The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1915-11-26
Kentucky Should Have More Public
Health Nurses.

Health Nurses.
Col. l.. l.. Maus, Secretary of the
State tuberculosis Commission wants
to know what is the matter with the
good women of Kentucky. He says
that there are less than twenty
health leagues in the State, where
there should be 100, or one for each
county. The leagues in operation
are doing splendid work in their re-
spective counties, and are not only
relieving hundreds of the ill-poor
but are saving the lives of untold
numbers to the State. Through
these health leagues a dozen visiting
nurses at least have been permanent
ly employed to attend the poor and
afflicted, many of whom are suffer
ing from trachoma, hookworm pei
lagra and consumption, which is so
prevalent everywhere and causes
such an enormous loss of life each
year to the State. Besides the splen-
did work OF nursing the sick, the Wis
iting nurses are making inspections
of the school children to detect tu-
berculosis. and carrying the gospel of
sanitation and prevention of disease
to thousands of poor and illiterate.
. The annual salary and expense of
county visiting nurse rarely ex-
ceeds $500. and few of our women
are aware of the fact that twice this
amount could easily be raised in
every county through the sale of Red
Cross Christmas seals, 80. per cent
of which goes to the leagues, the re-
naming 10 per cent, to the National
Red Cross Society to reimburse it for
the seals, advertising cards, bulletins
etc, furnished.
Col Maus will gladly mail anyone
a set of rules and regulations for
the organization of county health
league. He trusts that the progress
sive women of every county in the
State will organize a society and un-
dertake at once the sale of Christ
mas seals during the present cam
paign.
The following is brief report of
Mrs. Edith M. Hickey, the visiting
nurse in Muhlenburg county, concern
ing her work from September Goth
to October 31st. .'..
Number of public schools inspect
ed as. -..
Number of children inspected,
2649.
Number OF cases of trachoma found
among the 2649, 400.
Number of Public talks SO.
Calls made on tuberculosis pa
tients so,
Number of tuberculosis patients re-
ported to nurse. rs.
AZ of these homes have been visit
ed; "a remain yet on the nurses list
to be seen whenever she can find
the time to get to them.
After reading this report, can the
people of Kentucky doubt the ad-
visibility of placing a Public Health
Nurse in each county? Do they real
ize the Importance of the visits to
these tuberculosis homes and the in
structions given these people how to
live, what to do to prevent tubercu-
losis from spreading from one to an
other, how to use sputum boxes and
, why they should be used? A great
ma jority of the people of Kentucky
still think tuberculosis is hereditary
disease. The only way We can ever
eradicate tuberculosis Is through the
education of the masses. Again
what does it mean to the 40 children
/ found suffering from trachoma i'm the
county IL their eyes are not treated?
Nothing else but permanent blind
ness.
The nurse in this county goes ex-
clusively on horseback for the reason
of roughness of the roads.
We only hope that every county i'm
the State of Kentucky viii have a
/ Public Health Nurse in this fight
against the Great White Plague