Correspondence

Kai Tiaki : the journal of the nurses of New Zealand, Volume XVII, Issue 3, 1 July 1928, Page 136

Correspondence

Wellington, 20/4/28. Dear Miss Maclean, Having just returned from a holiday spent with a District Nurse m the "Back <>' Beyond," I felt I would like to bring to the minds of our city nurses the splendid work which is being carried out by these District Nurses. It is quite a daily experience to commence work at 8 a.m., and after a hard day riding or driving, to again set out at 7 or 8 p.m., on horse-back, over "hills and down dales/ to attend some sick person. Quite often the nurses do not return until midnight, and if the trip is by launch — sometimes the launch gets stuck m the mud, and there is nothing to do but await the pleasure of the tide.

All these hardships are cheerfully borne by the District Nurses, and as a result they are loved by one and all m their districts, and give of their best m return. I have lived m "city clubs" from time to time, and heard nurses repeatedly decline private cases because they were "too far out of town," "not enough help kept," "not enough leisure hours," etc., etc., and I could not help thinking (when m the back-blocks) how selfish we city nurses are becoming — how utterly dependent on the luxuries of life, and how much we are m danger of losing sight of the first great principle of nursing — "Service before self." — I remain, Yours sincerely. "R.N."