NURSES’ EDUCATION.

Taranaki Daily News, 17 August 1922, Page 4

NURSES’ EDUCATION.

A DEPARTMENTAL PROTEST. “ILLITERATE AND UNGRAMMATICAL” A complaint that the general education of nurses is not as high as it should be was made in a circular letter from the Director-General of Health (Dr. T. H. A< Valintine) which was read at yesterday’# ' meeting of the Taranaki Hospital Board. The letter stated: “In connection with the last State examination, and other# held during the past two or three years, it has been brought to my notice by the com4h ments of examiners that the papers of tb®l candidates show in many cases a great lacM* of general education. An examiner at th#J \ State examination in June says: ‘One coukw not help being struck by the exceptionally! illiterate and ungrammatical style of most 1 of the candidates.’ He remy|u that som# improvement is necessary if tpe very high standard which the nursing profession present holds in New Zealand is to b# maintained. “It is possible that the shortage of probationers which prevailed three and four years ago has contributed to this undesirable condition by the hospital# being unable for a time to select the most suitable material for training. I should be glad if you would impress upon your responsible officers the necessity of: (1) The requirement from applicants for training of a certificate of sixth-standard qualification or an equivalent private educational standard; (2) the necessity during the first three months’ probationership of ascertaining tha general knowledge of a pupil purpe and her capability of passing a creditable, examination, as well as her suitability for the practical work of a nurse; (3) the advisability of weeding out during th# period of probation such applicants for training who ( are not likely to reflect credit on-the trails / ing-school or to benefit by the instruction ; given, either on account of the illiteracy or j their personal characteristics. Now that t so many young women are applying for training as nurses, it will, I hope, be possible to keep up the highest standard ol our training-schools.” In reply to Mr. Vickers, the secretary said, that the admission of a probationer nurse into the New Plymouth Hospital was conditional on the production of a sixthstandard certificate with the application.