THE PHARMACY ACT.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 528, 8 June 1909, Page 9

THE PHARMACY ACT.

MPOBTANT AMENDMENT SUGGESTED,

-■r:, WOMEN AS CHEMISTS. [3v Vμ. E. D. Mackemuß, Auckland.] "■■' An additiou ; should bo made to tho Pharmacy Act : enabling registered nurses, who' desire to. pass tho Pharmacy Board /examination,: to serve-the required ap- , prenticeshipin; the dispensary ot a large, ... hospital. ~..--: .'. •.'"..■ ■'...'.. It would be an advantage if a certain number of certificated nurses wero also quahheu pharmacists/The length 61 the course and the nature of the study would probably limit-the candidates to a select.few. ._ ! ■ :At present the dispensers in the larger hosnitals of the Dominion aro male ohcmists, 'but as the medicines .ami other articles of a like "nature,-are in the charge of nursea who have frequently to attend at the dispensary, a qualified femtile. chemist would bo a moro appropriate ■ dispenser. ' The smaller, hospitals have no trained dispensers,'and the medicines have probably to be made up by a local chemist, or by some untrained person in ;undcT tho direction of the medical officer. It iic«d hardly bo added that this system is imperfect, and sometimes dangerous. It would be a great advance wero as many as-possible of the matrons of smaller hospitals qualified pharmacists, prepared to act. as dispensers.

; v , •:' "Almost Impossible," / ; ' The present Act requires that candidates desirous of becoming qualified pharmacists mast bo apprenticed for three years to a qualified chemist.and druggist, who. keeps an open shop—an arrangement that is almost impossible for nurses, as:—"" . ' ' : ~'■•■ 1/Chemists would, probably be unwilling to take nurses as apprentices.' , ■ 2. Nurses and male .apprentices could not very well work together. . . 3. Time would be lost in going, between the hospital and the chemist's place of business; . ; ■ i. In a shop much of the apprentice's time is taken up, in counter work,.;in arranging things in the shop, and learning the qualities and prices of articles of toilet use—work that has.nothing to-do with pharmacy. ",. :' There is a, growing, tendency, for doctors to prescribe for .their private patients, and for chemists to sell' over . the counter, neat and palatable l preparations made up by wholesale houses, as patients regard taste and form more than .action. And for this reason the proportion of; medicines and . other * therapeutic ar'ticles dispensed in retail shops is yearly deoroasing. In hospitals, on the other hand, reasons of economy, and the natural desire of physicians' to prescribe medicines in certain proportions or combinations for hospital patients in. whose case the effects can be more continuously watched; and tho results more easily'recorded than in private practice, all tend to .maintain a large percentage of prescriptions made up in the hospital dispensary, and to ,limit the use of ready-made prepara : tions. From these reasons it isevident that pharmacy pupils in the larger hospitals, like those of Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, and Wellington, ' will \ see . as 'many prescriptions made up as in a chemist's shop. And this is not all. The nurse who learns pharmacy in a hospital is not -like' tho apprentice in a shop who merely; makes up the medicine.and sees no more of it. She makes it up and sees its .-administration,' action, effects," advantages, and drawbacks,. and (a most important fact) ■follows the •changes, that, may supervene in the •preparation from time, temperature,' or slow chemicalahd physical alterations. In other words,-the. nurse who learns pharmacy in a hospital-becomes a .pharmacist, and by her increased knowledge'of drugs and their actions, a :mpro efficient, nnrse, whereas the apprentice taught, in a shop bspomes a pharmacist:and a salesman, but has.his time much taken up by matters not directly connected >ith pharmacy. ■.Some Advantages. ; :■ : 'jSome' of the advantages of giving : trained nurses 'opportunities of qualifying themselves as pharmacists may; for the sake of clearness', be stated categorically:— -. -. ... . . ..,:■■ ■'■■A. A' good carDC,r : for women. ■.••"■,; ■ . ■•■'■ / 2."An extension ■ of the education and usefulness of nurses. : r ... , : ~'■ ■'■■ ' ■ J.''S.:Th« more thorough knowledge.of drugs.ob-, 1 tained.iby nurses of standing 'would tend to lessen- quackery, and the ..use>of nostrums. Suffering, women 'would •be less -likely! to fall into;the hands' of charlatans, .or-take, useless or. injurious .preparations,•- were there more trained women; to warn the sufferers of the dangers to which their/credulity exposes them. .-..'4.-Inv-larger hospitals women dispensers are more appropriate, as their work would bring them'.into constant contact with tho nurses. , 5. In hospitals the advantages of the , matron , being a trained pharmacist are so selfevident that they'need not be repeated. . : .'Pupil .nurses are-already so, occupied.'.with ward work and; preparation for the .examina-tions-necessary for.qualification,..that the ad-, vantages of a training in pharmacy must be confined to the qualified nnrses remaining On the hospital staff, or possibly toother registered nurses livihginear the hospital, .-'■ This necessary ' restriction and the probable unwillingness of many nurses to take up'the study of botany and;chemistry will limit the number of candir '.dates!, and: prevent., the scheme ; 'from being spoiled ;.by .an initial, and : .evanescent' popularity.;, ~,;... .' ,-•■■ • ~, ".;-,.- .-

