Conference of the Society for the Health of Women and Children

Kai Tiaki : the journal of the nurses of New Zealand, Volume VI, Issue 2, 1 April 1913, Page 83

Conference of the Society for the Health of Women and Children

A conference of representatives from the various branches of the above Society, was held m Christchurch m March. Dr. Valintine, Chief Health Officer and Dr. Truby King, President of the Society for New Zealand, were present. Dr. Truby King has for some months been attached to the Department of Public Health for the purpose of touring the Dominion and lecturing on the subject of the care of infant life, and generally on proper feeding and bringing up of infants ; the care of expectant mothers and the means to be taken for the betterment of the race. Mrs. King accompanied him. and lectured and demonstrated to the large audiences collected m the different towns.

The result of the tour was the formation of many new branches of the society, and the revival of old ones, and the appointment of a number of Plunket nurses to carry out the work of the society.

The growth of the work inaugurated by Dr. King about six years ago, with the help of Lady Plunket, has been steady, and many fine women have taken up the nurses' work m connection with it. The Government gives aid by means of subsidy on money collected, which subsidy is paid through the Hospital Boards, and a special subsidy to the Karitane Home for Babies, where the nurses receive special training m feeding of babies before going on to the outside work.

One object of the conference was to put the work of these nurses on a definite basis, and to adopt rules which would be satisfactory to the society, and to the Government which supplies a large part of the expense of maintenance. Rules suggested were adopted, and among other remits one from Rotorua, to the effect that Plunket nurses should act as maternity nurses m eases of emergency m scattered districts, was considered, and Dr. Valintine said that lie and Dr. Truby King would draw up certain suggestions for the guidance of Plunket nurses m country districts, and would submit them to the

Central Council for consideration. To bind a Plunket nurse down m the same way as was done m larger centres Avould be a mistake. In country districts there should be general supervision m maternity, together with attendance m emergency cases, for a stipulated number of hours. He suggested that the regulations should be that the Plunket nurses should attend to the duties for which they were primarily appointed, that the nurses must not be debarred by any rules from undertaking emergency work and that m country districts, on the recommendation of the local committee, it be allowable for a Plunket nurse to undertake supervision of maternity cases, but not to undertake work which was m the special province of a general practitioner or midwife. A motion on the lines of Dr. Valintine' s suggestion was carried.

A resolution was also considered that : " In order to increase the benefits to be derived from the Plunket nurses, the Public Health Department should be asked to arrange for them to give lectures at the St. Helens Hospitals." This was carried, and as all nurses appointed must m future be approved by the Health Department, there is no doubt that co-operation between the Matrons of the St. Helens Hospitals, and the nurses who, after some experience m the outside world, are qualified to speak of the needs for teaching and help found by them to be most important, may become very valuable m training our future midwives. Also the opportunity that may be afforded to the Plunket nurse by association with St. Helens Hospitals of improving her knowledge of prenatal and post natal conditions should be of value to her work.

Undoubtedly the ideal would be to have every Plunket nurse qualified, as some aie, m both genera] and midwifery nursing, By midwifery nursing we mean as that nursing is carried out at the St. Helen's Hospitals, where the treatment of mothers before labour, and of mother and child

after, so as to ensure breast feeding m all possible cases, and where the care of healthy babies for many months of infancy, as well as of sick ones, is made a very special feature of the training. Perhaps at present this ideal is unattainable. The President of the Canterbury branch of the Society m her opening remarks gave a brief resume of the chief work of the nurses and the qualities they must be possessed of. " We are to be congratulated," she said, ' upon the way m which our work has extended during the past year, and upon the way it is going to be extended during the coming year. Only when m the midst of the work do we realise how important and far-reaching it is. It is hygiene of home and laying the foundations of what we hope to be a well-nurtured and strongly-constitu-tioned race. Our nurses spend more time m preaching fresh air and cleanliness than

m attending sick children, for what we chiefly contend against is bad habits and unhealthy surroundings. Our nurses are working overtime every day m the week. Our nurses have to be strong women with plenty of tact, and women who can manage to do a hard day's work." Dr. Truby King, Superintendent of Seacliff Mental Hospital, is to leave next month on a visit to England. In London he will attend a conference on infant mortality which has been convened by the National Association for the Prevention of Infant Mortality and for the Welfare of Infancy. The conference, which is to sit on August 4th and sth, will be attended by representatives from various parts of the Englishspeaking world. Dr. Truby King will be absent from New Zealand for eight or ten months.