The Washington times., 1904-07-24

- NE OF the most beautiful 1nstl-
tutions OF Washington. and yet
~ one but little known among the
generous-minded as yet. is the Instruc-
tive Visiting Nurse Society, a regularly
Incorporated institution conceived and
supported by few wealthy and benevo-
lent women Of the city. The object of
the society is to provide trained nurses
TO visit and nurse the poor in their
homes and to instruct them in the care
Of the sick
The work is intended TO supplement,
not to duplicate or interfere with, the
proper function of hospitals. Ordinari-
" only such cases are attended as hos
pitfalls do not receive or where the cir
cumstances Of particular patients re-
quire home treatment.
1t is intended for patients who are
not able TO go daily to the public dis
pensaries or hospitals, and who either
from inclination or necessity must be
treated 1T home.
Negroes Are Treated.
Among the class which forms the most
frequent patrons Of the free nurse are
negroes OF the very poorest and most
ignorant class. many of whom think
a trip % the hospital in an ambulance
is simply a journey 70 the terrible
Might Doctor" from whose clutches no
black person escapes.
Then II was found that there were
hundreds of old chronic cases which
could not be treated because the pa
tients We're not subjects for the hos
pitfalls, and yet which We're woefully
neglected and often not treated at all
at home.
Duties of the Nurse.
The visiting nurse is the close ally of
the physician 10 the poor whose magnifi-
cent work helps TO save thousands Of
lives during a year. Just as every ply
stefan to the poor reports each morning
at the nearest police precinct for his
daily list of patients new and old, so
does the trained nurse report, and from
the roster prepared for the purpose, fol-
low up and .ake instructions from tbs
doctor They also take distressing
cases for which there is no money TO
provide a special nurse, from other
physicians and take the cases reported
by the Associa ted Charities. with which
they work in perfect harmony.
Each nurse has her own district, and
the seven nurses paid by the society
are under a experimenting nurse who
has in charge all the supplies and to
whom each nurse must report. Through
this head nurse the seven nurses obtain
the ice tickets. each little regularly
printed ticket being good for 5 cents
worth Of ice, her pint and quart milk
tickets, which also call for one or two
eggs. as the case may demand, and in
the winter for broth. as we'll as her
general supplies.
The headquarters of the superintend-
ing nurse is IN the building with the
Associated Charities. and though the
two organizations are distinctly sep
arate. they work together 10 fine ad-
vantage.
The number of nurses is quite made
quate TO the demand, and were the So
ciety able 70 supply a dozen more they
would all be kept busy in attending 10
the sick and in insructing mothers and
fathers how TO administer medicine and
follow out the directions OF the doctor
The nurses are often Ovcrworked, and
when one thinks Of a trained nurse OF
no greater experience or ability getting
from rich patients 800 a month and
board, and then Of the sacrificing wo-
man. who. for love of humanity, accepts
the small pay for ceaseless hours OF
toll. 1t is not hard to discover why the
poor anG afflicted learn to love these
ministerinB angels until they cling to
their dresses and cry each time they
leave.
How Equipped.
Each visit Of a nurse to a door patient
costs the society 37lk cents, and often
nurses walk for fifteen and twenty
blocks 10 reach patients I'm out Of the
way places. who. without their aid
would die in lingering agony.
After "a physician 20 the poor dis
covers that his patient IS not able 70 buy
the necessary diet, and lack Of proper
diet IS the cause OF more sickness than
any one other thing, he advises the
nurse and she procures ice tickets and
q blanket for wrapping up the ice. as
IN ice chest in the homes of most OF
the patients would be as useless as a
wine closet To these are added tickets
good for a pint or quart Of milk and
one or two eggs. the tickets being reve-
nue. at any nearby dairy for just the
cost Of the articles mentioned.
With these two important wants met
the nurse is tolerably equipped for heI
duties IN addition 70 her supply OF
tickets. dealt out in sufficient numbers
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