Ripley County democrat. (Doniphan, Mo.) 1905-1920, 1912-11-22

tendants in order TO retain them Iong
or In the service. Length OF service
ordinarily means greater proficiency
In the work. Formerly there was
only one way for the new attendant
to learn the duties of his position
apprenticeship. Bat under the new
plan, on entering the service the al.
tendant Is taught the nature of his
ward duties, the approved methods Of
employees through raising the stand
ards OF service rather than by IN.
creasing wages
! Those who wait upon the lnsand
nursing the sick and the meaning OF
the various symptoms of insanity
The scheme now is to improve the
efficiency OF this class of the states
should be skillful in their work. The
attendant is with the insane patiantI
more than any other person about
the hospital. And every public hos
pital contains representatives of ev.
cry community In the state, patients
whose recovery is anxiously awaited
by their friends. Appreciatlng the i'm.
portance of the attendants work, the
boards of managers of the four state
hospitals for the insane, located at
Fulton, st. Joseph, Nevada and Farm
ington, recently agreed to employ in
common a superintendent of training
school work for their institutions.
Their choice for this position was
Miss Helen Sinclair, who at the time
of her selection was head of the train.
ing school for nurses at the Michigan
state hospital at Newberry. Previous
TO her service in that state, Miss Sin.
clair had had similar work in one OF
the state hospitals Of Nebraska Her
own training was received In the hos.
pitals for the insane Of Scotland,
which are noted the world over for
their splendid organization, and espe-
cially for their service to the individ.
ual patient. The excellent training
she has received and her experience
in handling the hard problems that
arise in the attendants everyday
work, make her great asset 10 the
hospitals, Il is Miss Sin.
cialr's idea that it will require two or
three years to get the training school
work on good bAis, At the time of
taking up her duties In April she said:
You must think OF the special train
ng of nurses for the insane as a post
graduate course In addition to the
raining required for the nurse In a
general hospital. Missouri should
lave special class Of attendants on
he insane, as is the case in the hos.
,itals of other states. If we set the
tandards high enough and stick to
ne plan we can attract the most am,
'ltious and cultured men and women
nto the service, For the price YOU
re paying in Missouri hospitals for
attendants, other states are
Employing graduate nurses"
The work of the attendant in the
Insane hospital is very interesting.
lany have made the care of the in,
ane their life work. Ordinarily in
ne Missouri hospitals the attendant
as from fifteen to twenty five pa
ents to care for Usually two or
lree attendants are associated in the
lperVision of one ward where from
ity to seyenty-f1ve patients are kept.
some states the ratio is one attend.
nj TO eight patients. This affords
reater opportunity for attention to
le individual needs of the patients.
he attendant is the comrade of the
sane person, adding as much as DOS.
Bile to the pleasure of the man or
oman when locked In the hospital.
ia accompanying him on his walks
'out the institution grounds. Many
sane are of very interesting charac-
+ and of fine mental attainments.
My small number are violent ma
acs as inmates OF these institutions
e ordinarily supposed to be. SO
e attendant is confronted with the
licult problem Of studying the Pc
Iarltles OF the patient, and, with
aid OF the physician. of minister.
TO his recovery. The Importance
the problem becomes more appar.
when one considers the steady In.
ease of the insane population of the,
iited States.