Health Notes for the Farm.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 57, Issue 4, 20 October 1938, Page 370

Health Notes for the Farm.

Contributed by the Department of Health.

Nursing Services and the Conquest of Disease.

NURSING is a larger development of the mother-care of the young, and must have co-existed with this care

from the earliest time. The word itself comes from the word meaning “ to nourish.” In ' its broadest meaning it covers not only the care of the sick, the aged, the helpless, and the handicapped, but the promotion of health and vigour in those who are well, especially the young, growing creatures on whom the future of the race depends.* It has been said that the Crimean War left behind it countless international embarrassments and only one boundless goodthe birth of the trained nurse. This gave Florence Nightingale her opportunity and the world the modern nurse. Those readers of the Journal who have been patients in a hospital, or under the care of a nurse in the home, or have been associated with hospital work, must many times have been impressed with the service performed by nurses a service truly dedicated to the cause of suffering humanity. An eminent nursing authority remarked in an address to young students : “ I have found in hospitals, and particularly among nurses, the purest unselfishness, the sternest devotion to duty, the simplest and most unaffected bravery, and the richest traditions of disinterested service that I have ever known.” Training of Nurses. In New Zealand, apart from nurses in private practice, there, are ' some nine hundred qualified nurses and one thousand eight hundred pupil-nurses in public and State hospitals engaged in this good citizenship, in work of responsibility demanding a high standard of knowledge which is gained only by careful tuition and practical experience. The constant

advancement in the fields of medicine and surgery, together with a better knowledge of psychology, have made it imperative to produce not merely trained hands, but instead cultured, well educated, highly equipped young women to meet to-day’s nursing needs. ' At the same time, however, there should not be expected too much of nurses. Surely no more nor less than we expect

of any other modern, intelligent woman who is trying to meet her obligations to society, to earn her own livelihood, and at the same time to extract as much legitimate pleasure from life as is consistent with her ideal of service and obligation to others. Our schools of nursing fully realize this, and they make every endeavour to ensure that the training of those who have chosen this career is both attractive and interesting and well within the mental and physical powers of the average healthy young woman. Meaning of Nursing. Nursing, in its modern conception, means more than bedside care. It includes health conservation as well as bedside nursing, health education as well as ministration to the sick, the nursing care of the whole patient (mind ,as well as body), the care of the patient’s environment (social as well as physical), and health service to families and communities as well as to individuals. The purpose of this article is mainly to direct attention to certain of the spheres of nursing which come under this newer preventive field of medicine, which aims to lengthen the span of life and make it more effective. Ante-natal. The medical profession has for many years recognized. the necessity of systematic ante-natal supervision, which has proved beyond doubt to be beneficial to the mother and the child. To give this supervision, free ante-natal clinics staffed with specially trained nurses have been established in . all maternity hospitals authorized for the training of midwives, at St. Helens Hospitals, and by the Plunket Society. The majority of expectant mothers are attended antenatally by their own doctors, who are assisted by these forty ante-natal clinics

with their nurses. These clinics are under medical supervision, and work in close co-operation with private medical practitioners.

The value of this care is manifested in the statistics of any obstetric hospital in which there are well-organized ante-natal clinics. It is by the early recognition of abnormal conditions that the future comfort and health of the mother and child are safeguarded. .

St. Helens Hospitals.

To assist those with moderate incomes, the St. Helens Hospitals established in the main centres afford a high standard of maternity service to expectant mothers. This service is given under the supervision of a medical superintendent, and in each institution is a matron with general training, experienced in midwifery, and a staff of specially qualified sisters.

As a further assurance that the mother is being safeguarded, the work of all maternity hospitals and maternity nurses throughout New Zealand is regularly inspected and supervised. It might be stated, also, that the qualified sisters in charge of private maternity hospitals are also doing excellent work for the protection of motherhood. , . •

Plunket Society.

The important functions of the Plunket Society are so well known and appreciated that it is hardly necessary to dwell on them fully. Valuable advice at their child-welfare centres is always obtainable from the Plunket nurses, particularly as to the care and feeding of infants. This is a service that merits support.

It is a wise mother who seeks expert advice as to the rearing of her infant ; it is not always a simple task for a nurse to uproot wrong habits which have become deeply entrenched. There are 126 Plunket nurses stationed throughout New Zealand.

