16. All salaries and wages of Matrons and Nurses should be paid, on the Superintendent-General’s order, from the Hospital chest, to the Matron, who should pay the wages and other expenses of the Nurses, and account for all monies received by her on such orders. All outfits and travelling expenses, in cases of transfer, &c., should be provided on the order of the Superintendent-General.
Opinion as to Superintendent-General paying Wages and Salaries.
There would be considerable difficulty in the way of making all payments at a distance to Nurses, direct from the Superintendent-General, otherwise than by orders on the Hospital chest or Treasury. But there can be no doubt that the Nurses ought to be paid by the Matron and by no one else. The service of Nurses in Hospital is a peculiar service, and if not successfully conducted by influence never can be by coercive discipline. It would be a great mistake, therefore, to throw away any means of influence which we can command, and the “eye of the maid-servant is to the hand of her mistress” now as it was 2,000 years ago. The fact of paying and being paid helps greatly to establish the proper mutual relations between the superior and the subordinate. The Matron would draw from the Hospital Treasury, on the orders of the Superintendent-General, and would account to her. As a matter of discipline, it would make no material difference whether the orders of the Superintendent-General, in favour of the Matron, for the pay of the Nurses, are cashed by the Hospital Treasurer or by a banker, always supposing that the Treasurer is bound to honour those orders, as any other banker would.
Matrons abroad may dismiss Nurses under appeal.
The Matron, in any Hospital out of Great Britain and Ireland, should be able, with the concurrence of the Governor of the Hospital, to dismiss and send home any Nurse; or the Governor himself, on his own responsibility, may direct the Matron to do so, under appeal, however, in either case, to the Superintendent-General, who shall decide, after the arrival of the Nurse, whether she is to be dismissed or whether she may be placed in another Hospital.
It should be secured, not left to chance, that the Matron be immediately made acquainted with any complaint of the Medical Officers against a Nurse.
Matron to draw Rations and Extras.
The Matron should be able to draw from the Purveyor, on her own indent, with the sanction of the Governor of the Hospital, such rations and extras as she may consider necessary for the Nursing establishment, and make the arrangements for cooking. In the United Kingdom the Matron should be able to make arrangements, subject to the approval of the Superintendent-General, for commuting rations for mess-money, not pay.
The Governor is responsible for the sufficiency of all supplies and none ought to be expended, without his sanction. This might be indispensable, if there were danger that supplies might run short.
Opinion as to Governor’s jurisdiction over Nurses.