Report of the Working Party on the Recruitment and Training of Nurses.

Date:
1947
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the Working Party on the Recruitment and Training of Nurses. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    112/132 (page 104)
    and instituting therapeutic measures in the earliest stage, time lost through iliness will be reduced. | 10. Nursing as a profession presents health hazards not found in many other fields. This is particularly true in the case of student nurses exposed to various infections to an extent to which many have been previously unaccustomed. Nurse training schools should therefore be expected to have a well-organised health programme for their students and a health service designed to minimise, as far as possible, these health hazards, so as to prevent loss of time, promote maximum efficiency and assure completion of training in the best possible state of health. Such a health service should not only guard against illness but should also have as its goal the promotion of positive physical and mental health, and should include : (a) Selection of students who are in good physical condition and who possess potential capacity and aptitudes for nursing. (6) Measures for the prevention of infection. (c) Maintenance of a correct balance between work and recreation conducive to physical and mental health. (d) Adequate supervision of health and care of students who become ill, and the provision of a safe, healthy and happy environment. 11. Procedure for Nurse Training Unit. (i) Every nurse training unit should require, before considering an applicant for admission, a medical certificate with family history from the candidate’s own doctor. If this appears satisfactory, and at subsequent interview she is found to be a suitable candidate, a complete medical and dental examination by one or more designated physicians and dentists should follow. (ii) The medical examination, including X-ray of chest, should be repeated within 6 months of entry and subsequently as an annual routine. (iii) At each hospital providing training a physician and dentist should be available at all times for the nursing staff, and nurses should be permitted to consult him or his deputy directly. (iv) A regular weight check should be taken quarterly in the case of each nurse. (v) Full records of the initial and subsequent examinations, together with a record of all illnesses, should be kept by the physician to the nursing staff. Health records should be of uniform type and should be confi- dential. 3 (vi) Provision should be made for separate sick-room accommodation and hospitalisation must be available when required. (vii) All necessary immunization should be carried out prior to commencement of ward work and should include at least : — Vaccination against smallpox, T.A.B. inoculation, Immunisation against diphtheria, and, when available, B.C.G. vaccination (against tuberculosis). 12. It cannot be too strongly emphasised that, having got student nurses and nurses, it will be difficult to retain them in the service unless the conditions of life offered to them are commensurate with those available in other professions. ——