HOSPITAL NURSES.

NZ Truth, Issue 74, 17 November 1906, Page 1

HOSPITAL NURSES.

Some. little time back when Parliament was dealing .with Supplies, and the flatter of £83.000 odd was under discussion for. the . upkeep of jthe colony's mental' Hospitals, Mr Wilford brought under the notice of the, resuonsible Minister, .Mr Fowlds, the hardships suffered ; by the nurses m tliese asylums— long hours daily, few holidays, .arduous .anil;, nerve wracking toil, and very , ip\y.- : pay. The--, only satisfaction Mr Wilford . got from the Minister was that the whole matter, wouldhe gone into, during .the recess.Mr Fowlcts inKidcrifcailv mentioned, as though the fact might be of some consolation to the . poor - overworked nurses, that two -years, ago female attendants m mental hospitals worked much longer hours than at, present y and also got less pay,.; Hospi|al\nui;s^ inn: must have been a' very fine job to keep away from m those days. Particularly as Mr Fowlds-,. admitted that the hours were from half-past,, 6 to half-past 5 and half-past six to 8 on alternate days. , "The hours, 1 ' said Mr Fowlds, "■do seem long.'' If -Mr Fowlds h,id to devote close upon ,/70 ; hours each week to. constant, -wa^ch snd' care over a number of . lunatics, he would not say the hours, '.seemed Jong, he'd say ilsey felt ; , long, damned long. Nursing of any sort is, trying work, and any nurse, no matter how strong she may he, if. kept at work continuously year m and year out, must break down m the end. The asvlum^ nurse ., ; has ,; .feyen,-^ a.,. greater si t%O: #gfcsta b^l^^rj^^ sical >n^u]f^cevfMA ; -h€r.:'sist%r In the ordinary hospital. The. work is most arduous, often involving a ; hand 'to ,hantf struggle with.: some violent patient. The most untiring vigilance must be kept, -the mind must not wander, the strain must not be relaxed for a single second. Anyone who has h-j-d any experience of the mentally afflicted k slows that they require more careful watching than children. That the apparently most harmless oftentimes become seized with uncontrollable paroxysms of rage and will strike and lx*at at all and sundry with diaholic.il fury. A nurse never knows v/h'jn any one of her patients may become seized with such a fit, and when shr. may bo called upon to fight a-rainst maniacal strength for her very life.

Mr Wilford, m calling, the attention af the Minister to the most undoubted system of cruel Sw^atingi that' exists m these institutions, has voiced a grievance that -is very- little. l>nov>n. Had shop girls, or factory bands to work under such conditions there would be a public outcry at. once and the Government would lie called upon to legislate immediately, preventing private porsons from so overtaxing tits brawn and brain of their employees. But these -.nurses are, State employees and the State can do no wrong. It is the State's duty to pluck the mote from out the private employer's eye, but the, beam m its own dreamy optic may abide there eternally without comment. A letter, which Mr/Wilford read, while extremely temperate, sets ou.it the case of the nurses most clearly and tersely, end demonstrates the fact that," beyond the shadow of a doubt, there is a crying need for reform m this particular branch of the public service. " New Zealand, " says the writer, "is with much justification, becoming known as 'The Workingman's Paradise, 1 with its advanced labor laws and a Government jealous of his welfare, firmly protecting bis brawny muscles from being overtaxed, and his fine constitution, from deterioration through insufficient recreation. For all this we may be iustly proud of our G-oveirnment, But is it not somewhat inconsistent when we fiud st-ron?, able-bodied • men so tenderly protected, while 'sweating' hours of service are exacted from the weaker and more fragile sex m some Departments ? I speak of female workers m our mental hospitals. Exhaustive inquiries and ■ reforms m the treatment of patients have, taken place during the past few years. Is ft not time for some inquiry., and reform m the treatment of those brave women wlio, m the struggle ,for an honest living, are driven to seek employment as nurses m these instillations ? Pew occupations subject their votaries to a more severe mental and nervous strain than that of being enclosed with thirty or forty, perhaps more, dangerous lunatics, who may at any moment— and often dp— attack Ihe nurses with terrible ferocity and ihe superhuman strength of maniacal fury. And no blow must be struck

