§ 53. Mr. ASTORasked the President of the Local Government Board whether all nurses employed in Poor Law infirmaries in the Metropolitan Asylums Board institutions and in municipal hospitals or sanatoria must, before being engaged, possess a nurse's certificate and be qualified nurses?
§ The PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY to the LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD (Mr. Herbert Lewis)The Local Government Board require that a person 1911 appointed to the office of superintendent nurse or head nurse in any institution to which the Poor Law Institutions (Nursing) Order, 1913, applies, shall possess a certificate of having undergone for three years at least a course of instruction in the medical and surgical wards of a hospital or infirmary being a training school for nurses and maintaining a resident physician or house surgeon, and shall be also a midwife certified under the Mid-wives Act, 1902. Evidence of training is also required of persons appointed as staff nurses or sisters at the Metropolitan Asylums Board's hospitals. Probationer nurses who are employed in Poor Law institutions are not required to have had previous nursing experience. The conditions of appointment of nurses in municipal hospitals and sanatoria are determined by the local authorities managing the institutions.
§ 54. Mr. ASTORasked whether any nurses are trained in Poor Law infirmaries, in the institutions belonging to the Metro politan Asylums Board, and in municipal hospitals or sanatoria; and, if so, will he state what authority lays down what course of training they must undergo before becoming qualified nurses?
§ Mr. LEWISA large number of nurses are trained in Poor Law infirmaries. Training of a rather special character is also given in the institutions of the Metropolitan Asylums Board. I have no precise information as to the training given in municipal hospitals and sanatoria. The training necessary for a qualified nurse has not been prescribed.