Work in the Field

Kai Tiaki : the journal of the nurses of New Zealand, Volume I, Issue 2, 1 April 1908, Page 29

Work in the Field

In these modern days of progress in the great work of perserving and improving the physique, and through that improved physique, the mind and character of the human race, the work of the trained nurse is more and more being enlarged and thrown into wider channels of action. Her help is needed in many ways not thought of even a decade ago, when there were but the two avenues for her — that of hospital work, and that of private nursing — district nursing, of course, also, but that was in reality the private nursing of the poor. Now the trained nurse is employed as much in the prevention of disease, as in the nursing of its victims when present, she is called upon to act as a missionary in disseminating ideals of hygiene, to watch over the children in their growth and during their school life, to assist the members of the medical profession in their fight with preventable illnesses, in a way which no one but her-

self can undertake with equally good result. Nurses must beware that by their apathy and disinclination to try new work, the great and varied opportunities opening out before them, do not slip away and fall into the hands of unqualified women. They must acquaint themselves with modern movements and with the initiation of new projects for the benefit of humanity, and especially with those movements started in their own portion of the world. There has been a great deal written and said of late on one great topic of the day in medical circles especially, but also among all thoughtful and philanthropic people — that is, the preservation of infant life. And not only the preservation, but the foundation and the promotion of health, strength, and future usefulness. This is pre-eminently a woman's work, and above all a trained nurse's. Let the trained nurses

show that they are ready to take their share in this work, that they are ready to give something of themselves towards it. It will, no doubt, be pioneer work — not quite so straightforward, and without difficulty, as hospital or private work. But we must warn them that if they do not enter into the spirit of the movement it will pass them and they will be left behind. The movement alluded to at present is the scheme of Her Excellency Lady Plunket to form a guild of district nurses devoted to the special care of young and sick infants, to act as advisers and helpers to all mothers who require their help, to study the feeding of babies, and then to be distributed in various centres, from which their work would radiate in wide circles. It is but a short time since the little waifs and strays of humanity — the orphans and illegitimate babies were placed under the protection of the State under new and improved conditions.

But these conditions are not yet ideal, inasmuch as only some of their guardians are fully equipped with the knowledge of disease and its treatment, which may at any time be called into requisition. In this case we fear that the nurses of the Dominion did not come forward as they might have. It has possibly not yet occurred to our nurses' minds that, having obtained a hospital certificate, there are other prospects before them than either continuing in Hospital or becoming private nurses. We beg them now to look ahead, and by interesting themselves in the questions of the day, be ready to take their part in all progress, to give their help when it is called for, to assert their right to the work for which they have specially qualified by their years' of hospital training, and to study to extend their energies and interests from the narrower grooves to which they are accustomed to the wide fields of work which lie before them.