Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-03-03
THE SOCIETY OF VISITING NURSES

finally obtained promise that the patient
would use the sanitary cups and paper
napkins which l had brought. but that
was all I could accomplish on my first
visit
That same story. with small variations
is one only too we'll known. especially to
the tubercu ar nurses. On every side
they meet with the same obst nate re-
fusal to admit fresh air to living and
sleeping rooms The idea of cleanliness
is equally abhorrent apparently. to their
patients. And SO these nurses have more
to do than the mere administration Of
healing medic ne, for they have to fight
with the patients to allow them to help
them. Another weak point with the large
ma ority of patients is the idea of going
to the hospital They all have the same
distrust of it, and in the majority of IN
than get well in hospital. Sometimes.
of course. the nurse Is able to overcome
this superstition. but not always.
The school nurse. too is doing great
deal of work in connection with the school
inspector. and her rrn eiral
School duty is discovering defective
w. eyesight adenoids and Dad
NuIse. teeth. OF course. when other
cases come to her notice she attends
them as well. Last year the school nurse
made almost six hundred visits. One
hundred and forty-five of her patients
were new.
The nurses do not give money to their
patients. Instead they refer them to the
diet kitchen, Associated Charities, health
department. dispensaries. hospital or 9TH
er sources. For example. last year there
were eleven hundred patients sent to the
diet kitchen, nearly four thousand given
ice tickets. two hundred odd sent to the
Associated Char ties, etc. More than
three thousand cases were dis harged. OF
those cases attended last year more than
four thousand were new. Among the two
thousand four hundred odd infants under
percenta of deaths was 6.242. viii e the
wear before 1t was 7159. The number of
tubercular cases visited amounted to more
than seven thousand. there being three
hundred and fifty odd new patients
Whenever the patient is able some small
fee may be given the nurse, t not, how
ever, being necessary. Some idea of the
existing conditions among the tubercular
patients can be CLEANED when it is real
.zed rat in all hose cases only Is cents
was collected in the entire year.
The rules governing the nurses them
selves are as strict as at any hosp tai
The nurse must pledge herself to remain
at least six months Her personal ap-
must be an example of neatness, order
cleanliness and sobriety and wear the pre-
scribed uniform Records of all cases
must be kept by them, and each week a
monthly one.
4
The Instructive Visiting Nurse Society
began it's work in February, 1900. being
incorporated in April of
Society's the same year by Miss
rr1 Emily Tuckerman, Mrs.
AAASIoAJ' M. W. C.. Bayard and
Dr. Anna A. Wilson. Inside of three
months three nurses were at work, and
the offices of the society were moved
from a small room on G street to their
!, present location. Since then the interest
in this movement has kept growing.
OF all the work which this society does,
perhaps none is looked upon as being as
important as that of the. work among
children.
"Our chief care is and should be for
the rising generation, future citizens OF
the United States" said the secretary in
her annual report. And. therefore, what
is probably the most important work
concerning this society is the school
nursing. In many of the larger cities
substantial municipal appropriation is
made for a corps of nurses who work
exclusively Ill tie puUllC SSiOoiS. ASS"
York employs 175. Chicago 200 Boston
81. and SO on. In some If not all cities a
lightning was made by the local District
Nursing Association, which placed one or
two of its nurses in the schools, to
show the great necessity OF such work
The cities soon realized how important
a step 1t was and made appropriations,
increasing as time went on, for nurses
who did only school work It is their
business to see that children are not
haip kan n nj QcPannf
triting ailment which can be easily and
promptly cured by proper treatment, and
also to see that no child with con-
tagious disease is allowed in the school.
Each public school is regularly visited by
a nurse, who reports such cases as re-
uuire 1t to the medical Inspector, and
treats those minor ones which are not
or an Infectious nature. In many In
stances she visits the parents and shows
them what is necessary for the intelligent
care of their children. Our society has
tried repeatedly to get congressional
appropriation for school nurses. but so
lar without success. Whenever, there
fore one of our nurses can be spared,
we have undertaken school work for
few months at time. but this is I'M
satisfactory and SO far unconvincing to
Congress. We are still hoping, however,
to succeed.
X
The Instructive Visiting Nurse Society
is maintained by contributions largely,
coming mostly from
Supported by those who are taking
>. an active interest in
COHtIlOutlVAs. the work. Sometimes
these subscriptions reach as high as two
thousand dollars and as low as onea
Not everything. however, comes In the
shape of money. There is constant de-
mand for other things, from those which
stock the loan closets to edibles, and