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midwives to join the Nurses Training Class as there was dearth of sick
nurses and super-abundance of midwives.
7. The Hospital Nurses institution of Calcutta was founded in 1859
and the nucleus was 2 nurses, who commenced work in the wards of
the Calcutta Medical College Hospital. In a year's time the staff was
increased in order to supply nurses to the Presidency General Hospital and
later to other hospitals and private houses. The nurses employed and
trained were Europeans and Anglo-Indians, and mission hospitals were
the first to start the training of Indian nurses. The women responsible
for the carrying out of this training of Indian girls came out ready trained
from their own countries.
8. In 1885 Lady Dufferin, the wife of the newly appointed Governor
- G e n e r a l o f I n d i a , w a s r e q u e s t e d b y Q u e e n V i c t o r i a b e f o r e l e a v i n g E n g l a n d t o
do what she could on arrival to provide a means of supplying medical aid
to the women of this land, and in order to carry out the Queen's wish,
the "Countess of Dufferin's Fund" was inaugurated and subscribed to
liberally by the people for so worthy an object. This was the first national
effort for the establishment of medical relief for the women of India and
the earliest training school for nurses and midwives financed by the Countess
of Dufferin's Fund was begun at the Cama Hospital, Bombay. At the
present time a very large amount of valuable help is given by this Fund
to Women's and Children's hospitals in all parts of India.
9. About the same time, the Sisters of All Saints, an Anglican Order,
took over the nursing at the European General Hospital, Bombay, and
a year later, at St. George's Hospital, the intention of the authorities being
the foundation of nurse training schools to supply the other hospitals as
well as their own with European and Anglo-Indian trained nurses. The
period of training given was at first one year, later increased to 18 months
and further extended in 1905 to 3 years.
10. In the same year the Association of Hospital Matrons, now known
as the Trained Nurses Association of India, was inaugurated by five
European Matrons resident in different parts of India, with the object of
raising the standard and of laying down a code of rules for the guidance of
nurses in training and afterwards. As time went on nurses' training
schools increased in number and were opened in all parts of the country.
At the present time there is, generally speaking, a fair amount of hospital
accommodation and nursing attention in the large cities but still a great
shortage in the outlying districts and villages.
11. Dearth of Nurses.— For many years it has been felt that the right
sort of material for the training of nurses has not been forthcoming from
amongst educated Indian girls, and so, in the early stages, only European
and Anglo-Indian girls were trained for the nursing profession. When
mission hospitals for women were first opened in India, English nurses
came out to help their medical sisters to cope with all the nursing work
in the hospitals; they turned their attention to the training of Indian girls
It was significant that, for a large number of years, only Christian girls
applied for the privilege of initiation into a nursing career. The Hindus
looked with great disfavour upon nursing and would not allow their woman
folk to join its ranks. Even when non-Christian girls took up professions
such as medicine and teaching, the prejudice remained very strong against