even m defence of a nurse's life, although on more than one occasion they have sustained serious and permanent injury. This regulation may be justified on the ground of guarding against abuse and cruelty. But I do not think it can be generally known that for six days a week these nurses work amidst such trying surroundings for eleven hours (6.30 to 5.30) and thirteen hours and a half (6.30 to 8 p.m.) alternately, rising at 5.45 every morning, and with no half-holiday siK'h.aS' all employers are bound by law .to grant. Only four days a month off duty to take the place of Sundays -(which we all have), although with them it does not always fall on that day. Naturally, after such arduous duty any average woman is far v too ;extiaiisted to take' any recreation at all, though it is considered so necessary for shop-assistants and women m all other walks of life. One would think that,, if recreation is necessary ito any one, it is most indispensable to those whose minds are conMniially;? m contact with lunatics, and whose nerves are subject to such severe tension. The only wonder is that' more of them do not sink under the strain . and-;: become patients ; instead of nurses. Inspectors, &c., are most solicitous about the patients, but no one seems to bother much about those who devote their lives to the care of, th^m; To support these long arid wear m ~ duties th(?y. should aj. 'tiut' even "this ; iCfidt: so. Half ati hour is allowed'for nieals, which often consists of bread and butter only ;■. at other times such meat as is provided is often so toue;h and coars-ely cooked that an average robust navvy could not tackle it. Should not these nurses have as moderate hours and as much consideration as factory hands, with proper food and reasonable comfort to sustain them m their courageous, trying, and" often dangerous work ?"

111-fed, overworked and underpaid is practically what the charge amounts to. And be it noted Mr Vowlds went to no pains to contradict it. He merely said the nurses. were better off than they used t 0 be. It is a scandalous thing that any servant of the State should be either underpaid or :overworked m a country where Democracy is ; supposed to be the spirit of the pebpld and the welfare of the Worker the special . care of the Government. But for these mental hospital nurses— these women .who are asked to make so ftiany sacrifices, to use auch self-constraint, to exercise so much I patience, to bestow so much vigilance and attention and devotion upon this work—to be sweated like a GermanJew shirtimaker's girls, is monstrous m the- extreme. Unfortunately for its size and ; population. there are very few countries* m the world , possessing so many lunatics as New Zealand, and among the number are some of the very worst cases that are to be met with, anywhere. Quite recently here m Wellington a nurse had a very narrow escape of being, beaten to death. A patient, who at 1 most times is harmless enough, had managed to get one of her big, heavy shoes off unnoticed, and with that diabolical cunning that seems to come to every person whose reason is affected, waited until the nurse stooped down for sonic purpose, and then struck her heavily on the head with the heel. The nurse fell inf.ensible to the floor, and had it not been that a warder happened to be passing at the time, the poor girl would most undoubtedly have had her brains beaten out. Another nurse was suddenly embraced by a mad woman and before assistance arrived the manjac had chewed her nose almost completely oft. Whilst inspecting an asylum with a warder on one. occasion the writer saw a Chinaman sawing at his neck with a jagged piece of a tobacco tin. The blood was [streaming down his chest m a copious flow and the sight was horrible enough to sicken even a hardened warder, . How, then, must it be for women who are continually called upon to witness such sights— not only to witness them, but to rush m, at the risk of being seriously maltreated, disarm the poor, mad creatures and place them m a- haven :of safety? If only care and attention would bring back tile reason, and the nurse could, have the satisfaction of seeing some home made happy again, tlie fruit of her Work would be a true and devoted woman's reward. But the mad, with most rare exceptions, may be numbered with the dead. Once inside an asylum's doors they are there until ready for the grave^. At least half of them

would l^e better . dead; a. misery to themselves, they are. repulsive to their fellows. They are the- worms j^nd ■cankers that' gtiaw unsightly holes m the fair flower of God's best handiwork; But, because they are fellowcreatures, and made after the same imafre as ourselves, they must be tended and cared for. To love them is impossible, but what firm kindness, devotion, untiring patience and watchfulness can do to make their lives the least bit bright and as free from pain as possible these noble women do. And virtue is its own reward. What do we— the people, society, the Government, call it what you will— do for these, our servants, who do so loyally, so patiently and so well, one of our noblest works? We ill-feed, overwork and under-pay them.