PRE=SCHOOL CHILDREN

Wairarapa Times-Age, 14 July 1938, Page 4

PRE=SCHOOL CHILDREN

WORK OF THE PLUNKET SOCIETY NURSING ADVISER’S REPORT. Appreciation of the excellent standards set by the Masterton .branch of the Plunket Society in its work on behalf of mothers, infants and preschool children is expressed by the Nursing Adviser to the Dominion Council of the society (Miss N. P. Fitzgibbon) in a letter which came before the branch at its meeting yesterday. “As you know,” Miss Fitzgibbon wrote, “I visited your branch on June 15, and am pleased to report that I found everything in order as far as the nurses’ work was concerned. The rooms looked most attractive and well kept and I was pleased to see that a special corner had been provided for the pre-school children. This should incentive to the mothers to bring their children to the rooms for regular checking up of height and weight and for a general investigation into physical and mental development. With a special corner for the toddlers and the provision of even a minimum of suitable play material the little people themselves will look forward with interest to their visit, and as they get older may even remind their mothers that a visit to the rooms is desirable.

“It should be our endeavour, to keep in touch with our children until they reach school age, because many of the defects which are found in school entrants are said to be preventable, and they will be prevented to a large extent if the mothers continue to seek the advice of the Plunket nurses beyond the first birthday, and faithfully put into practice instructions received. “On going through the nurses’ records I noticed they reported a large number of pre-school children under supervision, but many of /hese children have not been seen for some time, and I have therefore advised the nurses to purge their records and to report only on cases of pre-school children who are seen at least once yearly. Needless to say, more frequent visits are desirable —say quarterly visits in the second year and half-yearly visits from the third year onwards. “We are hoping to design suitable birthday cards to post to the children themselves inviting them to come to the rooms on their birthdays or as near thereto as possible.”