Cable from Secretary of State for the Colonies

Kai Tiaki : the journal of the nurses of New Zealand, Volume VIII, Issue 2, 1 April 1915, Page 62

Cable from Secretary of State for the Colonies

The text of the code cable to the Governor sent by the Secretary of State for the Colonies is as follows. From the Secretary of State for the Colonies to the Governor of New Zealand : — Your telegram of 7th January has been communicated to the Army Council, who desire me to express their thanks for offer made and to say that they will have much pleasure m accepting offer, provided nurses are available for service where *er required and not only for duty with New Zealand troops. Nurses should be fully trained for three years m a general hospital and should have certificates of efficiency, both from Matron under whom trained and under whom last served. Maximum limit of age, 45 years. They should be guaranteed by New Zealand Government and sent over under a responsible Matron to look after them m this country until their services can be utilised. Applications for service from following New Zealand nurses already m this country are now being considered by War Office- — -eleven names here follow.- — Can your Government m case of these nurses also give guarantee as to training and efficiency, so far as it may be possible to do so. ? The enquiry m the concluding paragraph is a recognition of the State registration of nurses m New Zealand and shows the great advantage of a central control of the qualification of nurse^ . Some of the names given were not registered nurses, and therefore, the Government could not give the guarantee asked for. A standard of

qualification which from " Una " the journal of the Royal Victorian Nurses' Association we gather is required by the Chief Matron of the War Office is that of a certificate of training for at least three years m a general public hospital of over 100 beds, has not been required from this Government, and as m this new country the number of hospitals with over 100 beds is practically confined to the four centres and two or three of the large provincial towns, we should have been much restricted m our selection, and been obliged to exclude many of our best nurses. No nurse, however, of the limited experience of three years m a small hospital alone has been chosen. We note also that quite a number of nurses trained m smaller hospitals m New Zealand are now at work m England and France, under the War Office, therefore, it is evident that the authorities have wisely recognised that the State certificate of registration is a guarantee of proficiency. One wonders m what light certificates are regarded from Hospitals m England which give a course of two year's training m the hospital, and a further certificate of two more years, which may or may not be spent m private nursing, and, Avhich cannot be considered as training.