The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-04-09
COTTAGE FOR NURSES
WHY AN ADDITIONAL BUILDING is
NEEDED AT THE COUNTY
HOSPITAL
LEARNING TO CARE FOR SICK
full and Skilled Attendants at the
Bedside of the wounded and suf-
fering-How = the Nurses Are
Compelled to Do This Work I'm
der Trying Conditions.

When the reveille sounds in the morn
Ing the soldier has to jump from his
blanket; he may have to attend stable
call or he may have to face death. When
a call for the nurses at a hospital comes
at 5:46 o'clock In the morning they know
| that they have to face death. Not death
from bullets or shrapnel, but death from
contagious and loathsome diseases. When
the soldier gets to an end of his fighting
he can go to sleep. When the nurse fin
ishes work of soothing patients watch
ing men die and easing the last mo-
ments of women she has to study.
At the city and county hospital at the
present time the study of the nurses
takes place on the top floor of the hos
pital and materia mediea are before Them
1.-THE strongest dose of strychnine
which can be safely given" the book
says, lis 1-1a of grain
Then man yells He is suffering from
a fever and is delirious. His cryings are
heard through the hall. 1t thrills all
| hearts. The nurse who is making her
self familiar with the properties Of
strychnine does not have to go to the
mans assistance. She is off duty; she Is
| studying.
| Aconite in the materia medica comes
across her eyes. TT stops the action of
the heart" she reads The largest dose
| to be given with safety is"
Then comes the wall of a woman who
| is suffering from cerebro-spinal menin-
| gifts 1t is the death cry. The nurse has
heart, although her sympathies are not
| supposed to interfere with her work
Yet, what is aconite compared to the
shrek of dying woman?
| ah To
| that the ordinary dose, given with n.y.
podermic syringe, is one-eighth of a
| grain. She finds out that this can be re-
peated with safety In two hours, and is
beginning to read about the methods used
| in case of an overdose.
| Just then some one rushes into the room
and exclaimsi ajbH2
THAT dear little child in the babay 8
ward has just died.
| These are theI conditions under which
the nurses at the city hospital have to
study. The first year they are there they
get no pay; the second year they get $40
month. They deserve as much credit
for saving lives as do the wrecking crews;
they save more lives.
For instance a patient comes into the
hospital and Is given one-eighth Of a
grain Of morphine He has an idiosyn-
cracy and cannetE stand morphine. The
| doctor leaves him. the nurse comes
around and sees that his face is blue and
| the pupils of his eyes di1ate. The doctor
| Is at once called, and the mans life is
saved.
An operation has been performed on a
patient. The nurse sees that his legs are
| drawn. She knows that there is pain in
the abdomen. A, doctor is called and a
case Of peritonitis is prevented. The
| nurses are the main assistance of the doc
tors, who admit that good nurse is bet
ter than bad doctor. s,
Now a scheme is on foot to make q
place for the nurses to study--a home for
the women who work thirteen hours a
day at hard. exhausting labor. It is pro-
posed to build a 9ttage FOR them ON the
hospital grounds, where, they can learn
that ammonia wiz kill ethel effects OF sui
phuTio. acid, without Hearing the cries, Of
the injured; manned and helpless re-
sound in their ears
DR.. Ancker thinks that SIS, 900 will be
enough to build such a cottage. and be-
lieves 1t will increase the efficiency OF
the nurses. The more the nurses know
the better off are the patients, and they
can learn more ina cottage than they
can amid the distracting scenes of the
hospital.
1.-The nurses" said he ''are doing a
noble work. They, deserve every help we
can give them. y -
Is the county willing to spend $15, 600 to
improve the efficiency of it's most impor-
tant institution