The Dominion FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1920. THE SHORTAGE OF NURSES

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 53, 26 November 1920, Page 6

The Dominion FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1920. THE SHORTAGE OF NURSES

Publicity has lately been given to the fact thai there is a serious shortage of nurses in the hospitals of the Dominion, and that probationers are not offering themselves in such numbers as would suffice to reinforce depleted staffs. It has also been shown, however, that this state of affairs is very largely accounted for by the conditions in which nurses arc called upon to' serve. Hospital authorities, if their views arc fairly represented in a letter from Mr. C. H. Chapman (a member of the Wellington Hospital Board), which appeared in our correspondence columns recently, consider that adequate inducements are already offered to girls and women to enter the nursing profession, but this opinion has been challenged by other correspondents, whose criticisms are by no means disposed of by the cavalier treatment to which they were subjected bv some members of the local Hospital Board at its meeting yesterday. Mr. Chapman took it upon himself to declare that the allegations of the critics "were all unfounded." The principal allegation made, however, is that the members of the nursing staff arc'overworked, and the truth of this charge is established in the resolution tbo board finally passed instructing tho medical superintendent and the matron "to arrange for a day off each month for members of the nursing staff as soon as nossible." It scemn quite obvious, that nurses arc being overworked, and that no appreciable relief of the present depletion of staffs can be expected until the conditions of hospital service are changed for the better. The adequate staffine of hosnitals will only be attained by establishing fair and reasonable conditions of nursing service. The difficulty of amending exisfcinc conditions is admittedly accentuated by the present dearth of probationers, but it certainly does nob follow that the overworking of nurses must continue until as many probationers as are needed come forward spontaneously. The right way, ind, indeed, tho only way, to obtain as _ many probationers as are required is to make the profession more attractive.

Useful light is cast on this and other aspects of the question'in a letter from Dr. T. L. Paget, of Palmerston North, which we. publish to-day. Dr. Paget emphatically endorses the view that the attraction nursing naturally 'holds for girls and women of the best type is to a serious extent nullified by the conditions in which those who take it up are required to work. Nursing, he observes, is not any less popular as a profession than it used to be, but is made unpopular by the unbearable conditions unnecessarily attached to it—by the heavy physical work for long hours and without proper rest days, whicli make it beyond the capacity of the refined, intelligent, educated girls from whom alone good nurses can be made. Dr. Facet's observations are imprasivo alike as an indictment of conditions in vogue and as an- outline of muchneeded reforms. The broad merits of the ease are perfectly clear. It is undoubtedly wrong that nursed, oifchcr as probationers or at a later staee in their training should bo asked to undergo the working strain that is now commonly imposed. They ought to be conceded as a- matter of course the weekly day of rest, the occasional week-end holiday, and the reasonable facilities for relief and recreation which Dr. Paget advocates. There is no question of setting the nursing profession on th« same plane as occupations which are taken _up with an eye purely Co pecuniary gain or material a'dvan-' tage, but the fact that its member-, are called upon to disnlay unselfish devotion and not. infrequently to risk health and life itself in the interests of humanity certainly doe* not weaken their right to be fairly treated, fairlv paid, and, after long service, provided with a reasonable retiring allowance for their declining years. Manv existing features of nursing service will for amendment, but the reform most urgently demanded—as a matter of justice to women in every way entitled to respect and consideration, and in order that the shortage of nurses may be remedied—is to so modify the conditions of hospital service that nurses, will be given the reasonable facilities for rest and recreation they are now, as a rule denied. As -Dii. Paget remarks, even under the best conditions nurses must give up a great deal, but there is no insuperable obstacle—or none that cannot be removed by due enterprise within a_ comparatively limited ncriod—to giving them adeciuato relief from their trying and often exhausting duties. Apart from what he has to say on this subject, Dr. Paget offers practical suggestions in regard to. lowering the age at which proba. ,tioners arc accepted—a ctep which ought to Ixi quite feasible in the conditions he _ recommends—a-nd the official recognition of service in private hospitals as partly qualifying nurses for registration. The policy of reform ho outlines of necessity will entail a considerable additional outlay on hospital unkeen. but its claims to adoption arc not weakened on that account. The community is certainly not entitled to effect economics in hospital expenditure by trading upon the forbearance and devotion of members of the nursing profession, nor is it reasonable to expect that hospital staffs will be maintained at adequate strength while nurses are unfairly overworked.