Pioneer women must be prepared to do their work conscientiously, and to the utmost of their ability, and they must always remember that their work will be very severely criticised.
This necessitates frequent inspection of both the clothing and persons of the children. Certain cases which are found to need attention are also visited in their homes. The school nurse is so much alone in her work that she requires to be very experienced and her powers of observation to be highly trained in order to enable her to detect signs of ill-health in its early stages. Firmness and kindness are constantly required in dealing with parents, and tact and consideration in her dealings with all with whom her work brings her in contact.
In the London area the salary begins at £80 rising by £2, 10s. yearly to £85, and then by £5 yearly to £105. Uniform and travelling expenses, within the county, are provided. The nurse is required to contribute to the superannuation fund from which she can ultimately draw a pension if she remains all her working life in the service of the Council.
The hours of work are from 9 A.M. to 4.30 P.M. five days weekly, and from 9 to 12.30 on Saturdays. Clerical work must be done out of school hours. Holidays are arranged during the school holidays.
There are 128 nurses working under one Superintendent, two Assistant-Superintendents, and four Divisional Assistant-Superintendents.
B. There are 42 nurses attached to schools for the physically defective whose special duties are concerned with the care of the crippled and delicate children who attend these schools. Certain special precautions against injury and strain are necessary for these children, and the nurse receives instructions concerning these from the visiting doctor. The salary is the same as that mentioned above, and the nurses get the school holidays. At open-air schools the nurse's work is somewhat similar to that in the schools for the physically defective.
C. There are 8 nurses now working under the Infant Life Protection Act.
All women who undertake the care of an infant for payment have to be registered. Of such children, a large proportion is illegitimate. It is the duty of the nurses to visit every such case. Each nurse has an area allotted to her; the work is arduous and responsible as the visitor has full powers under an Act of Parliament summarily to remove the child if the conditions required by the Act are not complied with. The nurse who undertakes this work should have been trained in maternity work (and if possible have been examined by the Central Midwives' Board). She should also have her certificate from the Sanitary Institute as she is expected to report on the sanitation of the premises as well as on the condition of the child. There is a considerable amount of clerical work in connection with these posts.
The salary of these nurses is good, compared with the usual salaries for nurses—£120 to £150, with a further rise to £200 after ten years of service.
The superannuation fund, which is compulsory for all permanent officers, yields a provision of not less than one-third of the average rate of pay in a case of complete breakdown in health after ten or more years in the service of the council. The retiring age, apart from breakdown, is sixty-five years.