The National tribune., 1902-07-31
TRAINED NURSES.
Field for Women That is Not Crowded.

Catherine A. Sanborn. Directress of
st. Vinccnt's HOsnital, in Golfers
Weekly.)
The first necessary qualifications are good
health and freedom from physical defects.
a woman who suffers from dyspepsia, ner-
yOus headaches and catarrh should not be
considered sound in health. and such de-
fects as cross-eyes, slight deafness, bad
teeth. etc. should also be counted as dis
qualifications. Do we want about us when
we are i'll n woanan who has a cold, damp
hand, or who cannot hear uS when we are
too weak to speak above n whisper, or
who, when she smiles. shows a row of
teeth which, in the fastidiOusncss of sick
ness. we find intolerably rcpulsive?
Beauty is not necessary, but to be thor
oughly efficient nurse must be pleasant
to look upon, dainty, neat. clean. and must
have the evenly pitched voice, the bright,
cherry manner, the quiet step and firm
touch that are so soothing to those suffer
ing from bodily i'll. This is an age OF
open windows and of sunshine in the sick.
room, and doctors who recognize the I'M
pOrtance Of fresh air and brightness as
curative agents are also alive to the bene-
fetal influence exerted upon the ailing by
nurse possessing well-balanced mind
and cheerful temperament.
4 nurses success must depend upon her
loyalty to her superior. Her hands should
he the physicians hands heightened out to
minister to the sick. Much of his knOwl-
edge of the course of the diseases, upon
which, to some degree, diagnosis and treat
ment are based. must depend upon her re-
port. 1t should be her aim, then, to pre-
sent such reports correctly and honestly,
exercising judgment to neither. underesti-
mate nor oyerestimate the gravity of the
symptoms which have come under her OBJ
servation. Above all, she should be hon.
est and truthful. y single variation from
such a course would be sufficient to de-
stroy all subsequent confidence.
Having graduated from Il good school
the nurse will probably find that the doe
tors who visited the hospitals in which she
received her training usually recommend
to their private patients those nurses who
were associated with them in the hospital
and understood their methods. IL the
school have any worth and its graduates
prove themselves desirable nurses. n cer-
tain patronage will be thus created. into
which the new graduate at once enters.
This is her yantagc-grOund and should
prove the starting point from which to
work. Having thus secured one or several
hrst cases. she will find herself upon her
feet and if she perseveres she is almost
certain to achieve success.
To be successful means hard work, some
of it pleasant and some of it unpleasant,
although much of the pleasantness and un-
pleasantncss will depend upon the spirit in
which it is taken up. In Il monetary sense
success will signify independence and n
surplus in bank for n rainy day.
There is n fixed schedule of charges in
every registry office. Twenty-Five dollars a
week for all cases except contagious, alco-
holic and insane The charge for these
must not exceed $50 per week The charge
of less than a week at $2j is 81 per day;
at $50, So per day. If the case be of n
contagious character, disqualifying nurse
from going Immediately to another patient,
there is an additional charge of $15 for
quarantine.
There is a constant demand for good
nurses, and in smaller towns and cities
the demand exceeds the supply. In New
York, Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston
the training schools are always filed and,
as rule, the registry Offices will have a
Jong waiting list; but elsewhere the reverse
prevails.
Any woman possessing the necessary
qualifications, and willing to stand the long
and severe training, can always find work.
As nearly every city in the Union has a
hospital and as there is trdining school
attached to many hospitals, there is no