The Wahpeton times. [volume] (Wahpeton, Richland County, Dakota [N.D.]) 1879-1919, 1907-06-13

AoJoiAt! VI dluly NURSES are Iuen, YET
in most countries there are a few
sisters of catholic orders who not only
continue to follow the troops in time
of war. but who serve as head nurses
in large army hospitals in time Of
peace.
About the beginning of the last cen
fury the idea of systematic training
in the principles and practice of car
ing for the sick had its origin in Ger:
many, where one of the earlier stu.
dents of the art was Florence Night.
ingale. Like untold thousands OF
women before her, she went forth
to the great battle with death in the
hospitals, taking with her to the
Crimea IS women, of whom 1S were
sisters of catholic or protestant or.
ders. Other nurses joined her later.
This war gave great stimulus to
the idea of training nurses, and it
ultimately led to the introduction into
the British army of a regular corps of
women nurses. These sisters" as
they are called, are of course grad
yates of hospital training schools and
their work consists essentially in the
supervision of the nursing in large
hospitals where the details are car.
ried cut by men enlisted for the pur.
pose. In some respects the English
system is we'll organized, as the rules
are explicit regarding increase of pay
with length of service, with provision
for retirement and pensions. The most
important post in this service is that
of woman superintendent Of Netley
hospital, there being no woman at the
head of all the nurses. There exists
also an Independent Indian nursing
service of secular sisters"
At the outbreak of the South
African war the number of English
sisters was fixed at 70, of whom 63
were employed in the British isles
and 16 at Gibraltar, Malta and Egypt.
In addition to this small number pro.
vided for peace times there was a
corps of reserve sisters, although an.
pointments to it were unfortunately
not under the control of the war of.
flee. AS the nursing sisters of the
reserves numbered only 80, hasty ap.
pointments were made, and some
women who were entirely without
knowledge of nurses duties sue.
ceeded in obtaining appointments
OF course the trained nurses who
were sent to the Transvaal worked
nobly and we'll, though the investiga.
ton of army hospitals has shown a
most distressing insufficfency in their
number.
The United States is looked to as
country whose system of women
nurses may, in many respects. be
used as an example.
Our nurse corps is matter of quite
recent growth. There were, of course
a large number of women employed
during the civil war, most of them ap.
pointed by Miss Dorothea Lynde Dix,
who was then superintendent of
women nurses, but their services, rs
well as the work of the helpers who
held no regular positions. came to
s~AA SAu ~ SAC NlOSC vi Tue WAL. "A
vast amount of good was done by
these women individually, but there
was no lasting effect on the a:my
ITSELF
In our country, with it's prevailing
independence, army assistance may
be rendered by any one VINO chooses
to offer it and no organizations are
recognized as those through which
alone such assistance will be re.
ceived. 1t is true that there was be.
fore and during the Spanish war a
committee acting under the name of
the American National Red Cross"
which was allied with the interna.
tional committee, but it had no ex.
elusive recognition from our govern.
ment, nor had it any organization as
general society.