Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1907-03-28
THE TRAINED NURSE
Things q Girl Should Know Who
Wants to Be q Nurse.

times to the editor of the Business
| WOinen'S page that it has seemed de-
sirable to give some specific informa-
tiOn about it-more details than could
we'll be given in personal letter or In
the answers printed in the Question
and Answer column. Few women in
the state are better informed in regard
to the actual working time of nurses
and tie amount of money earned by
the average nurse than Miss ]. T..
Reed. superintendent Of registry Of the
Boston Nurses Club of 1855 Boylston
street, and to her the interviewer went
with request for reliable data.
The Boston Nurses Club is the first
Club founded by nurses where the reg
istry is controlled by themselves, and
thas fact is a matter Of some pride to
the members. For some years prior to
the organization Of this club, there had
beena directory of nurses maintained
by the Boston Medical Library As
ISOLATION. Here, the physicians as
sumed the management. This is still
a flourishing registry and more nurses
are onaits list than on the registry Of
the Boston Nurses Club.
The Nurses Club first opened head
quarters in the Warren Chambers, but
they outgrew their rooms there and
transferred their Office and reading
rooms to their present location. From
the 60 odd nurses who composed the
membership of the club at the start,
the registry has increased to about $50.
These pay an initiation fee of IS and
annual dues of $40. The reading room
Of the club is supplied with magazines
and reference books relating to nurs-
ing, and is open to all members who
care to go there.
Tuesday afternoon of each week is
set apart as a social day and tea is
served. Every fortnight during the
winter lectures are given in the read
| ing rooms by prominent nurses and
| physicians.
"What are the weekly wages OF
nurses who go out from this registry"
Miss Reed was asked. "The usual
payment for an ordinary case" was
her reply. sis from s21 to $25 a week.
For contagious nursing the fee is ne
| cessarily more One of our rules is
that any nurse who has attended pa
tient suffering either from scarlet
fever. diphtneria, measles or erysipe-
I
within a week from the time she leaves
the contagious case. That is. she must
lost q full week after her professional
services are ended. This is a precau-
ton lest she should have contracted
the disease herself, and is enforced as
protection to the second patient.
1.-THE nurse, however, cannot be ex-
Iected to bear the full loss in this IN
stance. Hence the fee for contagious
nursing is set at from $25 to s3o a week
OF 321 to S25 week with an extra
twcek's pay for quarantine. or as we
would say, 81 to s2s a week and quar-
antiae." ..- y.l!
Are there ever instances when
nurses go out from the bureau for less
than 81 week." Miss Reed was
asked. ~,
sour rules permit IT," was the reply,
Gin cases of necessity. The doctor
who is attending the case must assure
us that the patent is unable to pay
the full rate. Then we can send a
nurse for less, but 1t is not always easy
To find a nurse who will gofor less than
the regular amount.
| "There is prevalent idea that
nurses make a great deal OF money.
But many persons do not stop to con-
slider that there are certain conditions
affecting the profession Of nursing that
do not affect nearly all other kinds OF
work. In the first place, while 1t Is
true that the nurse Is found while she
is attending a patient and that the
money she receives is clear OF ex-
penses, it must be remembered that
her room rent has been going on all
the time. A nurse must keep her room
right through the year, as she needs
place to go to and to rest in as soon
as she is dismissed from case. She
needs it also to keep her personal
effects stored in. Room rent, then. Is
fixed expense to a nurse whether she
occupies her room much or little.
again, a nurses clothing generally
! costs more than that of women
workers in many other fields. This
may sound queer, but it is true. The
ordinary working woman who has
| new street suit this year will generally
use it for second best or to wear at he1
work next year. But the nurse cannot
do this. She must either have the
: dress altered to next years fashion fol
f street wear or discard ii, since it cam
| not be worn when she is at her pro-
fessional work. Moreover, her nurses
dress and aprons are not so inexpen-
) sive as might at first appear. The
t frequent laundering which is neces-
sary to keep the nurse looking as she
wishes to look is expensive, and II
causes the clothes to wear out quickly
There is another reason why the
nurse does not make as much money
as some people think. She does mo-
work steadily, week after week 1t Ii
true that we have some nurses who
are kept busy most Of the time. bu
they are burning the candle at bott
ends and the result in such cases i:
that after a few years the nurse j:
obliged to give up and take perhaps {
whole years rest and SO spend a lot o
money. 1 should roughly estimate tina
the average nurse works about two
thirds of the time, or two weeks out o
three. the year through Some year.
ago 1 kept account Of dates when ou
nurses went to and when they lef
cases, and 1 found that the average