PLUNKET PROBLEM

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 175, 27 July 1942, Page 5

PLUNKET PROBLEM

KARITANE NURSES

DRIFT TO OTHER WORK

"They lead a busy, and from appearances, a happy life, but it is disappointing to find that many of them do not continue the work in the homes for very long," states the annual report of Miss S. Lusk, matron of the Karitane Hospital, after saying that there were 32 Karitane trainees in residence during the year "There are so many attractive openings for girls now, occupations advertised as of national importance, with short hours, fair salary, and good working conditions, that sometimes the Karitanes lose sight of the fact that without healthy babies, and strong, self-reliant mothers, the national life of the future will be very poor indeed."

An appeal is also made to parents who employ Karitane nurses to remember that, though the nurses work hard for their eight hours a day they are not trained to do with little sleep for nights on end. After broken nights, extra rest next day, apart from the customary two hours off duty, is essential. The sympathetic help and advice given by Plunket nurses to mothers whose husbands are away, and who are facing difficulties and loneliness so bravely, is mentioned in the annual report of the Plunket Society's charge nurse, Miss H. A. Chapman. The report adds that the nurses miss the voluntary car drivers who helped them visit more of the mothers in their own homes. Now the mothers have to bring their babies to the consulting rooms, resulting in a certain overcrowding.

Included in the review of the society's war precautions are the training of Plunket aids, of whom there are now about 750, and the establishment of 140 rest-food centres. Co-operation between the E.P.S. and the society has been assured.