DISTRICT NURSING

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22708, 22 October 1935, Page 7

DISTRICT NURSING

ROSLYN ASSOCIATION HALF-YEARLY MEETING The half-yearly meeting of the Iloslyn District Nursing Association was held last evening in the district nurse’s office, Mr J. Moir presiding over a good attendance of members and supporters. The chairman submitted a report of the association’s activities for the half year, and said it was gratifying to note that such a keen interest was being taken in the work in which the association was engaged. Although the number of relief workers on sustenance had been very materially - reduced during the past two years, the demands on the relief depot and on the association had not been relaxed, and the work of the association in a wider sphere might now be regarded as indispensable to the community. The welfare of the State depended on many conditions, and surely the welfare of its citizens was a matter of supreme importance. He wished to acknowledge with gratitude the generous support accorded to the association by so many loyal supporters. From many of the country districts donations of produce had come for ward, and clothing and foodstuffs of ah descriptions had been sent in by friends in Dunedin and the suburbs. _ During the period under review, 998 visits had been made to homes, and 348 calls made at the rooms —an average of eight cases and a-half a day. It seemed unnecessary to add that Nurse Kinmont was unsparing in her efforts to heal the sick, and in so many ways bring comfort and cbecr to those in distress. Mr Moir then moved the adoption of the report, and the motion, seconded by Mr J. IT. Matbieeon was carried. The balance sheet for the six months, which showed a satisfactory credit balance, was also adopted. EXTENSION OF THE SCHEME.

The necessity for the extension of the district nursing scheme was urged by Dr Siedeberg MTvinnon, who suggested that this might be carried out through the Dominion, the work, in each case, radiating out from the main hospital in the district, but at the same time coming under the voluntary organisation of the Order of St. John, and under the super vision of the Health Department, with the director of the division of nursing as inspector. Roslyn was the .only district in Dunedin that had a district nurse. Certainly there were St. John Ambulance nurses, and the work they did was invaluable, but it extended only to the indigent class. Their service could bo taken over by the voluntary organisation. The class which could afford to give a little, but could not pay high fees for nursing service, was not catered for, and that class, in addition to the indigent, was the class that an extended dist™* nursing scheme would cater for. Each district could, with the help of voluntary subscribers, patients’ fees, and the sale of goods contributed be made largely, self-supporting. It therefore now required only an organising committee with consent of the commandery of the Order of St. John in Wellington,_ to initiate a workin" scheme. Each district could form a sub-committee to gather in subscribers to pay for its own nurse, and formulate The nature of the work done, and the invaluable service given by the district nurse was too well known to require further description. When established, each district nurse would be required to send monthly returns to the nearest hospital board and to the Health Department. These in turn would be referred to the director, who would thus got a complete survey of the general health ot the whole Dominion, and would supervise the work of each district nurse. 1 his periodic inspecting would keep the standard of work up to the mark required by the Government Health Department. Ihe preventive aspect would be invaluable, and considerable economy to the hospital boards would 'result from_ the fact that many patients could be discharged from hospital much earlier than was the case at present, as the district nuise could follow up the treatment and after-care. At present, also, many in-patients, on discharge, had to report daily, or two or three times a week, to the out-patient department. The Hospital would be relieved of a great deal of this, and it would obviate the necessity of a patient who was still in the convalescent stage having to come, in many instances, long distances to report at the institution. The ordinary out-patients’ department would also be relieved of a certain amount of its work. At present, in the North Island, and in some parts of the South Island, district nursing schemes had been established. but they were not co-ordinated under one organisation, and it was this complete co-ordination of all parts of New Zealand under the order of the St. John Nursing Guild, of which she would emphasise the importance. As time went on, with each separate scheme becoming more firmly established in its own district, it would become increasingly difficult To co-ordinate them under one organisation. For example, the rural worx in the Auckland district, including the Maori district, was worked on different lines from the Auckland city work, which was only the follow-up of hospital cases. In Hawke’s Bay, Wanganui, and Palmerston North the system was somewhat different from that prevailing in Auckland, although, in both cases, reports were sent in monthly to the Health Department In the Wellington city and suburban districts the arrangements were again on somewhat different lines. Marlborough had one district nurse who worked along similar lines to those in rural Auckland. Geraldine and Timaru had one each. In some of these there was a local committee which guaranteed to find a certain proportion of the finance; some provided a separate cottage office, others did n °l--Some provided a car for transport, others did not: some catered only for the indigent class, accepting no pay; others catered also for the class who would willingly pay a small fee for nursing service but could not afford the full fees of a private nurse. Some combined their nursing with a certain amount of necessary relief work and social service, and others gave purely nursing service, making no arrangement for supplying special comforts. She would therefore, said Dr Siedeberg M'Kinnon. make a strong plea for the co-ordination of all these New Zealand services under one scheme, with the commandery of the Order of St. John, at Wellington, as headquarters.