Nursing the patient, the room and the doctor: Assessing New Zealand nursesʹ practical capability, 1900–1945

Summary ing nursesʹ practical capability was a challenge in the past as it is today. In 1901 New Zealand established state registration of nurses, with a standardised three-year hospital-based training system and state final examinations. Nursesʹ practical capability was assessed in an oral and practical examination and in general nursing questions in written medical and surgical nursing papers. This historical research identifies the practical component of nursing assessed in these examinations, categorising it as nursing the patient, the room and the doctor. It considers changes in the nursing professionʹs view, 1900–1945, of the best way to assess nursesʹ practical capability. This shifted from the artificial setting of the oral and practical examination held by doctors and matrons, to a process of senior nurses assessing candidates in the more realistic setting of a ward. The research also considers whether the nursing or medical profession defined nursing practice. By the end of the time period, the nursing profession was claiming for itself the right to both determine and assess the practical component of nursing.