Gulf Coast breeze. [volume] (Crawfordville, Fla.) 1897-19??, 1898-07-01
ARMY NURSES WORK.
THE TRAINING NEEDED AND THE
CALLS FOR HER SERVICES.

The. Army Nurse Must BE an ExtrnOruf-
nary woman Her Duties After the Hat
tie Dangers and Hardships That She
Must Undergo 70 BE Really Successful.
An army nurse has no sinecure.
Contrary to the notion Of the,average
woman, she plays no part on the field
Of battle, but, on the other hand, her
work does not consist in stroking the
brow of this handsome soldier, taking
rosebud to that onaand reading a
little love ditty to a third. Along
with hundreds Of thoroughly trained,
experienced nurses great number of
unframed demonstrating some of
those women who are always on the
lookout for some new sensation--are
anxious to do army nursing II the ne.
cessity arises. The less thoughtful
60 even further and hope that the
necessity will arise. They little
dream what 1t is to care for sick or
sorely wounded soldiers in strange
and trying climate. DR.. George F.
Shrady knows q thing or two about
the army nurse worth knowing. He
served as surgeon throughout the
civil war and knows just what training
is required to make successful nurse,
what the nurse actually does in the
field and what are the dangers of the
work.
"There's all the difference in the
world between civil aud military nurs-
ing" he said, when questioned. I'm
one we have all the modern appliances
and conveniences and in the other none
ofthem. The young woman who has the
ability to make the best of her sur
roundings is, therefore, the one best
suited to become an army nurse. It's
the old story Of. mixing ones color
with brains. An army nurse should
be an extraordinary woman in many
ways. She should be uncommonly
strong physically, able to endure pri-
walton and hardship; she should pos
sess vast amount of womanly dig
nifty, able to hold herself above her
patients and yet caring for their
hearts and minds as well as their bod
les, and she should he schooled to
obey orders without asking questions.
"Oddly enough, civil nursing rather
spoils person for emergency work.
In our up-to-date hospitals we have
everything in the way of appliances
and instruments, and a nurse, with
these always at her hand, learnsto de-
pend on them and consequently would
find ii hard to use the meagre appli-
ances at hand on battlefield. II
asn't so much special training that q
womaa-needs as quick wittedness and
sdaptability.
''It is amusing TO hear what the av-
erage woman thinks the nurse actually
does in the field 70 hear her talk,
one would think that the nurses went
to the front Of the line and set them
selves up as targets for the enemy. As
q cold matter OF fact, female nurses
are not allowed on the field even i'm
mediately after battle except in rare
cases, much less while il is being
fought. The nurses are generally sta
toned well in the background. The
wounded, as fast as they fall, are, II
possible, carried to the rear, where the
hospital flag, that sacred yellow en-
blem, is run up. There they are safe
from the enemy's shots. The enemy
always respects the hospital flag. 1t
is violation Of the articles of war to
fire upon it; it is more, it is a cowardly
act, for that would be fighting the help
less.
Everything is in great confusion
Immediately after battle. The
wounded are looked after before any,
thing else is done. Humanity and
necessity both demand that this should
be so. OF course, no one can tell how
things will be in the war, but in the
civil war there was not great deal of
work for the female nurse INN ediately
after battle. Nurses are more skilled
today, better fitted to assist surgeons
and physicians, and they may have
plenty to do while battle is in pro.
gress or rs soon as it is ended, for all
we know. But formerly their work
came after the patient had been re-
moved to hospital. Oh, I've seen
many q woman go into the army a
nurse and come out an angel!
During the late war the nurses
were supplied by the Sanitary CON-
mission. Hundreds of Sisters of
Charity volunteered and they made
the most excellent nurses that we bad.
That was natural. because they were
trained to discipline, to respect au-
thority, not to question the reasons or
orders, and they were Injured to hard
ship and priyation. 1t is all foolish
ness for girl or a woman to think
that she can jump ont of fashionable
life and go to nursing. We might as
we'll take raw recruit and say, Here.
well make a veteran Of you at once
Trained nurses have lessened morality