Objections to Partially Trained Dispensers. ■'•■Nntees; might ,bo trained merely in materia lntdicn.and pharmacy, , , and registered to dis-. penso in hospitals only, but, formally reasons, a plan'of this kind secins objectionable:— .;■;[.■ A / number ■of partially trained dispenser'] wihild;be registered, whose powers it would ba difficulty to,define and limit. . V :. ; 2. Nurses-now' travel 'very much. Partially trained women dispensers might bring discredit, on New Zealand.registration, whero our , regulations were not- thoroughly understood. The authorities: in;other countries, not-under-standing, our. rules, would confuse partially and iiilly trained pharmacists, and coins to tho general conclusion that .tho..New. Zealand standard in pharmacy was low. ...; ■.V The' comparative .ea.se of obtaining a partial; certificate in'pharmacy would tend to discourage i nurses: from undertaking the longer trad'more'thorough , study required for tlio certificdt* required by the l'hnrmacy Board. i. The object, of tho training would be altogether.'defeated;', as women pharmacists with partial training .would probably be ready- to accept,lower .'salaries than those.fully qualified, and accordingly-would get'employment more easily than,those who. were better, trained. It would bo a case of the • survival' of the Unfittest:.-" :. :;.;■■'--I-■ ■" ■'. ■'.' : '' ■.'■' ■:'

s.'The':• partial traininß would bo mere technical mstraction, while even tho elementary knowledge of Xatin, botany, and chemistry necessary for : o.'.complete training would be of value as-an education. ' 'y[- ■'.:■■ 6. It would bo very injurious wore the dis-. pensers in hospitals not as • fully, trained as those 'jn open shops. It would tend to cause a feeling among;hospital patients that their, medicines were not as carefully prepared*as those/obtained by tho general public. But there is also a.muoh more\ important. and real objection. ,i; Dispensers in hospitals should, if possible, be more highly trained than those in shops. • Aj3 has been already said, dispensing in shops'is becoming more and more a mero selling of ready-made neat aud pleasant • preparations, imported by wholesale houses. In ■ hospitals, it is, or should be, different. Jn them the. patients are under constant observation, and-tho charigesi in thoir condition can be noted with core, and recorded with regularity.. Tho hospitals, are naturally the places where new medicines and therapeutic measures ,aro tried, and 'their actions and results observed, For ..this reason hospital dispensers should be'.hifrlil.v trained, and capable of understanding the more recent advances in pharmacy and allied subects. . ■"■ . ./■. : 7..'1f is natural to.suppose.that along with tho rapid growth of our town, the business of chemists.and druggists will bo advanced, and m a few. years carried on,in a more extoudsd manner than at present. The propriety and advantage of a legally qualified female dispenser to attond t6 femalo customers must be evident to; all. :■. ; . ' ■