INSTRUCTION IN NURSING.

Matamata Record, Volume II, Issue 108, 28 November 1918, Page 2

INSTRUCTION IN NURSING.

THAT the lessons of this epidemic will notbe lost upon the people of New Zealand is the deep conviction of the Minister for Public Health. May he prove to be a true prophet! It would be a thousand pities if lessons so costly in life and suffering should not be worked into the warp and woof of our education. It would be a crjime of the worst sort if, after the epidemic is past, we allow things to go on just as they always went. To look at the destruction wrought by any pestilence is to see one side only—and that the outside/ terrible, and repulsive. But if we peer below the surface we may probe the inner secrets

which bring about its undoing and which keep it at bay. These are the instructions which, if followed give us lordship over the malady"; our lack of knowledge concerning them leaves us easy prey.

The lessons to be learned are admittedly many for the epidemic has revealed ignorance and partial knowledge of essential facts to a deplorable degree. It is to remedy this grave defect that leads the Minister to suggest the formation of a national organisation trained in the rudiments of nursing by means of lantern lectures, and meetings addressed by men and women doctors. In the opinion of the Minister the epidemic would not have taken such heavy toll of the country if more people had known how to use thermometers, and how to apply simple remedies, and had possessed a knowledge of invalid cookery. Such people would have been able to look after the less serious cases and thus greatly relieved the doctors. -The need for such training is unanimously admitted. It is how, and when, that will call forth differences of, opinion. To attempt to train men and women is very good, but to impart suitable instruction to the elder scholars would be infinitely better. Because the .present generation has givwn up in ignorance of facts connected with nursing is no reason why the next one should do likewise. To be up-to-date a child- has to be instructed in many things his father will call new.and he need no longer scrape his knuckles when turning the handle his father turned. One of the lessons to be learned from the present state of affairs is that our educational system makes it possible for children to be sent out into life with little or no knowledge about the first aid necessary in accident or sickness. This ought not to be. A knowledge of human mechanism should be part of everybody's equipment and to this should be added a knowledge of the principles which govern its smooth running. The fact that we are fearfully and wonderfully made should not act as a deterrent, it should,; tie an impetus. The very intricacy of of the human structure makes knowledge concerning it all' the more imperative. This being so, it should not be found impossible to devise a suitable form in which essential facts could be imparted to those in the upper standards. The knowledge so gained could form the foundation tor a fuller course at the technical school. The whole course being calculated to equip each boy with a useful knowledge of first aid, and each girl with a sufficient knowledge of nursing and the preparing of invalid food, as would ensure their usefulness should' occasion arise. 'There need not be any expansion /of an already overblown syllabus. Some of the less important subjects could be deleted and.give place to this one which is both useful and important. This course would act as a preparation for the advanced instruction which could be received in some such organisation as the Minister'has in mind. If this were done we, should be assured that a state of affairs similar to the" present would not again exist. Not only so, but the knowledge so gained would be of considerable benefit in dealing with the' minor hurts and sicknesses which constantly occur in the best regulated households. It would also do more than any penal coda in rendering insanitary conditions impossible. When a race of people can be taught in youth the things that make for health and the conditions that make for pestilence many of our social problems will be solved. What is more, the foundations for a stronger race will be laid. The epidemic has given additional emphasis to what the war has already taught—that the physical well being of the people is one of the most important factors in national development. But if the ignorance of this generation is to be perpetuated in the next the lessons of the epidemic will indeed be lost.