Inspector-General's report / South Pacific Health Service.

  • South Pacific Health Service.
Date:
[1961]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Inspector-General's report / South Pacific Health Service. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    13/32 (page 9)
    j 1 9 (5) Radiographers—Training in radiography continues at the Radiological Centre, Colonial War Memorial Hospital, under the direction of the Government Radiologist. This course covers a three-year period and candidates are encouraged also to take a correspondence course which, when added to their practical training, gives them a more widely recognized qualification. (6) Dental Hygienist—Training of Dental Hygienists continued at the Dental Centre, Suva, the training being designed to provide qualified assistants to the Assistant Dental Officers and Dental Officers in the Service. (7) DietitianjHousekeepers—A three-year course in housekeeping and dietetics which was started by the Nutritionists in the Nutrition Section of the South Pacific Health Service in 1957, continues; girls being trained particularly in hospital catering and dietetics with the object of providing Dietitians for the larger hospitals in the area. By arrangements with the Royal Melbourne Hospital in Australia, successful students are now employed, following their course, in that hospital for a period of six months as Assistant Cooks in order to gain wider experience in an overseas institution. (8) Physiotherapists—A course of training for Assistant Physiotherapists was started in February, 1960 and courses continue. 37. Students from other territories may be accepted for all these courses by arrangement with the Inspector-General. (5) Training of Nurses 38. Organized courses of training for nurses continued in Fiji, Western Samoa, the Cook Islands, Niue, the Kingdom of Tonga, the British Solomon Islands Protectorate and the Gilbert and Ellice Islands. In addition, the training of dressers continued in Western Pacific High Commission territories including the New Hebrides. The level of training varies to some extent in each territory, but some measure of standardization has been achieved in that the basic curriculum is much the same, the differences lying in the amount of detail taught in each subject and the academic knowledge required of candidates for examination. 39. In Fiji training is given at two levels. Teaching on the local curriculum, based on that of New Zealand, but with more emphasis on the practical aspects of nursing, is carried out at the Central Nursing School, Tamavua, the Lautoka Hospital and the Methodist Mission Hospital, Ba. The student intake each year is approximately 80 of which about 65 per cent may be expected to graduate. At the Central Nursing School, Tamavua, a selected number of students are trained on the New Zealand curriculum and on graduation receive full recognition by the New Zealand authorities. The number selected for the course annually stands at approximately 12 and a high pass rate is normally achieved. This course of training was started in 1955 and the intake is expected to increase. Training in Western Samoa, the Cook Islands and Tonga, is at approximately the same level as the local curriculum in Fiji, that in Niue is at a slightly lower level. Training in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate is similar in curriculum to Fiji, but entrance to the course is at a rather lower educational level. The training here is the subject of a World Health Organiza¬ tion project and under the control of a World Health Organization Sister Tutor. Efforts at standardizing training in the Mission training schools are being made. Instruction in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony and New Hebrides is at a somewhat lower level, but a gradual raising of standards is being achieved. With the assistance of the South Pacific Commission, refresher courses for dressers have been organized in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate and New Hebrides. 40. The system of promotion of nurses in the Service in Fiji may be of interest as possibly setting the pattern elsewhere. 41. Nurses trained on the New Zealand curriculum, are styled Charge Nurses on graduation. After two years’ service in this capacity, they are eligible for, but not entitled to, promotion to the rank of Nursing Sister. It should be noted in this connexion that Nursing Sisters recruited from overseas are required to have had two years’ nursing experience following graduation before selection. 42. Nurses trained on the local curriculum are styled Nurse on qualification and are eligible for promotion to Staff Nurse after five years. After a further period of two years, they are eligible for promotion to Charge Nurse and thereafter promotion follows the same lines as the fully registered nurse. 43. It is anticipated that as basic educational levels rise, intra- and inter-territorial standards will approximate to a greater and greater extent. (6) Medical Reference Library 44. The main Medical Reference Library in Fiji was established at the Fiji School of Medicine in 1955. It has been found, however, that this situation, being four miles from the centre of Suva, is inconvenient for the majority of those wishing to make use of the books and the organiza¬ tion has been modified to some extent during the period under review. 45. Two committees have been formed, the one under the Chairmanship of the Principal of the Fiji School of Medicine and the other under the Chairmanship of the Medical Superintendent, Colonial War Memorial Hospital. The first committee is responsible for selection of literature connected with pre-medical and pre-clinical subjects and books, etc., so purchased are held at the Medical School. The second committee deals with literature on clinical subjects, this being housed at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital. The Medical Librarian divides his time between these two sections of the library.