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Advantage was also taken by the High Commissioner's Office of my being in London at the time to select equipment to fill a large order for such that had arrived from New Zealand. General.—l am pleased to be able to say that School Medical Officers continue to report good results from a general health point of view in schools where the children are receiving dental attention. During the year my Division has been able to co-operate with the officers of the Ante-natal Branch, a dental officer attending at the Department's ante-natal clinic, Wellington, once every fortnight to give advice and afford any necessary treatment to expectant mothers. I should like to place on record my appreciation of the services of Mr. Saunders. Deputy Director, and those engaged with him in the training of the nurses. I cannot speak too highly of the keenness displayed by these officers. In conclusion, I would take this opportunity of expressing my appreciation of the ready assistance and co-operation generally of the Education Department, Education Boards, teachers, and members of committees, &c. There can be no doubt that without such co-operation we could not have met with that measure of success which it is admitted my Division has attained. Thos. A. Hunter, Director, Division of Dental Hygiene.

PART V.—NURSING. I beg to submit my annual report for the year ending the 31st March, 1928. Nurses and Midwivbs Registration Act, 1925. At the two examinations held for the State registration of general nurses in June and December there were 311 candidates, of whom 272 were successful, while from countries oversea forty nurses were admitted to the register. Examinations for the State registration of mid wives and maternity nurses were held in January, June, and November. There were 103 midwifery candidates, ninety-six of whom were successful; and ten overseas midwives were also registered. Of 190 maternity-nurse candidates 179 passed, and twenty-one maternity nurses from overseas were admitted to the register. There has been a large increase in the routine work of the Nursing Division owing to the additional number of examinations rendered necessary by the carrying-out of the provisions of the Nurses and Midwives Registration Act, 1925. Where for many years there have been two State examinations for general nurses and two for midwives, held bi-annually in June and December, there are now eight examinations—three in December, one in June, and two in both April and August. These involve a considerable amount of correspondence and clerical work, and a fair proportion of the time is now taken up with arranging examinations and checking returns. PoST-GRADUTE COURSE FOR NURSES. I am glad to be able to report that the post-graduate course of training for registered nurses is now firmly established. The response has been most encouraging, for, while for the first session it was thought better to limit the number to fifteen, there are actually seventeen students undergoing the training, ten of whom have been sent by Hospital Boards and one by the Mental Hospitals Department for the administration and teaching course, and six. who are taking the public-health course. Of these latter, three are departmental officers representing the various nursing activities of the Health Department and three are taking the course on their own initiative. The direction of the course is in the hands of the two nurses who were sent abroad for special training. They are responsible, under the Department, for drawing up the plan of study and arranging the programme of lectures and practical work. In addition they have their own share of lecturing to do. By the courtesy of the Wellington Hospital Board a lecture-room and office have been set aside for the use of the students in the new administrative block of the Wellington Hospital, and here and at the Victoria College the greater part of the instruction is carried out. Now that we shall have our own nurses trained to take administrative positions there will no longer be any necessity to send abroad for qualified " tutor-sisters," as has been done already in the case of two of our leading hospitals. Moreover, with tutor-sisters available it should be possible ere long to establish the preliminary training-school throughout the hospitals of the Dominion. It is already in existence in a modified form in the four larger centres, but the smaller institutions also require this means of preparing and testing before they enter the wards those who wish to undergo training as nurses. There are already a number of applicants for the 1929 course, which proves that the provision of this means of gaining additional knowledge is thoroughly appreciated by the nurses themselves and by the Hospital Boards who employ them. I should like here to place on record the Department's deep appreciation of the great assistance rendered the students in their search for the practical experience necessary for their course. They have met with unfailing courtesy and ready co-operation from every one with whom they have come in contact, whether private individuals or public bodies. This sympathetic and helpful attitude has been a great encouragement to those responsible for directing their studies, as well as to the students themselves.

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