Nurses' Memorial Fund

Kai Tiaki : the journal of the nurses of New Zealand, Volume XI, Issue 1, 1 January 1918, Page 19

Nurses' Memorial Fund

Since our last issue the Fund has been progressing slowly but it is to be hoped .surely. The concert got up m aid, on the anniversary of the ' Marquette " disaster, was a great success, largely owing to the exertions and organising ability of Mrs. Wallace RtcKenzie. About £300 was realised. In Auckland a gift fete was held by the Nurses' Association, which realised £100, and Miss Rita Jones, the lion, secretary of the Fund, writes that she now has banked a sum of £83, which will be remitted as soon as £100 is reached. The Hose and Carnation Show Committee, the president of which is Mr. Harcourt, devoted the show to the Memorial Fund, and there was a very successful sale of artificial tulips, each carrying a prize as its root, which were planted m the form of a Dutch garden m the centre of the hall. Surgeon-General Henderson, C.8., Director of Medical Service, opened the show, and a brief report of his remarks which should be very gratifying to New Zealand nurses and those who have been concerned m their training, is published below. A very satisfactory sum was realised on this occasion. The Auckland Hospital nurses are arranging to hold a bazaar m the grounds m March, by which they hope to realise at least £100. Earlier m the year Mrs. Kendall, R.R.C., held a most successful sale of work m her house m Boulcott Street, the proceeds amounting to £140. • Mrs. Hughes Jones, of Auckland, intends to have a garden fete at " Iwern House," for the Fund on the 1 9th. So far we have heard of no effort m Christchurch to augment this Fund, and we consider that the matter should bo taken up with more interest, and an attempt made to join with other centres m promoting what promises to be a most useful and standing tribute to those of our nurses who have lost, or may lose, their lives m the war. Headers, we are sure, will be pleased to learn that two of our oldest nurses, who weiv m active work when salaries were very low and gave little opportunity for saving, and who are now past work, have had divided between them the money which

has been donated and promised as annual subscriptions. The sum of annual subscriptions is small so far, but we hope it will grow and even £12 per annum will add many comforts to the lives of the two ladies concerned. The New Zealand Nurses' Memorial Fund has not been forgotten m the holiday scar, on as evidenced by the following subscriptions ; The staff of the Terrace School,. Wellington, £3 3s ; Taihape Concert Fund, per Mrs. Boyd, £120 ; the Wellington Rose and Carnation Club, £348 9s 4d ; Nurse L. J. Wright, Marton Junction, £1 ; Nurse Hough ton, £5 ; St. Augustine Branch G.F.S., Napier, £2 2s ; the headmaster, West End School, Palmerston North, £2 2s ; Mr. A..H. Hale, Palmerston North, £10; the Women's National Reserve, Hastings. £189 15s ; Upper Wangaehu Road Board, £10. Surgeon- General Henderson, C.8., who was co -diiilly received, said when he was asked by the secretary of the Rose and Carnation Society to attend and open the exhibition, he agreed to do so with very great pleasure indeed, as ho felt sure that the object for which the exhibition was being held was one which must strongly commend itself to the sympathies of all. The objects of the exhibition that afternoon were, briefly, to add to the funds which were being collected m memory of those brave nursing sisters of New Zealand who had sacrificed their lives at the front: and also m order to render financial assistance i > any nursing sister m New Zealand who might at any time require, through sickness or other misfortune, financial help. "Capably Trained." " I do not know whether you always realise," continued Surgeon- General Henderson, " when you yourselves or any of your relations or friends call m the aid of nurses, either m your own houses, or receive aid m private hospitals or m public institutions, that you are receiving the help and scientific assistance of about the finest nurses m the word. (Applause.) The Nursing Organisation of New Zealand — of which Miss Marlean is the head, and who is also the matron-in-chief of our New Zealand Army Xuising Service — has evolved a system of instruction and scientific examination which has resulted m producing some of the most -capably trained nurses which it is possible to find anywhere. 1 know this not only p 'rsonillv from m> residence of over f wo years m this Dominion, but also from the testimony of the matrons of our [mperial hospitals both m England and m Egypt, who have repeatedly said how glad they are to welcome NYw Zealand nursing sisters amongst their staff, because they know they are so capable and so bhorougly well trained. (Applause)

