ST. HELEN'S HOSPITAL.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1497, 20 July 1912, Page 6

ST. HELEN'S HOSPITAL.

Sir,—Tho letter in Saturday's Dominion from the pen of "Veritas," dealing with the above institution is timely, nnd I crave your indulgence to be allowed a, little space iii support of the. claims ho advocates. To mo—having taken the courso of training at the hospital, and knowing tho work from A to Z—his demands arc indeed modest. Tho authorities, if they wish to maintain this hospital, will do uell to accede to.theso demands. A littlo more, publicity of the ''daily duty" and very few nurses would apply for this expensive courso of training. It is expenfive, for the outlay does not stay at the paying of tlio .£2O premium. In addition thoro are the nurse's outfit and various extras in tho shape, of breakages, tho whole, year's course involving uu outlay of from Ml to £50. jVoir, croii if tho authorities institute tho reforms advocated bj "Veribis," it i\oea not iollow that tho conditions of tho uMtses will be invpvoveil as regards hours, unless the Minister can" impress upon those in charge tho necessity of their being loyal to tho nursos. Otherwise, I torseo tho eight-hour duty installed, but the nurses working their overtime, as usual. This is, I admit, not complimentary to the. present management, but — well, the truth is not always complimentary. ' Now, sir, supposing tho nurses worked no overtime at all, the present duty is too long. Hero it is:—Day duty No. 1, 6 a.m. till 1 p.m., with two half hours for meals— 9 hours. Day.duty No. 2, f> a.m. to 9.30 p.m., with two haU hours for meals' and fivo hours (from 11 a.in'. to -1 p.m.) off duty—(M hours. Nigh duty, 9.30 p.m. fo 6 a.m., with sometimes no time tor a meal. But the duty, on paper, is ono thing, and tho hours worked, which average 10 hours a day, quite another. Take duty No. 2: Did any nurse on this duty ever havo tho full five hours (from IV a.m. to 4 p.m.) off? T think not. How could she when the. day's duty is not posted until noon and sometimes later: Fancy working till 12 o'clock before finding whether you aro on No. 1 or No. 2 duty, and then discover that you aro on So. 2 and should havo been oft' an hour ago. Can tho authorities explain with any credit to themselves, why an hour is cribbed in this manner from the nurses' "tiino off"? This is a'grievance of very long standing, too; Then again, should she bo fortunate enough to come oft this duty at 9.30 p.m., which is very rare, she will in the ordinary course of events, go on duty at G a.m. next day. But the extraordinary often intervenes with the loss of the greater part of the night's rest, for it is ono of the peculiarities of the race that babes cbmo forth in the night. Therefore, if you take the ordinary daily overtime and add the fairly frequent loss of the greater part of the night's rest and the disabilities mentioned by "Veritas," you will have a fair idea of the lot of'the St. Helen's nurse, all for which she pays from i£4o to £50. .\n& further, the Department niggardly insists that in district nursing tho nurse shall equip herself at a cost of about .£3 with the necessary bag and outfit and wear it out in nursing their/ patients from which they collect a fee of £1. Neither docs the vipartment take nny responsibility in the matter of tranist to and from tho patient. It may bo after midnight that the nurso is called to a case, say, two miles distant to poor people, who cannot affoirf to send a cab so the Department send her out on Shank's pony and having conducted tho case she- will return to tho hospital in the samo manner, should tho cars not have commenced running. For the remaining 13-day visits to this cast she will take the car, but pay Her own fare, should sho be nniiblo" to*'collect it from tho patient.. Sir, there is amplo scope for the new Government to better the conditions of the nursing staff. In thr meantime. T think intending nurses should be acquainted with the conditions governing their course of training nt this hospital, before they pay their money nnd consign themselves to the Department for a yeavto be "used up" in return for a qualification which, at the rate nurses aro being "manufactured," will reward them with but a, very modest livelihood. .—I am, etc., EX-NUESB. Wellington, July IC.