NURSING PROFESSION

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 36, 13 February 1933, Page 11

NURSING PROFESSION

COMING CONFERENCE

PROBLEMS FOR DISCUSSION

It is anticipated that there -will be an attendance of about 6000 nurses at the seventh general congress of the International Council of Nurses to be held in Paris and Brussels from July 4 to July 8. .

New Zealand will have four delegates at the congress, and quite a number of New Zealand nurses visiting England iniyend to be present. Miss E. Young, of Dunedin, president of the New Zealand Trained Nurses' Association, in virtue of her office, will be ■ the leading official delegate. Miss! Young is a member of the Boaid of Directors of the International CounciL of Nurses. About forty countries will be represented at the conference, over which Mile. Chaptal, of France, will preside. The meeting will be the thirty-third anniversary, of the founding of the Inter-national-Council of Nurses. In, 1899 in London, the British president sounded the call, and individual nurses from six different countries, joined with, her and the Matrons' Council, and founded the International Council. Mrs. Grace Neil, of New Zealand, was a foundation member. In 1901, in Buffalo, United States, was held the first meeting of the council, still with no organised nursing associations affiliated, since there were not enough of such associations in existence. Among other things discussed at that conference were many for which the nursing profession, was still striving. STATE REGISTRATION. _ State registration has Been achieved m many places, and registration by the nursing associations has been made a substitute in other countries where Government action does not seem advisable or possible just yet. Local ana national organisations of nurses Were being urged thirty-three years ago, and more and more countries are coming into being nowadays, Professional -magazines have been started in most countries. These magazines in the leading countries are now of a high order; they contain articles by medical men and nurses, and are an excellent means of promoting "free discussion. Army nursing was well demonstrated in the last war, and, it is generally admitted, proved its value for serious work over Many of the attempts of the Voluntary Aid Detachment. Codes of ethics have been discussed. Uniform requirements for schools of nursing and uniform curricula are subjects being studied by the International Education Committee. A perusal of the agenda paper of the coming International Congress shows that the problems before the nursing pTOfeSSion are many and great. How can the organisations in the various countries enrol better students in the

nursing schools? How can the students

be better prepared for their work? What changes are necessary in nursing schools and in nursing organisations to enable nurses better to serve the community? As the past-president Of tllfi International Council of Nurses has stated, through all their problems runs the scarlet thread of their, ultimate object, better care .of the patients whether in home or hospital.