The Labour Party and the Nursing Profession
1927 1927 1920s 40 pages 24 RECOMMENDATIONS. It is undoubtedly the case that the nursing profession, consisting of nurses who have undergone a course of long technical training, is relatively worse off with regard to remuneration, hours, and general conditions of labour than any other similar group...
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| Institution: | MCR - The Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick |
| Language: | English English |
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London : The Labour Party (London : Co-operative Print. Society Ltd.)
[1927]
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10796/B1D29A80-4560-4580-B7EB-183E7C921568 http://hdl.handle.net/10796/0F915A36-5B19-47D6-AAAD-3FE72F36E38E |
| Summary: | 1927
1927
1920s
40 pages
24 RECOMMENDATIONS. It is undoubtedly the case that the nursing profession, consisting of nurses who have undergone a course of long technical training, is relatively worse off with regard to remuneration, hours, and general conditions of labour than any other similar group of workers. As will be seen from the foregoing, the regulations governing the duties of the nurse are in most cases fairly satisfactory. It has been brought to our notice, however, that not infrequently the regulations are not carried out, so that the conditions fall far short of the ideal. These facts point to the need of some organisation of nurses capable of watching over their own interests. In this report detailed proposals for improvement in training conditions are made, but owing to the chaos in dealing with the prevention and cure of sickness in the community the conditions of employment of trained nurses can only be dealt with in general terms. TRAINING OF NURSES. The paramount necessity is to separate the training school organisation from that of the hospital. At present there is neither separate financial provision for the training school nor separate administrative authority. Consequently the interests of the training school are not properly regarded, and these become subservient to the needs of the hospital. This is in marked contrast to the medical schools, which have their own finance and organisation. The time has come when the probationer should be looked upon as a student and not as a source of cheap labour for the hospital authorities. The greater part of such work as cleaning the wards, etc., should be given over to maids and orderlies (but in this work nurses should be given adequate training), and the permanent nursing staff should be greatly increased. In this way the probationer's time will be entirely given over to the study and practice of her profession. QUALIFICATIONS FOR ADMISSION. (1) AGE OF ADMISSION. * The minimum age of admission to training in hospital should be 18, with the exception of children's hospitals, when in some instances it might be 17. If it be felt that nursing training should not start till the age of 20 the intervening years could be usefully spent in nursery schools. (2) MEDICAL EXAMINATION OF NURSING CANDIDATES. The medical examination as to fitness for training as a nurse should take place at the hospital itself before acceptance for training; otherwise ill-health may be made a pretext for the discharge of a nurse who has failed to satisfy the matron in other ways. (3) OTHER QUALIFICATIONS. A preliminary education should be required equivalent to the standard of the school-leaving certificate. In addition to health and education, suitability for the profession (the latter to be decided by a committee) should be the sole criterion for admission. TRAINING. (1) PRELIMINARY TRAINING SCHOOL + Hospital training should be immediately preceded by four months' instruction in elementary physics, chemistry, anatomy, and physiology, so as to make the nurse's hospital work intelligible from the first week in * See page 3. + See page 4.
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| Physical Description: | TEXT |