Letters to the Editor

Kai Tiaki : the journal of the nurses of New Zealand, Volume IV, Issue 2, 1 April 1911, Page 68

Letters to the Editor

Amy Thomas

[To the Editor.]

Dear Editor,— lt is a great pleasure to know that a nurse can go m New Zealand from one centre to another and be welcomed as a friend through the membership of the N.Z.T.N.A.

I was m Auckland m February, living a little way out of the " Queen " City, and was invited as a member of the Wellington Council to attend a Council meeting there. It happened to be an important meeting, one of the questions raised being whether a Nurses' Home should be started m Auckland by the Association ? This led to a second meeting, to which the nurses were invited, and expressed their several opinions

on the subject for which the meeting was called.

On these two occasions I had met and conversed with many busy women, who spare a little time now and again to -forward their profession.

I am taking the opportunity through our mutual friend, Kai Tiaki, of thanking the Council m Auckland for the pleasure I have had m making the acquaintance of such pleasant fellow workers, and to wish them all success m the Nurses' Home and Club.

To enable me to attend these meetings one of the Council, a late nurse who was m Wellington m the early days of the Association, now married and the mother of a

little boy, asked me to spend the night at her house. She is still a nurse at heart, so you can imagine that our tongues were kept busy.

you will always be the unit, and not oue of the many, or even the few.

C. A. HOLGATE,

(I.ate Hon. Sec. St. 8.N.G., Wellington Branch).

C. A. HOLGATE.

(4th April, 1911.)

2nd April, 1911.

;To the Editor.]

Dear Editor.— Ere leaving New Zealand for some time, I should like to bring under the notice of your readers the St. Barnabas' Guild of Nurses. This is a spiritual guild of help for Church of England nurses. Its headquarters are m London, and it has been m existence over 30 years, and has branches all over the world There is a very simple rule of life : A r/ervice once a mouth, and a social gathering of members after the service, the whole occupying about an hour and a half. The whole arrangements af the Guild have been drawn up to suit ohe busy and uncertain life of nurses.

There are two branches m New Zealand, one at Christchurch, with Miss Maude as the local Superior, and at Wellington, where Miss Payne, of the Wellington Hospital, is the local Superior.

Bishop Neligan started a Nurses' Guild m Auckland on different lines, so it was not thought advisable to clash with that.

The Chaplain m Wellington is Archdeacon Harper, Vicar oE St. Peters, and m Christchurch, the Vicar of St. Michaels. The hon. secretary of the Wellington branch is Mrs . Stephens, Seatoun, and m Christchurch, Miss Newman.

Nurses arriving from other branches are transferred by the local Superiors of their branch to the local Superiors m New Zealand, who tell the new arrival where the meetings are held and send her name to the secretary, so that she may be welcomed at the first meeting she attends. The hon. secretaries will be pleased to give the particulars for membership to any nurses desiring to join.

I am sometimes met by the objection that a Guild that only admits members of one way of thinking, is narrowing. My dear fiiends : all I can say is, if you can, join whatever you think too narrow and help to widen it and yourself ; if you cannot join that particular one, form another wide enough for you ; but don't stand outside everything that is too narrow for you, or —

Note. — This letter, from an old New Zealand nurse, is so full of interest that the Editor need not apologise for publishing it m full :—

23 Bloomsbury Square, London, W.C.

3rd January, 1911.

Dear Miss Maclean, — May I introduce myself as an old New Zealand nuise, trained m Wellington Hospital, and later spending seven years with Miss Dougherty m the Palmerston North Hospital ; and for the last four years working m I/mdon as a " Queen's Jubilee Nurse JJ — or as a Portsmouth sailor once called one of vs — li a Jubilee Tramp," which name (if the weather is bad) suits us excellently on our return from a busy morning m the district.

I have been introduced to our New Zealand nursing paper Kai Tiaki by having a few stray copies sent to me by old nurses, and would be glad if you would send it to me regularly, for which I enclose P.O. order.

The tie with the old home is not loosened by absence and working m other countries, and I will always be glad to have the news of our work m New Zealand, and will gladly tell you of my work here if you care to know of it.

So many New Zealand nurses come to London, but very few so far have taken up district nursing. As far as I know, Miss Brown (of Wellington Hospital) and myself being the only two working m I/mdon. The work is excellent and the interest great, and more of our New Zealand nurses would join our ranks if they knew of it. To work among the poor m L/Ondon is a great privilege, and we are brought into touch with so many sides of life.

As you know by the nursing papers, London, as indeed all England, is mapped out into districts and each London district has its home, where the nurses working m that area live. In this home district nursing was started 35 years ago by Mrs. Craven (Miss Florence Iyees), and the Association is still known as the i( Metropolitan Nursing Association." In 1887 when the " Queens JJ

was formed, the Association was affiliated to that and has since been used as the central training home for the nurses taking their six months' training m district work.

No permanent staff is kept, and eight nurses are m training, each for the six months. During that timo they attend lectures at the head office m Victoria St., on Poor L,aw, Hygiene, Diseases of Women, cooking, and oUie ■ special lectures. Exams, are held at end of each course, and a final, incorporating some of the whole matter, at end of six months. After passing these the candidate is placed on the " Queen's ): roll and wears th« badge and brassard.

From here they are sent to single districts m the country and to other homes, and m some cases it is arranged for two friends to work togethei m a double district. It is not compulsory to hold the certificate of the Central Midwives Board ; but it is distinctly an asset — especially if promotion is looked for. .

The work is not too hard, or the hours too long, and the salary received is the average amount given to nurs 'S in England. During the six months nurses receive salary at the rate of £25 a year and uniform, and afterwards they begin at £30 a year and rise slowly.

There is no dearth of experience m the actual work, for we have every kind of ailment, from a varicose vein to a major operation, to attend to ; and great skill is required m the handling of so great a variety of cases by one nurse.

Of course, all nurses joining our ranks must hold a three years' certificate from a recognised tr: ining school.

The outdoor life is very healthy, and suits most nurses. Personally I en oy it very much, and am out on my bicycle a great part of every day, and think as little of cycling through Oxford Street or Piccadilly, as I did m the " Square," Palmerston North, whose "frightful" traffic m years gone by used to terrify me.

I came Home m 1906, and after a few months m London I joined the Queen's Home m Hammersmith, where I stayed two years. I then resigned, and Miss Brown and I, with all our luggage for three months, set off for a holiday, cycling 1,600 miles during that time. We travelled north, up the east side of Eng l and, seeing all p aces of interest, beginning with Cambridge, end especially enjoying England's splendid

cathedrals, and reaching Edinburgh m a fortnight. From there across to the Trossachs, and back south via the West of England, spending some time m the Iyake district and North Wales. Continuing south, via Hereford, Monmouth, Somerset to Southampton and then to the Isle of Wight, and finally back to London.

We carried a luncheon basket and took all our meals outside. Each morning we left our hotel at 6 a.m., and travelled anything from 15 to 70 miles a day. The weather was perfection.

England is just one large cultivated garden, with the exception of the coaling districts m Lancashire and near Durham ; and no people m our back-blocks are so behind the times and unacquainted with the world's doings as are the people m the sweet little, out-of-the-world villages m England, Scotland, and Wales.

After this I took my C.M.B. m the district at Fulham, and rejoined the ranks of the Queen's Nurses. Miss Hughes, our General Superintendent, was enabled to send me to this home as assistant superintendent to Miss Hadden, who has been superintendent here for eleven years, and which post I still am fortunate enough to retain.

I enclose report of our home, and copy of magazine, and wish you and the affairs of nursing m New Zealand a prosperous New Year. Yours sincerely,