By Rhonda Bartle
It took less than a century for sir Truby King's Plunket nurses to become a unique and iconic part of New Zealand's social history. And whatever the time or circumstance, their stories tell of trial and tribulation, triumph, disaster and sheer hard slog.
In 2007, they will celebrate their hundredth birthday. And when you hear some of their tales, particularly from the earliest days, you realise that life was never just about encouraging breast-feeding, issuing recipes for milk mixtures, or weighing and measuring babies. It was making the best of things no matter what the job entailed.
A listener, a teacher, a bush mechanic…
Being a Plunket nurse meant listening as mothers cried over Depression unemployment. It was milking a cow for a cup of tea, or filling the radiator with cough mixture when the water ran out.
One Plunket nurse held her clinic in a hotel bar on Sunday, while another used a bus. One travelled with sandbags in the boot of her car to keep it steady on terrible roads.
Out in the country back blocks, a tractor might be sent as transport, but a nurse could just as easily end up in a delivery van along with the bread and milk. She might be asked to help an elder child with its correspondence lessons, or provide the budding adolescent with instruction in basic anatomy!
From a uniform to ordinary clothing
A Plunket nurse has always pulled on pride and professionalism with her uniform, though her clothes have been adapted over time. The earliest Plunket nurse donned a long gown, full white apron, stiff cap and veil, and looked a little like Florence Nightingale. Her skirt and veil grew steadily shorter until by the 1930s, she appeared more like a hospital nurse.
In the 1940s, along with World War II and the bicycle as transport, came a staunch military look of grey jacket and skirt, white shirt, black shoes, stockings, gloves and a beret.
Today's Plunket nurses dress casually and are likely to knock on your door wearing t-shirt and jeans. They park their reliable modern cars bearing the colourful Plunket logo in your driveway. And instead of being bossy, they're every mothers' friend. Truby King would probably have a fit.
And it would be interesting to ask him what he thought of male Plunket nurses. In May 2005, Plunket employed its first ever man, Keith Curry of Northland, to be a nurse.
Not only was he said to be 'the best candidate for the job' it was also expected he would be particularly good at assisting fathers who needed help.
Look for Plunket Pioneers by Joyce Powell on the Puke Ariki library non-fiction shelf: NZ649.122 POW.