The Washington herald., 1915-02-26
@ WHAT SHALL | DO? ~

readiness TO start Immediately or when
the next Probationary vacancy occurs
You Will be told by the authorities OK
actly what to bring with you. Usually
this list includes two plain dresses of
mixed bingham of the color worn by the
probatiOners. nine large white aprons
two laundry bags. a large supply of plain
underClothing, and suitable outer cloth s
for all kinds of weather. After Il perioG
of from two to six months probation the
student puts on the hospital uniform.
which is supplied free of charge
This question of probation sometimes
stands out like a bugaboo in the dark
to young nurses. hut. in the words of
one of the superintendent in a big
hospital. Granted that a girl is intel
1igent and healthy enough to be ad-
mitted to a hospital. there are only two
things that will make her fail. One
is unwillingness to give up frvolity-
for dances. late nights and society can
never go hand in hand with nursing
and the other is the Crouch. The girl
who grumbles and complains can't be
put out of a hospital too SOON.
The course in the hospital usually
covers from two to three years. the
larger city hospitals usually giving the
longer training. Many of the city hos
pitfalls give post graduate courses of
about six months. where young women
trained in small hospitals have the OPP
portunity of getting special training,
watching the work of the most famous
medical and surgical specialists. or of
studying in the diet kitchen or in the
department of administration
The openings for the trained nurse
were never before more varied and
alluring than now. She may take a
place in her own alma mater as head
nurse in ward with a year round
salary of $50 or $50 a month-and re-
member that practically ' her eX-
penses are paid besides I Such an
opening leads to the position of super
intendents of nurses, sometimes paying
as much as $4,000 a year.
If she feels so inclined. the young nurse
can go straight from her hospital into
private nursing. with its wealth of pos
sibilities for helpfulness ana delightful
companionship. and a salary of twenty
five dollars a week. or thirty in some
lines of work. while on duty, or she can
take position in a Doctors office with
specified hours at salary. often of one
hundred and twenty-five dollars month
Infirmaries in schools and colleges offer
to women with unusual personality very
congenial employment at from nine hun
dred TO one thousand dollars a year be-
sides board and lodging District nurs-
some other benevolent association, offers
rare field of work. the hours being
from nine to five or six. and the salary
about twelve hundred dollars a year
The social work now Gone in most of
the large hospitals by graduate trained
nureses calls for not actual nursing, but
demands good deal of devotedness tact
and intelligence. 1t is the duty of the
nurse, holding such position, to keep
in touch with the patients in the wards
and to follow them up in their homes
AFTER they have been dismissed. to make
sure that the good work done by the
hospital Is not undone by soualor. negli-
genCe or over-work. This line of work,
with provisions for board and lodging,
usually assures seventy-five dollars
month
Perhaps the best salaries received by
trained nurses lie In the direction of pri-
vate nursing. for although the standard
wage Is seldom over SIS or $50 a week.
hundreds Of nurses. owing to rare per-
sonality as well as skill in nursing make
their services worth many times this fig
ure. One young woman who received her
diploma five years ago is employed by
a prominent society woman to care for
the education and health of a delicate
child. This young woman in addition to
the advantage of delightful surroundings
anu tidNei, itCelNts sdldTy OF SS,Vvo Il
year.
Another woman who began as a nurse
and who now receives salary OF $500
a year is what you might call the al |
moner" of very wealthy woman. In |
this position she not only has to use aer |
judgment in dispensing large sums of |
money every year. but she has to act as
a proxy for her employer on the board |
meetings of the various benevolent ASSOC
Citations of which the latter is a bene- |
factor. |
To he sure high wages are rare. and |
depend somewhat on good luck as veil |
as on ability-but the nurses profession |
is surely the most uniformly well paid |
profession on the list for women.
Copyright, 1871, by Mary Manhall)
Next week Miss Marshall will describe |
the work of the social secretary as a vo- |
cation for women.