TRAINING OF NURSES

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 974, 17 May 1930, Page 8

TRAINING OF NURSES

OPPOSITION BASED ON INACCURACIES A MEDICAL OPINION •‘Much of the opposition to the amendments to the Nursing and Medical Service Act, which thi Government proposes bringing down this session, is the resulted misconception of what is in. tended,” a prominent Auckland medical man informed a SUN representative this morning. “Many of the statements made are very inaccurate,” he said. “Strict exam, ination would ensure that the nursing standard would not be lowered. On the other hand a much-needed improvement of the standard of private hospitals would result.”

“It has been said that the major proposal of the amendment was to alter the provisions governing the training of nurses so as to allow priv. ate hospitals to become training schools,” said the medical man, “but this was not so. There is no sug. gestion of altering the provision* gov. erning training of nurses. All that is required is the application of exist, ing provisions, or any other provision? the department may make, to private hospitals.”

He pointed out that the only differ, ence between the public and private hospitals was one of ownership. The inspection of private hospitals wa* just as strict as that of the public iustitution; in fact, it was really stricter, and the measure of State control was equally the same.

The medical profession was not bearing in mind private hospitals a* they were today, but the bigger institutions of the future, such as now to bo seen in England, America and Australia. It was a fact, he said, that many of the present private hospitals were not able to maintain the same standard as that set in the public hospitals. The profession also fait that patients in many private hospi. to Is were not able to be treated with the same facilities as obtained in public institutions, and for which treatment the community was paying for, but where private hospitals made that provision the profession felt it must support them. It had also been said that the British Medical Association had unani* mously passed a resolution register, ing its opposition to any change in the present system unless the standard and scope of the present training - was fully maintained. This had been used in a rather negative form, said the medical man.

A resolution recently passed by the Auckland division of the British Medical Association had definitely approved of the amendments. It had been unanimously carried at a largely-attended meeting of physicians and surgeons, and it approved of the proposed legislation to permit the training of nurses in private hospitals of a standard approved by the Health Department. The statement that the Government had acted against the advice of thq Health Department officials was not true. The statement had also been made that private hospitals, being largely inhabited by surgical cases, did not offer nurses the same ail-round practical experience as the public institutions. From his experience of at» tending medical cases in private hospitals, and particularly the large? institutions, he found that the proportion of medical and surgical cases was the same as in the public hospitals. STANDARD OF PRIVATE HOSPITALS A fear had also been expressed that if the concession were made the existing arrangements between the British. Nursing Board and New Zealand would have to be revised. “No concession has been made,” remarked the medical man,” and the present arrangements will stand because thd standard will be maintained.” He thought that the object of the new legislation should be quite plain. No private hospital would be approved for training unless it fulfilled the statutory requirements in every respect. The result would be a much higher standard. As a final safeguard was the fact that the nurses so trained would be required to submit themselves for the State examination in the usual manner.

The raising of the standard of the private hospitals he considered was • matter of great public importance. Some of the private hospitals would probably not come up to the standard, but the profession was not concerned with any individual hospital. It w** very seriously concerned, however, with the present standard of the pci* vate hospitals generally and welcomed the prospect of an improvement that would have to follow if the proposed amendment? were adopted.