NURSES' CONFERENCE

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 59, 2 December 1937, Page 7

NURSES' CONFERENCE

Training, Hours, Salaries REMITS CONSIDERED Isecohdary schools iix plhcing before jgirli tlie posaibilitieS and advantage !of niirsing as a career; (4) the inadequdte pensions paid to nurSes Aftfer lbng sfer'vice. 'it was decided tb bring tb the notice of the National Prbvifient Board, that the fule re Computation of I*ensionsj which refuses to inclucte any rises accriiing after 52 years of age causea undue hardsliip and should in special circumstances be rescinded for the next five to ten years. The conference Adjourned at 9.30 p.m. till 9 a.m. on Saturday morning when the matter pertaining to the aew section o'f the associatibn— that of the "Student Nurses' Association" ivas ftilly disciisSed. EeOn. intefesfc was showtt in this discxissioii and among the Btiidents prbsent were members froin Manhwatu and Timarh. At the cbhelusioh of the conference, Miss Bicknell, retifixig presifient, entertaiUed the delegates and a largb number of visitors at a farewell tea xt the Hotel St. George. Xi the annual conference oi the New Zealand Rogistered "Nurses ' Association held at 'tVeilington laSt Week todfiy remits Were dealt with cbucerning the tfaiuing of nurses, hours of duty, and salaries of nurses holding responsible positions. Hours of duty of nurses on StaffS of priirdte hospital3 were carefully considered and the association thought that these should approxiinate tfie hours of duty wdrked by pufilic fiospital staffa. The necessity for the establisfiment of central preiiminaTy training schools in tfie Nortfi and Sotith • Islands, sb that nurses would be able to commenCC their training after a definite period oi standardised pfelifixinary training , was Eully diScusSCd. The unaniihous opinLon of the conferfinCe xvas that thd fciiiie bad arrived for the dstabiiShmeixt oi these schools and the following resOlution wa§ pasfeed: — "That the Centfal Goiiiicil of the Kegistefed Nurses' Association approach the Government with a view to its providing State Preliminary Ifraining Schools for girls cominencing hursing- training as is being done for other professions. Schools to bo established in the North and South Islands. ' ' Propositions Discussed. Other matters discussbd were: — (1) The preparatiCn of the girl -xvho On leaving sehool intends to enter the nursing profession when old .cnough to COmmenee training; (2) the bridging of that gap between leaving sehool and entering hospitals; (3) securing tfie eo-0per&ti»il bf frin6ipals bf girls