisters being granted a month. Work ot Association. The social life of the profession really centres at the Trained Nurses' Association's Residential Club in Belgium Street, which represents the headquarters of the profession in Auckland. The association, which numbers about 100 working members, was formed seven or eight years a 0 and a residential club was opened a few years later. The club has proved a great success, so much so that the present quarters are now inadequate, and larger premises are to be built at Mount Eden. Some 35 members reside at the club, and these nurses are given preference when a call comes. A list of nurses desiring engagements is kept, and doctors or private individuals requiring help have on.y to applv to the association. When a case is finished, the nurse returns to her quarters at tho club, and awaits her next call. Manv non-resident members also receive appointments through the club Numbers of trained nurses passing through the Dominion also avail themselves of its friendly offices.