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Nursing
Collage Big Forward Step P.A.
Matron Endorse Tumut Matron’s View on Nursing Collage. 27
January 1950 The Land |
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Matron and Superintendent of Nursing
of Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, which is regarded as one of the
leading training hospitals in the Southern Hemisphere, endorses the recommendations
of Matron O'Rourke, of Tumut Hospital, who recently appealed to the Country
Women's Association to lend its support to a move for Government recognition
and subsidy of the recently established N.S.W. College of Nursing. In a letter to "The Land,"
Matron M. F. Looker expresses the view that establishment
of the College of Nursing for the training of tutor- sisters and
matrons for country hospitals should do much to attract trainees to
these hospitals. Matron Looker
writes:- "I read with great interest the article
in 'The Land' of January 13, regarding the setting up of the New South
Wales College of Nursing. "I could not agree more with the Matron
of Tumut Hospital, Miss O'Rourke, than when she says 'The establishment
of the College and purchase of the building - all in the one year -
marked 1949 as one of the most progressive and memorable in the
history of nursing in this State.' "Not only does the setting up of courses
to train women in the teaching of nursing, (i.e., the Sister-Tutor Course),
and in nurse administration, mean progress in the profession, but it
also means progress in raising the efficiency of our methods of treatment
of the sick in the community. "Matrons and nurse teachers have been
at a tremendous disadvantage previously, because they have had to pick
up the 'know how' of their job by a method of trial and error, which took
place over many years. They never had the advantage of
having instruction from first-class people handling various aspects
of administration. This method of trial and error was not only
uneconomical and unbusinesslike, but it also meant that the Matron could
not give the full value of her nursing service. "Most country hospitals have very
enthusiastic and warm-hearted Boards, made up of people who are keenly
interested in their town and district. However, few of them know
very much about the nurse's job in the hospital. "If the Matron has been trained in
all branches of her administrative position, she then has a very clear idea
of what she wants and why she wants it. She is thus in a position to
tell the Board members decisively what she needs for the efficient
working of their hospital and the improving of its standards. This is
the sort of leadership that these enthusiastic Boards require.
"If we could have, all over the country,
Matrons who had the advantage of being taught administration in this
one-year course, we would overcome, to a large extent, our present;
difficulties where Matrons have to pick up their knowledge of administration
the hard way. The same thing applies to teaching. The sister, through
the Sister-Tutor Course, learns to impart her knowledge simply and
effectively, and to handle all sorts of nurses, from the highly-intelligent
to the not-so bright! "In addition to this, the
presence of a trained tutor-sister in a country hospital would
increase the appeal of the hospital as a training school, and applicants
for nursing would be less likely to all apply to metropolitan hospitals. "Setting up of the New South Wales
College of Nursing is not only tho greatest forward step that the profession
has made for many years, but it is the greatest forward step that
has been made in the health services of this State for many years, and
therefore warrants Government support." Yours faithfully, M. P. Looker, Matron and Superintendent of Nursing. |