ADDRESS TO NURSES

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 77, Issue 6558, 27 August 1948, Page 6

ADDRESS TO NURSES

INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY DEVELOPMENT OF MEDICAL SCIENCE AND TREATMENT The progress of the cure and treatment of illnesses in the past had been slow and painful and as far as the prevention of illness was concerned the results achieved had not been as encouraging as was hoped, said the Bishop of Waikato, the Rt Rev. C. A. Cherrington, in his sermon on Sunday in St Peter’s Cathedral, Hamilton, on the occasion of the special church parade of student nurses and former nurses of the Waikato Hospital. The church parade was in connection with the week-end re-union of former nurses from the institution. The bishop contended that much of the development in medical science and treatment had been the result of the spread of Christianity and the excellent work performed by religious orders. There was one branch of medical treatment that was a disgrace to the world, and that was as far as mental hospitals were concerned. He sincerely hoped that a new, more humane and realistic attitude toward patients suffering from mental disorders would develop and that this important branch of medical treatment would not be neglected.

Bishop Cherrington said that it was his personal opinion that until nursing was placed upon the firm foundation of some religious order where women would devote their whole lives and energies to the care of the sick and maimed, with no thought of reward or gain, the highest standard of nursing would not be obtained. The true care of the sick should be a Christ-like profession. The Bishop also contended that if a man had a reasonable income it was absurd for him to go to a hospital and not have to pay something toward his treatment. The hospital cost per capita was very high indeed in New Zealand and he thought that even after 100 years New Zealanders were still not properly acclimatised to the abundant soil and the different climate from the land of their forefathers.