The daily sentinel., 1905-10-31
THE NURSE

A new profession comparatively, 1
for such ic may be dignified. has
been added to the honorable and re
spectacle professions TO which men !
and women. largely the latter, are
becoming the exponents-we refer
to that of the nurse. She. for il is !
generally the female sex who have be-
come proficient in it. because of her
disposition, tactfulness, intuition,
which in woman is nine times as
great as in man and because it has
been she who, for all time has been
the greatest soother of the ills of .
others. has dignified the profession by
L great work in alleviating suffering. 4
asa.s, ing the medical profession in an
administrative capacity and in shed
ding beneficence of her womanly I
character about the sick ROOM to the .
well being of the patient and the re I
lief OF suffering humanity.
Perhaps the uninitiated who sees
the nurse in her prim and becoming
uniform and catches sight of her, fol- I
lowing the performance of her dut- /
les in the sick room. reading or EN-
broidering in a temporary lull in her
work feels that the position is al !
most a sinecure and that it would be
easy to fulfill the demands of such
profession. But she little knows
the body-wearying. brain-raeking
work it is. especially with the peev-
ish, fretful or capritious patient or
one perhaps who has no mercy
in her make up and who must be
waited upon at all hours OF the day
and night
Neither is her work always cast in
the most pleasant places. Occasion
ally she may receive an assignment
from, the physicians with whom she
is working, where everything is most
pleasant, but more Otter than other
wise the conditions are not the most
pleasant The glamor surrounding
| the recital of the rich patient marry
| ing his beautiful nurse, who has
/ brought him from deaths door to
| health and strength, which only in
I frequently occurs, has led many an
| unfit person TO become a nurse, total
! ly untitled to perform the onerous
/ duties and whose main ambition is
| to see herself placed in such position
as she has read and perhaps dreamed
| of. to her undoing in her ability to
perform the work devolying upon
her in the sick room.
/ A recent magazine article by an
unusually intelligent young woman,
who has had charge of several noted
| hospitals and has worked in every
capacity of the profession, who upon
being charged with the fact that her
Z lines Mtlt HlOlt AAtAlhthAiF AAAtlA
otherwise lodged in pleasant places
has the following, descriptive of some
of the places in which, she has been
| called upon to serve. She writes
In the Philadelphia City hospital,
with 1000 pauper patients, one sees
all conditions of human life and much
that is too terrible TO recite. ! have
been almost heartbroken at times,
| not because of the work, repellant
] xyng hftt witness the
awful suffering of a city's poor. Had
] ! not been steeled in a long probation
/ in the work, | must have fallen while
/ performing my duties. One case in
l particular | recall, a mother and
seven children. the oldest probably
nine and the youngest baby in
arms-that mother had walked the
streets three days and nights with
out shelter or food, deserted by hus-
band and when found she had lost
her mind.
Il have cared for patients In tene-
ments, reeking with squalor and NTH
from five to seven living in rooms. no
dishes. no food, vermin and filth on
all sides. | have cried and been
heartslck many times for the poor in
cities. but many of them, am sorry
to say. are undeserying and fire.
uuently berate us, even though our
services cost them nothing, being paid
for by charitable organizations.
"All my pay has come from feel
ing that ] was doing my duty and al
so in doing what | could to aid those
who were the downtrodden of society.
have Just given the scant details
OF some of the situations in which
the conscientious nurses in the great
cities find themselves.
Such are the narrowing conditions
under which many young women.
who adopt the profession must wres-
lie with so that the apparent glamour
surrounding the life is not all gold.
But it can well be said that these
Young women who secure the pre-
liminary trniningg for the profes-
sion and are graduated from the
schools of professional nursing, feel
the Importance and deleacy of the
character of their profession and
shirk at no responsibility placed upon
them. All honor then to the new pro
fession. which has for its purpose no
less a function than that of the medi-
cal profession itelf and ii may be
said too that a knowledge of medi-
cine. surgery and -hiegene are some
of the prerequisites demanded OF
those who would seek the heights in
the profession, AS there are heights
and places OF honor well worth the
seeking even in this new work for