SUPPLY OF NURSES

Southland Times, Issue 17267, 11 February 1913, Page 6

SUPPLY OF NURSES

THE SHORTAGE DISAPPEARING,

REASSURING FIGURES,

A shortage of nurses has been for •onie years the anxiety of doctors and hospital authorities in tiie dominion, but a much more satisfactory position has Bow been reached. The ideal proportion cf nurses, as indicated by the report of the Public Health and Hospitals Department, is one nurse to every one thousand Inhabitants. The actual position to-day is as follows: —Trained and registered nuraes 1326, untrained midwives 685 and trained midwives 492. To show how r rapidly the demand for trained midwives has been met, the total for 1907 was 102. On March 31, 1912, the number was 115, and no fewer than 77 more were added last year, 55 of whom were trained in the dominion at the St, Helens Hospitals, the Townley 'Maternity Home (Gisborne), the Alexandra Home (Christchurch), and the Forth Street Home (Dunedin). Some of the New Zealand candidates achieved the distinction of earning 100 per cent, of the possible marks, both in theoretical and practical work, at the recent examinations. Thus the supply of nurses is steadily improving, and the scarcity which once caused real anxiety is now disappearing. “There has been a considerable Influx of nurses from the United Kingdom and we do not And the same difficulty In filling hospital appointments now." explained the Inspector-General of Hospitals to a representative of the Lyttelton Times. “As regards midwives, though, we have been short, and we feared that when the Midwives Act came into force we could not get sufficient trained women to take the place of the old unregistered mldwlves. There Is now not much risk of a shortage, and we admitted fifty-seven (gained midwives recently.”