CHILDREN IN HOSPITAL
Sir,-In Britain today, at the more up-to-date hospitals, the parent-child link is felt to be so important that, in spite of some practical difficulties, daily visiting is now made the rule instead of an exception. I learnt this from the March, 1953, issue of an English periodical. I am in whole-hearted agreement, and if one of my own young children had to be in hospital I would hope very much to be allowed to visit him each day. In the publication mentioned above, one Hospital Matron was quoted as saying: "In our hospital the parents are allowed to see their children last thing every evening. When we first started daily visiting I used to pace the corridors after the parents had gone, wondering if we would be able to continue, because the crying of some of the children was difficult to endure and I felt we would never settle them down for the night. We now accept this upheaval after visiting hours, and although it does make more work for the nursing staff, the children do settle down again very quickly. We find that the visits of intelligent and co-operative parents help both us and the child. When ward sisters complain that there is a rush to get the ward ready for visiting, I tell them, ‘Don’t get the ward ready; let the parents help you when they arrive. They will feel they are doing something for the child and the child then associates them with the routine of the hospital.’ " A children’s physician said: "It is wise and kind to visit babies and children under five daily." This specialist also said that the Royal Infirmary, Newcastle, has found daily visiting practicable over 10 years’ experience. This hospital,:on the suggestion of Sir James
Spence, was one of the first to advocate daily visits to children in hospital. It was reported by the Minister of Health in Britain that, of 1300 hospitals, 300 had permanent arrangements for children to be visited by their parents daily. It is evident, then, that even if there are difficulties to be overcome, in Britain anyway, those in charge of hospitals are realising ‘that daily visiting by parents is of great benefit to the child, And the sick child, after all, is the one to be considered.
E. J.
ENNOR
(Epsom).
(Abridged,--Ed. )
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19530605.2.12.2
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 28, Issue 725, 5 June 1953, Page 5
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389CHILDREN IN HOSPITAL New Zealand Listener, Volume 28, Issue 725, 5 June 1953, Page 5
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