District Health Nurses.

District Health nurses are employed by the Department of Health. The School Medical Service of this Department aims to prevent during childhood many of the disabilities and. illnesses of adult life. The District Health Nurse assists the doctor in regular physical examinations. She visits the schools at intervals to supervise health generally, and to see children requiring frequent supervision and those ref erred, to her by teachers or parents. She also visits the homes to discuss with parents the results iof medical examination, giving general and special advice on measures to maintain health. - .

The pre-school child at home, in day nursery, and in kindergarten who is not

already being supervised by the Plunket Society is now being brought under the' care of these nurses. ' .

Child contacts of tuberculosis patients are taken to specialists for regular examination ; the homes are visited, and advice given regarding measures, hygienic and other, which will ensure the child growing up with a good resistance to the disease. Other duties include work in health camps, infectious-disease work, and health educational talks to parents, associations, and teachers.

Parents should realize that the expert advice of these nurses is always available. The interest and co-operation of the parents is most essential, as it is realized that only in this way can the work be made truly effective. When the welfare of children is at stake the support which parents give to school doctors and these nurses is of vital importance. -

District Nurses.

In purely local areas District Nurses are engaged in an even more complete public-health service. In Maori districts, for example, their work includes what is already outlined under “District Health Nurses,” and, in addition, bedside care, ante-natal supervision, some midwifery and infant welfare, social investigations and assistance, general and specific, on health, &c.

The Maori is one of the few Native races in the world living in active contact with civilization which has not materially decreased in numbers. There is no doubt that the educational service of these nurses in teaching the Maori people the ways of health has largely assisted towards this position. Much still remains to be done, but through the increasing cooperation of the leaders of the Native race the future is full of hope. Europeans in some rural areas also have such a complete health service available -to them. '

The influence of these nurses is farreaching because of their intimate contact with the home and their ability to help with . their own hands where there is sickness or suffering. Perhaps no approach gives the district nurses a better entry into the homes of the settlers than that of caring for the sick. It has been found that demonstration to the family of the practice of cleanliness, of sickroom hygiene, and of skilled nursing care does more to convert settlers almost unconsciously to a more healthful way of living than could be done by mere verbal instruction, no matter how carefully given. The nurses need every sympathetic Co-operation in the districts in which they carry out their devoted and often most difficult work.

Dental Nurses.

Throughout the Dominion there are dental clinics in charge of dental nurses who have been specially trained in the treatment of children suffering from dental defects and in the education of parents as to the prevention .of dental disease in their children. .

In a previous article in the Journal on dental hygiene attention was drawn to the need for the co-operation of parents to. make ■ this important service fully effective.

Voluntary Nursing Services.

' Space permits but brief reference to the activities of the nurses associated with the Red Cross Society, St. John Ambulance Association, the St. John Nursing Guild, and other similar organizations. In the nursing of the sick and needy and in their educational work in first-aid, hygiene, and home nursing they perform a humanitarian social service of a far-reaching beneficial nature. A general knowledge of home nursing and first-aid is of incalculable value, and parents who encourage their children to obtain such knowledge so widely and freely offered through such organizations render a distinct service to the State.

The public-health nurse, in general, has the major responsibility of interpreting to the community in simple and practical form the up-to-date scientific knowledge which will ensure for all perfect health and more effective living.

Noble Profession.

In conclusion, it is fitting that a tribute should be paid to nurses in private practice. Their ministrations in private hospitals and in thousands of homes reflect in a high degree the spirit of the traditions of their profession. The service of the nurse trained and qualified in the testing school of our hospitals is accordingly accepted with confidence whether it be for the expectant -mother, the infant, the school-child, or the adult. It is she “ who in the hour of trial breathes communicable strength , when in the dead of night life pauses in the veins and men fear. It is she who puts to flight surrendering thoughts, fans courage to its last flicker, and rejoices with the indomitable soul.”

Nursing is an attractive and noble profession; with a wide sphere of usefulness which should appeal to young women bent on faithfully serving their generation. New Zealand needs women adequately to meet the nursing requirements of the sick in hospitals and the ever-increasing demands of expanding social : services. The trained nurse is a vital unit in the vanguard of public-health workers engaged in the conquest of disease.

“A Short History of Nursing,” Lavinia L. Dock, R.N., and Isabel M. Stewart, R.N.