Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1897-05-30
Two little feet, so small that both may

In one caressing hand;
Two tender feet upon the untried border
Oh life'S mysterious land:
Those rose-white feet along the doubtful
future
Must bear a woman's load:
Alas, Since woman has the heaviest burden
And walks the hardest road.
Love. for a while, will make the path be
All dainty. smooth and fair:
VIII cut away the bramDleS, Letting only
The roses blossom there:
But when the, mothers watchfuI eyes are
shrouded
Away from sight of men,
And these dear little feet are left without
Who shall direct them then?
VIII they go stumbling blindly in the
Of sorrows fearful shades?
Or find the upland slopes of peace and
Whose Sunlight never fades?~
Oh, who may read the future? For this
sweetheart small
We want all blessings sweet,
And pray that He who feeds the crying
VIII guide the baby's feet.
The advent Of a trained nurse in a
family is an event likely to be remembered
She is only called in cases of a heightened
or dangerous type and she walks in and
takes possession. She is more important
in her own opinion-than the physician. be-
cause she is in demand all the time, while
he only comes in for a few minutes once a
day. or once in two days, and works
through her. depending upon her to carry
out his orders, or remit them according to
her discretion.
Where it is necessary that the patient
should be kept quiet even the family or
any member of IT will perhaps not enter
the sick room for days together. or only
make perfunctOry visits Of a few minutes.
and any complaint that the patient may
make against nurse and her methods
will b. put down to nervousness. because
the woman was perhaps recommended by
the doctor and has been trained
To many the very words trained nurse,
have "A cabalistic ring. There is magic in
them. only good could emanate from them.
Yet nurses are human. after all, even if
they are trained, and their responsibility
except to a doctor who has no means of
knowing whether his orders have been eX-
ecuted, or the requisite care exercised or
not, until perhaps some irreparable mis-
chief has been done. should make one very
careful in the choice of a nurse.
All Of a kind, good or bad, are not TO be
found in any one class, business or profess
sion, and poor human nature, in or out of
some authority. or at least for knowing
that someone Will know whether it does
well or i'll.
Nursing would perhaps have been in
danger Of becoming one of the lost arts
had not the civil war occurred: that IL
reused the public mind TO a consideration
of the Importance of having an army of
trained nurses as well as soldiers was
doubtless one Of its uses. Nursing. like
cooking, had previously been considered
one OF those things that should come
natural 10 a woman; the persons who
thought so not stopping to consider that
though 'tinkering' may come natural to
a man he will need a very thorough train
ing before he can become a master build
cr or a mechanical engineer. and that even
tnkering does not come natural for every
man.
Doubtless the lack of training on the
part of nurses has been responsible for
the loss of many valuable lives; but all
women are not capable of being nurses.
even with training, any more than all
men could be doctors or expert mechanics.
Even where women suppose they have a
htncSs, or natural aptitude. they do not
always, succeed in developing and
strengthening such supposed faculty un-
der the test of hospital work. out of a
probationary class Of siXty-fivc at Belle
Vue, only eight stood the ire of examina-
tions. and were selected for training, and
out of these only three graduated.
Nursing has become one of the new fields
Of Iemunerative labor, and women are
foCking TO the schools without regard to
They forget that il does not pay unless the
nurse can get patients, and that patients
viii not pay the cost of a luxury unless the
object pleaseS them: i'm other words. they
will not pay the price of a trained nurse a
she Is merely a machine, without sympa-
thy or intelligence.
ne duties or a trained nurse are ar
duCus and sometimes disagreeable. she
ought to possess unwearied patience. sweet
ness of temper and refinement as well as
knowledge and experience. Even knowI-
edge Will not make up, however, for the
want of natural quickness and aptness.
Tn best nurse ! ever saw was Il lady I'M
accustomed to wait. even upon herself. but
blessed with faculty and a spirit of help
fulneSs: the poorest a woman under hos
pital training. but selfish and preiudice,i.
narrow. and mOrOSe in temper.
Nursing is now often looked upon simply
as an Dttupatlpn. an gmDlOymHnf G1IpppS4I
to he remunoratiVc. and therefore sought
for. saws the PhiIadpIphia Times Only Tbs
limitations Of age. health and certain sim
as quaiifcations. ANY woman over N and
under -. who can bring a clean bill of
health. Of moral character. and show faciI-
fly IN the demonstration of the three RS.
will be admitted on probation at the Belle
Nuc. or any other training school for
nurses. but her final success will depend
on her, endurance. Intelligence and natural
aptitude for the work.
Tho members Of a class on probation re-
Ccive no money for the month during which
they are upon trial. but they have board
and lodging and washing free. and obtain
an insight into the methods which ofte
serve them i'm good stead. even if they are
not finally accepted. II they are. they are
put for the trSt year into wards. as assist
ants. and the second year they are placed
IN charge Of wards. As assistants they re-
ooivc 81 pgr month. i'm addition 10 board.
lodging and washing. as nurses in charge OF
wards. or as capable Of taking the nrSt
place. they receive. for tho second v,r- STS
per month. with board. washing and lodg-
ing.
The excellence Of tho training naturally
depends very much upon the superintendent
Of the ward and the attending phvyi,iaus
4 certain routine has to be observed and a
certain facility acquired. hut these NAV
p" conscientious and thorough. or mechan-
zeal and without strength Of will or pur-
pose. :
Character IS an essential factor I'm the
making OF a good nurse. for upon this Will
depend success. when the routine aud the
machinery Of the training school are ab-
sent. and the nurse has 10 depend upon her
own qualities and resources. a nurse re
Gently sent to "A lady from a well known
training school was a curious specimen Of
the purely mechanical and routine pcrSon-
|-r. The case was a sudden and severe !
one and needed for several dayS and
nights unrcmitting care ard attention. She 7
was Incapable Of compreheudinE il. and
thought only OF securing proper regard for ,
hrrsolf and her comfort. Her absence Il "A
consequences frightened her into better he
havior: but the measure of her selnshncSs
and disregard Of imperative duty had an
Yet she did not want capacity. for when
she was fearful Of being sent away in what
amounted to disgrace, she displayed real
skin. making poultices and applying them
with skin ard regularity. and watching her
patient with a solicitude that would have
saved her had they been exhibited all the