First Impressions of Hospital Ship Work

Kai Tiaki : the journal of the nurses of New Zealand, Volume X, Issue 3, 1 July 1917, Page 173

First Impressions of Hospital Ship Work

The readers of our Journal may be interested to learn how this work impresses the recruit, raw as far as active service is concerned. Take first the work that is done by a new commission Avhile " getting there," before patients are taken on, and remember that the whole personnel, with the exception of two non-commissioned officers, are entirely new to active service. The ship was handed over to us refitted and repainted,. Some extra cots, making a total of 408 for patients. Repainted and fumigated, mattresses and pillows renewed, and equipment made up to the fullest requirements. One great improvement, which was a very excellent suggestion of Miss Myles, the lady superintendent of Dunedin Hospital, was, each of these beautiful mattresses was provided with a grey calico mattress cover, which can be replaced and washed when dirty. The wear and tear on mattresses when any number in excess of cots are taken, is severe, as shakedowns must be made in all available corners , making it impossible to keep things clean for long. A certain number of mattresses are also covered with American cloth ; these can be quickly sponged and wiped after the dirtiest cases, and save the handling of mackintoshes. A general clean-up was, of course necessary, especially as the painters had been almost as lavish with the paint on the floors as on the walls . Why could they not have spread a few old sacks down, which would have saved our orderlies the necessity of spending hours on their knees with blunt knives, as it would not yield to sand-soap or turpentine. The equipment as it stood in wards, was inventoried, additional, where required, was requisitioned for, and the ward stocks taken over from the quartermaster by the matron. The orderlies, although they had had a Medical Corps training, were for the most part quite new to hospital work. Practical demonstrations and lectures were immediately incorporated in the routine each day as follows : — 1. Mornings, after cleaning of wards, practical and uniform instruction and demonstrations in all wards, by ward sisters to their own orderlies.

2. Medical officer's lectures to orderlies at 1.45 p.m. 3. Lectures and demonstrations by selected sisters to all orderlies collectively at 4.15 p.m. The sisters and orderlies went to wards from 9 a.m. to 5.p.m., the sisters coming up on deck occasionally, when the work permitted. There is a good deal for all to acquaint themselves with on a new commission. The dual control between the sister (who, nevertheless, is wholly responsible for her ward, and, as you know, ranks as a commissioned officer) and her noncommissioned officer, or warclmaster, who is responsible to the sister for the work of the orderlies placed under both, is a little difficult to appreciate at first, but the necessity of such is soon evident, and the need for tactful " give and take " to secure smooth working is great. Military routine must be learnt and the significance of the bugle calls. The leisure at first was not too abundant, several of the sisters and many of the orderlies being very sea-sick throughout the very rough weather we at first experienced. Later, before the patients came in, we had some enjoyable concerts as well as two fancydress functions, one for officers and sisters, the other for the men. The dresses were decidedly effective, and really very good. Many and varied were the devices resorted to in order to produce a correct Manderin, a Red Indian, a Highlander, etc., and altogether about seventy or eighty fancy dresses were evolved out of what our limited wardrobes plus some hospital garments, paper off dressings, odds and ends, could produce. Some of the make-ups were excellent . At Bombay we had two days ashore, and made ourselves acquainted a little with the ways of the east. At Albany, owing to wet weather, in which the coal men suspended operations, we had to lie out for two and a half days ; we had one day and a half ashore, and enjoyed it. All hospital ship sisters know what coaling means, how horribly dirty everything gets, and the clean-up there is as soon as the ordeal is over. When our 300 patients were embarked at Bombay, work really commenced. Of

these twenty-nine were officers, all for England, save one ; twenty were non-com-missioned officers (sergeants), and 251 other ranks. We had been asked to take 375, including twelve sisters, two of whom were invalided, the others' time expired ; and several mental officers and men. Our Colonel had . to reluctantly decline the mental cases, and sisters for lack of suitable accommodation and staff to deal with the former, which were of the worst description. The " Maheno " has not really good accommodation for officers as compared with many other ships, and we could not have undertaken so many requiring special and separate accommodation. As it was, in in order to take the officers we did embark, it was necessary to put them into the n.c.o. ward, and put the sergeants in the officers and elsewhere. Some of the 300 were destined for Egypt (though only one officer). We were disembarking about 125 men at Suez, and picking up others, to fill the ship, at Alexandria. They were all Tommies and Territorials, some from frontier and garrison service in India (most of these were marked " Egypt," there being some likelihood of their sufficiently recovering to rejoin their regiments again.) The majority were from Mesopotamia, and had endured untold hardships in that most trying climate. As well as the wound cases, there were bad cases of beri-beri, malaria, dysentry, convalescent typhoids, and kala-azar. The latter disease, we in

New Zealand, know nothing much about. (Major Gibson has very kindly consented to briefly describe it for our journal), see p. 169. The patients whom we had on board suffering from it, are very ill indeed, and unlikely to recover The "Maheno" is really best suited to deal with cot cases of rank and file. On the long runs the absence of separate convalescent rooms and more deck space is somewhat of a disability. The only two wards having mess tables are of necessity, in a constant state of being cleared up, and cannot look as orderly as the others, nor, indeed, on a hospital ship can the same spick and span appearance be maintained to the desired extent. The best possible under the circumstances with the limited space, and too few cupboards, must suffice. A generous give-and-take all round must be exercised if there is to be smooth working on a hospital ship, because so much has to be done in pretty close quarters. No ship — or few — can yield the space and conveniences one expects to find in hospitals ashore. For an abundance of most beautiful equipment of all kinds ; for good reading matter, gifts and comforts of all kinds for our patients, we have to thank our splendid women workers of St John and the Red Cross in New Zealand, and we are proudly grateful to them, when we hear the most appreciative remarks from the men who have suffered so much in Britain's cause.