THE TREATMENT OF NURSES.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SrEcwrolt.•1
Sra,—Here, in a somewhat inaccessible part of the tropics, I have only just received the Spectator of April 27th, in which is a letter headed "The Treatment of Nurses" and signed' "Two Nurses." Within the last three years I have been resident medical officer at two hospitals in London, one a well- known institution with a school for students, the other a smaller suburban institution. From my experience of these I can fully endorse everything "Two Nurses" say. The cooking, the quality, and the service of the food were execrable. And not only was this the case in regard to the nurses' food, but also in regard to our own—the resident medical officers. This is a state of things which is of far wider occurrence than is generally supposed. and, Sir. you will doubtless ask why it is- not rectified. I will tell you.
Nurses fear to complain, because complaint would mean unpopularity with the matron in the majority of cases, and on the good will of the matron promotion largely depends. Again, a resident medical officer (a house physician, for instance) holds office for six months. At the end of that time he either leaves the hospital or applies for another post there, e.g., that of house surgeon. If he adopts the former course it is hardly worth his while to incur the of his hospital committee, particularly as he well knows that any reform will take months to carry into effect and (looked at from a low standard) that he will therefore derive no benefit from it. If, on the other hand, he adopts the latter course, he would be imperilling his chances of success in obtaining the coveted post if by complaints he were to make himself unpopular with the committee. Thus the old abuses continue and nothing is done to rectify a state of things which, it is no exaggeration to say, obtains in the majority of hospitals supported by voluntary contributions. In municipal institutions, such as asylums, fever hospitals, &c., of which I have some experience, the food supplied to both medical officers and nursing staff is good. It is in those supported by charity in which these abuses occur—in hospitals, that is, where the difficulty of making "both ends meet" is ever present, and in which it is no exaggeration to say that money is saved at the expense of the health of the young men and women who work within their walls. Thus we have the grim paradox of institutions whose raison d'être is to restore health so mismanaged as to undermine that of its staff.—I am, Sir, &c.,
SOUSE SURGEON.
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