THE ORDER OF ST. JOHN.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21020, 8 May 1930, Page 14

THE ORDER OF ST. JOHN.

EXTENSION OF NURSING ACTIVITIES. Dr A. R. Falconer (chairman of the St. John Ambulance Association) reported to the Dunedin Centre executive last evening, that on his visit north he had investigated the district nursing schemes at Christchurch and Wellington, and after considering a report on the Auckland scheme had formed the opinion that the time was_ ripe for consolidating the St. John District Nursing Associations throughout the Dominion into a national organisation. The work itself had for some time outgrown the methods of administration that might have sesved well enough in earlier years. It had now become imperative to create at headquarters a strong and efficient central organisation competent to ensure the maximum efficiency of the nursing work of the Order of St. John in terms of public service to the people of New Zealand. The expenditure of the additional amount needed to make this central organisation possible wifi be more than justified in the results achieved. It was necessary for the order to adapt its work to the ever-changing needs of the country, and to meet modern requirements. When the St. John district nurses were first instituted many years ago, their duties were restricted almost entirely to the indigent patient. The same applied to the general hospital outlook. Times have changed, and the general hospital now caters not only for the indigent patient, but for people of moderate means, who cannot afford the combined fees of the private hospital and the private medical practitioner. The Order of St. John should follow suit, and give service when the ordinary nurses’s fees cannot be afforded, or where often, as in the country, even the well-to-do are so situated that it is impossible in an emergency to obtain a private" nurse. The question to his mind, continued Dr Falconer, was whether the order had not in the past devoted ite attention too exclusively to the sick poor. The poor must always receive the first attention of the order whose nursing service existed primarily for them. But there was another group, the self-respecting small wage earner, who also frequently needed the St. John nurses’ services, and would pay for them. Of course, the free case must be attended first. Where a staff is limited and below requirements, if calls must be refused, this intermediate group is necessarily the first to be cut off. Surely the community must realise that this is a short-sighted policy, and the small wage-earner should have every consideration and not be penalised for his thrift. The harder the times the greater is the demand for this type of service. Now this system was exactly the one he found the Nurse Maude Association for District Nursing operating in Christchurch, where they had eight nurses at work, and where their organisation appeared to.be second to none in, New Zealand. Dr Falconer said that while in Canada he had investigated the work of the Victorian Order of Nurses, which Was working on much the same lines. This organisation hod been founded by Lady Aberdeen in 1807 as a national memorial in commemoration of the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria, Sir James Barrett had forwarded him an account of the Bush Nursing Association in Victoria (Australia), which was also working on the same co-operative lines for the sick, poor, and those of moderate means, as well as emergency attendance on the well-to-do in the country. Dr Falconer proposed that a remit be forwarded to the Dominion Executive as follows:—“That it is in the beat interests of the public served by the Order of St. John in New Zealand that its various district nursing units be placed on a national footing throughout New Zealand under the name of the Order of St. John Nursing Guild; that the central management be under a ladies’ committee of the Order of St. John; that as in Great Britain, Canada, and Australia the district nursing scheme be on the co-operative principle, with the idea of being ultimately self-supporting, through the assistance of an income derived from endowments; that each local centre, subject to the general rules of the guild, manage its own affairs, without any provincial control, and that the Dominion Committee deal' only with the local elected councils — i.e., complete decentralisation; that the rules_ governing the appointment of 'the district nurses be those already formulated by the Central Health Department in Wellington for the use of hospital boards.” Dr Falconer said he was satisfied the scheme would have the support of the hospital authorities throughout New Zealand from the fact that as it was to a certain extent self-supporting and receiving the rest of its income from philanthrophy, it would be a much lighter' burden financially on the fixed revenue of the community than was any other type of such service. Hospital boards would. M course, be expected to share in contributing to the_ cost of nursing the sick poor. The public throughout New Zealand would also welcome this wider sphere of service on the part of the Order of St. John as meeting a great national need. In any_ case, the local authorities would determine the service best suited to meet the special needs of thbir own districts. It would be necessary to attract a high type of woman as nurse. Preference should be given to those who had taken the post-graduate course in public health nursing held by the Central Health Department in Wellington. This qualification, as well as > a midwifery certificate, would be essential for nurses on country duty, where, in addition to nursing the mck, they would be expected, where no public health nurse was available, to assist in the work of prevention of disease and the promotion of health. The order would seek to co-operate and work in harmony with the Central Health Department, hospital boards, and all other organisations having the same ends in view. In Canada there was the Lady Minto Endowment Fund, and in Victoria the Lady Dudley Endowment Fund, which assisted in financing the central organisations to bear the Cost of management and inspection. A similar central fund in New Zealand would be a great boon for such a purpose, as well as for assisting in financing schemes in the earlier stages in the poorer districts. To this central riind donations and legacies could be ant ‘ the donors could be assured that there were probably few more deserving objects in New Zealand to which they could entrust the stewardship of t.ieir alms, gifts, and obligations.