OVERWORKED NURSES.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2188, 12 May 1908, Page 4

OVERWORKED NURSES.

In view of the fact that a number of nurses in Auckland have been stricken down with typhoid of late, the following apnearing in the Sydney “Morning Herald of April 30, is of interest:—Nurse Gresham’s death on Monday night—a break-down which was the result of unselfish and heroic service in tho Newcastle and Tamworth Hospitals—is referred to in a letter which reminds the public how long and hard the hours of labor are for a hospital staff. Our nurses are, for the most part, over worked and underpaid. The great strain put upon, for instance, the Tamworth Hospital staff, especially during tho summer months, is shown by this, and in December and January there was a daily average of 29 patients, and during the two following months of 30. Tho hospital was then full, mainly from typhoid eases. Three nurses fell ill from the strain, two more were engaged. Nurse Gresham the matron, still worked, though on the point- of a breakdown. At the end of last week she became seriously ill; an operation was performed, which showed no specific cause for tho illness. As a matter of fact, she was worn out. And on Monday night she died. If there are people to bo found—and this applies particularly to hospital nurses—who are willing to sacrifice health and life to preserve the lives of others, we should all the more safeguard them while we can, making their risk of breakdown as small as possible. That there is room. in both public and private instisutions for improvement in this direction is obvious.