Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1871-02-22
Lady Nurses.


efts that would follow if the calling o.
sick nurse were elevated to profession
: which an educated lady might adopt
without sense of derogation, either Oh
her own part or in the estimation o1
others. A writer in an English period
l ical suggests that this result could be
brought about by raising the scale OF
remuneration in the case of such lady
nurses. He adduces the instance of the
surgeon, who was formerly mere me-
chanical assistant of the physician, and
frequently combined the office with
that of barber, but who is now gen
tleman, receiving as high fees and held
in the same estimation as other mem
bers of the medical profession. It ap-
pears evident, however, that the writer
mistakes the effect of the cause. The
surgeon Of the present day is not re-
spected because he receives high fees /;
but he obtains these fees because he is
respected, and he is respected because
he is well educated and thoroughly
!; trained professional man.
There can be no doubt that the du-
ties of sick nurse, to be properly per-
formed, require an education and train
ing little, if at all, inferior to those
possessed by members of the medical
profession. To leave these duties to
untaught and il-trained persons is as
great mistake as it was to allow the
office of surgeon to be filed by one
whose proper calling was mechanic
of the humblest order The manner in
which reform pay be effected is easi
ly pointed out. Every medical college
to have course of study and training
specially adapted for ladies who desire
to qualify themselves for the profession
of nurse; and those who had gone
through the course, and passed the re-
quisite examination, should receive
degree and diploma, which would at
once establish their position in society
The graduate nurse would in gener-
al estimation bt as much above the or
dinary nurseSf the present day as the
professional surgeon of our times is
above the barber-surgeon of the last
century.
It would not, however, be necessary
that the professional nurse should be
educated in medical institution, al
though the degree or diploma should
in all cases proceed from one. In this
respect the example of the English uni
versities might be followed, in awarding
degrees to out-students who are found
qualified to pass the requisite examin-
alton. Physicians (either doctors or
doctresses) might receive pupils desir-
GUS of qualifying themselves for the
profession of nurse. If the pupil had
already a good general education (which
would be absolutely essentially, year
devoted to the special studies of medi-
cine and science, and another year of
reading and practice combined, would
probably be sufficient for this object.
1t must be borne in mind, however,
that in this profession, as in all others,
there would be no short road to pro-
ficiency, and that the higher the quail
fications the better, as a general rule,
would be the remuneration.
When once the value of the &C tgradu-
ate nurses" becomes known, there is
no doubt that the demand for them
would be very great. Every village of
a thousand inhabitants would, with the
country about it, give occupation for
two or three; at least In any case of
severe or protracted illness, their SER
vices would be called for as a matter of
course, when the circumstances of the
amily allowed it. Every physician would
be glad to recommend an assistant. on
whose intelligent cooperation he could
rely, and who would be too well-in-
formed to interfere with his treatment,
as uneducated nurses are apt to do.
There are many diseases n which the
patient must owe his recovery chiefly
to diet, regimen and careful attendance.
In all such cases the graduate nurse
would be invaluable In committing
the control of the sick room into her
hands, the family would feel the same
sense of relief and security as is felt by
the passengers in ship when, in
stormy weather off a dangerous coast,
an experienced pilot comes on board to
take charge of the vessel.
There would be the further advantage
that the nurse would not be an ignorant
and unrefned person, with whom asso-
citation would be unpleasant, but an ed
ucated lady, who would form an accept
able addition to the family circle, dur
ing period of anxiety and trouble
one who could give useful counsel on
many subjects besides those of the sick
chamber, and who would know how to
economic not only her own health and
strength, but the health and strength
of the household, which are apt to be
taxed too severely when any member of
it is i'll for long period. In short,
whenever such profession is once es-
tablished, it will soon be deemed as
useful and respectable as any other
and, to revert to our former compari-
son, we shall wonder as much that we
could have done without it's members
as we now wonder that our ancestors
were content to allow the operations of
surgery to be performed by a hair
cutter
A NEAT HoME-DRFss.- is a SEN
s1ble item for those who are given to
the wearing of "second-best" " dresses,
fondly thinking that rich shabbiness
and sumptuous soil is good enough for
the loved ones at home. Housewives
and young girls who interest themselves
in domestic affairs look far better in
tidy, fresh calicos than in the soiled
dresses laid aside because not good
enough to wear before strangers. It is
quite possible to make pretty and, in
deed, stylish dress of nine or ten yards
OF shilling calico. To prove this, let
the household fairy-who wants to look
as well before her father, husband, or
brothers as before indifferent strangers
buy ten yards of a shilling print, in
alternate stripes of black and white,
each half an inch broad. Use a gored
wrapper pattern cutting off the skirt
at the knee, and adding a
Spanish founce, bias, about five
elghths or three quarters of a yard
wide, and containing four bias widths.
Put the narrowest of hens at the top.
and two-inch hem below. Gather an
inch from the top, or lay in scant side
pleats, and stitch ON with the machine.
AS upper skirts are almost invariably
worn now, add a iaunty little affair,
made open in front, with narrow gore
and two back widths slightly draped
behind, Just long enough to reach to
the Spanish f1ouncee, and edged with a
! double ruffle two inches wide. Coat
sleeves and black silk belt, or Rus
sian leather belt with chatelaine attach