The Mankato free press., 1913-05-09
does not have its, visiting nurse as
ISOLATION as surely as its city halls
Part of Municipal Business.

/ Part of Municipal Business.
3 Visiting nursing has in fact be
tcome a part. of. the municipal bust
ness. In practically every cit.
where the nurse has begun he
work in her private capacity a!
nurse, and then as, nurse instructor
supported by private subscriptions
1.-THE health boards have shown thei
appreciation of her value in prevent
ing and eradicating disease, by tax
ing her in as regular part O
their official machinery She cal
lbe Of inestimable value to the boart
|of health by discovering and report
ling unsanitary conditions, which arr
hidden from even the trained eye
of the regular inspector, because he
has not her facilities for daily OBJ
Iservation.
Since the beginning of the tuber
culosis crusade the visiting nurse
has done more to check the advance
of the white plague than any other
zone force In this field the. neet
for her labor has long been felt
The spread Of, the dreaded disease
has alarmed the whole country.
|. Experts. say that tuberculosis is a
preventable disease, and, that by
proper precautions it's progress can
be checked and gradually the dis
ease can be wiped out entirely. Ger
many has adopted the slogan, "No
tuberculosis after $780," and is car
rying. on a great campaign for the
education of the public with this
end in view.
1t is the work of the visiting
nurse to instruct the patient and
the members of the household in
the necessary precautions to prevent
the spread of the disease, and see
that apartments are thoroughly dis
infected Immediately after death. II
is claimed by one city that the
death rate from tuberculosis has
been reduced so per, cent by the
work of visiting nurses.
Work Social and Personal.
I The work of the visiting nurse is
both social and. personal. Her duty
lis to the community as well as to
the individual. Her work has ex-
panded from the narrow limits of
private charity, into the broad lines
of public service.
People are told that there are
four great wastes today, the more
lamentable because they are unnec-
essary. They are preventable death,
preventable sickness, preventable
conditions of low physical and men
tai efficiency. and preventable ignor-
,ance,
When the competent visiting nurse
goes into the home she not only
cares for the individual but she puts
into operation preventive measures
which arc even more valuable and
infinitely more far-reaching by estab.
fishing in the minds of all the MEM
,bers of the family a wholly new
standard. of living. To many poor
family long and expensive illness
iuo oCSh a UlOooih6 ulo6uIoC
Hygiene and Sanitation.
The ignorance of hygiene and
sanitation is due more to unfavor:
able conditions than to willful negli-
lgence and the nurse finds that as
rule she has only to inform her pa
tients of what is right to find it
done Frequently the mothers tell
the nurse that they would have
saved endless trouble if only the
sick spell had come years before.
The visiting nurse is therefore not
to be looked upon as being at work
in the interest of charity alone, but
she is more to be looked upon as a
factor in the conservation of public
health-an important factor in the
movement for the prevention of the
great wastes, "that fall like the
shadows of night over the whole
human race, blotting out its fairest
years of happiness
Tag day will be carried out in
Mankato next Saturday. There is
reason. To raise money to engage,
a visiting nurse.