WORK IN MENTAL HOSPITALS

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 23965, 4 June 1943, Page 7

WORK IN MENTAL HOSPITALS

DIRECTION OF YOUNG WOMEN f VIEWS OF MANPOWER i COMMITTEE f 3 (P A.) WELLINGTON, June 3. „ . In reference to the appeals now be* ' ing made against the direction of young women to serve as nurses at the Porirua Mental Hospital, a state* ’ ment setting out the opinion of the , Manpower Committee has been issued. • The committee states that it is fully • cognisant of the urgent-need of addi- ” tional staff at mental hospitals; but is 1 not convinced that the type of direct--1 ed person—young city girls, all of • them clerks, whose ages range from • 20 to 24 years—is the most suitable 3 type available for the work required > of them. In the committee’s opinion t the class or type of person required s as a nurse at a mental hospital is pre- ■ ferably a volunteer worker, inspired ■ by a liking for the work or a sense ) of Christian duty: or. failing that, a : directed person of such age as to pos- : sess mental stability, and possessing ■ the qualities of kindness, patience. ; tact, cheerfulness, and good health and . physique. The committee also referred to the 1 psychological factor, and, while agree- ; ing that the prejudice against working >. in a mental hospital was partly due i to ignorance of the conditions of work, , stated that such prejudice could not 5 be dismissed with a wave of the hand. , To direct a person with a horror of the work might amount to mental , cruelty, and might well be attended [ by tragic consequences should a female person under 21 be directed, against her will, to employment as a , nurse in a menial hospital, and the • committee felt that the mental hos--1 pital authorities erred in supposing • that hospitals could be permanently t staffed by the direction of persons t under the industrial manpower erner- • gency regulations. Those regulations • were designed as a war-time measure r only, and the committee would be • sorry to see them used for any other > purpose. ■ Appeal from Pulpit Suggested „ The committee was of opinion that ; there existed a type of person much ' more suited to mental hospital work : than were the girls under direction. 5 If the registration age were extended, there would be less difficulty in locat- ’ ing a suitable type. Another means • of securing them would be to make ; appeals from the pulpits of all 1 churches. . . ... The committee was of opinion that ’ as a war measure there should be 5 established a reserve of workers 1 whose war effort would be employ- : ment in mental hospitals for a limited ■ duration. Fixing a definite period for • the work, the committee considered, 1 would overcome much of the present > objection, as it would spread the l sonal sacrifice called for over a larger number. The training of . a . l ?i ge f i number would be involved; but there i should also be an increased number ’ who would elect to remain at the ; work after the period fixed. i Although the type of directed per- . son coming before the c °mmittee was . not considered to be completely smt--8 able, some oMhem had to Iw directed. , but thosi whom the committee saw 1 fit to direct, would be directed for a specific period of six months, in the i expectation of others being..foun t 0 relieve them at the appropriate time. The committee added that it was of the opinion that mental hospital staff ■ meeds should be given priority over 3 almost all other employment, and it ; would not be sufficient grounds for • a appeal merely to prove that a . worker was doing important work.