But however well a nurs« may be trained, the anxieties of nursing tell upon them ere long. The anxiety of constant nursing of serious cases of sickness, and the long watches during the silence and stillness of the night, are bound to lay a great strain on the nervous system of the most capable, and to undermine the constitution of the strongest. Surely, it is therefore our duty to see that those ladies should have no anxiety for the future, so that when through advancing years or through disabilities the result of nervous breakdown or shattered constitution they may know that they will l»e provided for when m need of financial assistance m the future. i 450 Nursing Sisters from New Zealand. ' ' New Zealand has done most nobly m t his war. As regards our nursing service, we have sent to the front, or are about to send to the front no leas than 450 nursing sisters. (Applause.) When the war broke out, before the necessity of nursing sisters to nurse our own troops was recognised, m response to an urgent call m April. 191fi, fifty New Zealand nursing sisters Mere sent straight away to serve m British hospitals m Egypt and m England. (Applause.) Amongst t hose who Men! to organise and see into the requirements of the nursing service was our matron-in-chief, Miss Maclean; and thanks to the knowledge she thereby obtained, and of the necessities which the position required, she was able to return here to aid greatly m improving the situation that arose. Bravery and Self-Sacrifice, " Our nursing sisters have served m Egypt , England, Fiance, m Salonika, m India, and even m Serbia. Shortly after the war broke out a number of our sisters, owing to the arrangements not having been completed for the New Zealand troops, volunteered where their services were urgently required for hospitals both m England and m France. One sister joined that devoted body of ladies who plunged into that mass cf misery and pestilence m Servia, and served for at least a year through all the trials of a typhus epidemic — amongst misery and dirt indescribable, ani accompanied the gallant remnants of the Servian army when they performed their long and trying retreat to Salonika. That sister, i may tell you, walked all the way, and received a decoration from the King of Servia for rescuing a wounded officer from the trenches and carrying him on her back into safety. (Applause.) That sister, I

am proud to say, haa returned to this Dominion, is restored to health and strength, m doing work m one of our hospitals, and her only anxiety i* to get back to the front as soon as possible. (Applause. ) Nttrsks Decorated. " Our sisters have served m casualty clearing stations, which are now, owing to the exigencies of the situation, necessarily under fire from the largest German guns. Others are serving, and have served, m hospital ships and transports, and m hospital trains and m hospital barges. Many of our sisters have been mentioned m despatches. Seven of them have received the highest honour that can possibly be given to a sister, and that is the first-class of the Red Cross. Sixteen others have received the second-class. And, m addition, as I have said before, one of our sisters has received a decoration from the King of Servia. And here I may say that thirteen sisters have sacrificed their lives. Ten were drowned m the *' Marquette" disaster m the Aegean Sea, and three other sisters have died at the front. In addition to all the sisters 1 have alluded to, there are many others not included m our service who have coiao from New Zealand, and who are doing good work m various capacities at the front. Attending the Wounded. ■Owing to the sympathy and kindly feeling of the Rose and Carnation Society of Wellington, and of those kind ladies who have rendered assistance m this good cause, this exhibition to-day and its funds are placed entirely at the disposal of the splendid object which we are advocating; and surely no action on the part of anyone could be more appropriate than for this cause. ''As we are surrounded here by flowers which by their brilliance and fragrance add light and comfort and gladness t o our surroundings, so our sisters at the front add joy and comfort, skilled sympathy, and a touch of home to the hearts of our wounded and sick boys m camps and hospitals, which enables them to sustain the most severe operations, to surmount the crisis of severe illness, and to shorten the convalescence which their illnesses have entailed. Ladies and gentlemen. I call upon you with confidence to practically express the sympathy which I know fills all your^ hearts for this cause by contributing, and contributing generously, to the object for which this exhibition is being held, and which I now with great pleasure declare open." (Applause.)