Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-07-23
Navy Nurses
BY Frederic ]. IIaskin

| contracts measles of whoopiup cough
| Men IN our naval hospitals are under the
cure of the hest nurses the country ran
| produce. women with experience and
the best pf training the Navy Nurse
/ Corps
Tho standard which the Navy NURSE
| Corps sets Itself IL necessarily high. for
members are not only nurses, but teachers,
executives aud welfare workers Sofnn
| left positions "a atiperit.tendents of civilian
| hospitals or IN special lines Of hospital
/ work to enter the navy Mt "A comparatively
| low salary, because the country needed
| them II ~ only IN time Of war. when
| the call for nurses ~ urgent. that the
navy can secure a large number of highly
trained nurses The e0fpa now hats
| ,O2D members II which number l6j
| have entered since the beginning Of the
/ war
These nurses are not enlisted thov arc
/ appointed They agree 10 serve rs long
as thev NAV be needed, but IA case #
emergency. or for sufficient reason,
release Is granted ~ any time None
| uf our nurars nrc now serving on battiosfnp
or hospital ships.
DISLIKE sEA prrY
II IS interesting 10 note that many
applicants for the corps seem ~ dislike
/
sicknoes and inability 20 SWIM atc the
chlcf reasous given for the nurses aver
sion to the rolling sea Applicants
cannot bc assured positively that thcv
might not nj some future date be- assigned
| 10 a hospital ahip, but none ~ orr present
ships can Accommodate nurses, and The
hospital ship now building will require
only fftcon or twenty Thcse vii
probably bc selected with special reRnrd
for aca experience
Hospital Corps rnen and medical officers
are in charge Of casualties and illness or
shiphnard There arc now about 10000
! Hospital Corps mcn who supplement
the Nurse Corps These men receivc
| professional training from tho nurses
Hospital Corps man attends naVal
training station for from thrce - six
months whore he IS given drill and
theoretical lectures on nursing He thc9
goes ~ hospital and t.cconcs the pupil
~ nurses. who tearh him The fundamentals
~ nursing from The making of 4 bod -
the inJectipn Of hypndernios When h"
is familiar with tho routine ~ hospital
duty he IS sent 10 q ship where he assists
medical officers II he makes good on
| ahlpboard. he may later he sent back to
a hospital for preparation for a higher
rank under the direction of the nIrsrs
IIo 4 then ready for duty on srnali craft
with no medical officer to direct hln
IMPORTANT As INSTRUCTORS
The unpo rtance of the nav nurse IS
| instructor of the Hospital { CorpS man Is
apparent Whether hc - sDcccss Or q
| failure depends largely on her tact
teaching ability and skill IN her pro-
feasion The efficiency of orr Hospital
Corps s tribute ~ her sIccoss
l.esldes teaching re. .rmts how 70 wrap
| bandagcs the nurse must assume reSponsi-
| bllity for order IN her ward she - ~
charge of the entire ward. with her sailor
pupils ~ assistants II = her duty 70
SOC hat no one Is neglected., and that her
paticuts arc not restless FOR want q occu-
patton She II assisted in this last bv a
special welfare nurse who makes round
| of the wards each day writing letters,
! reading stories, suggesting games, and
breaking the mOnotnny oi hospital lie
| IN any way that seems best
This is d line of work for which there
are Innumerabie civilian candidates. But
| the glri who an sing reclte, or converse
| To the cdldcation Of 4 well sailor may not
notice that the thrilling war story she is
telling Is raising a sick man 3 temperature
and exciting hIn 10 m undesirable degree
The nuree, trained to note symptoms, Il
less apt To make mistakes 0t tins sort
and IS usually a better psychologist than
the unframed helper however Hympathetlc
and charming
/ The nurses are expert u finding out a
sick man : talents and interests, and every
| effort Is made to keep him Interested and
employed especially If he Is not gong
/ back into active service. Onc sailor
was found TO have considerable skill IN
| skttchinR. 4 talent which he had never
| developed While ne was getting well.
he was persuaded ~ practice and study
systematicaIly with some help from the
/ hospital assistants, 50 that on leaving
the hospital nc was able 10 secure
| position rs artist on large eastern new
| paper
We have now thirty-three naval hos
/ pItals. most of them at naval training
stations and at our large seaports. The
navy maintains several hospitals over
seas IN Europe and on our island pes
| sessions.
DIFFERING SANITARY CONDITIONS.
Everywhere the United States takes
! a hand In the government Of a people,
It improves sanitary conditions. The
/ coasts Of our islands are guarded BY the
/ navy. and navy nurses are sent to help
| care for the sick and 10 teach the people.
] II necessary, now 10 preserve health II
would be impossible 70 send enough
nurses to give proper nursing care. Those
assigned to duty in the Philippine Islands.
Guam and the Virgin Islands 20 mainly
ns teachers and welfare workers They
| open training schools for native women
and teach them SO that they IN turn can
| help their neighbors
/ hospital is usually established,
sometimes in a temporary bungalow or
converted home. Here the natives
can come and bring their children for
treatment by the nurses and by the native
students In some OF these islands.
mortality rates have been appallinglv
| high, especially among the children Bur
| by practical care and instruction simply
| given the native schools arc being filed,
instead Of the cemeteries, a. was formerly
/ the case
A great difficulty with which the nurses
| must contend is superstition 4 fear
of evil spirits will lead a mother to shut
/ herself and any number Of children 10 a
! tiny room with doors and windows tightly
/ shut In this vitiated atmosphere the
/ family will sleep all night. In the
/ morning, when the power of evil spirits
| is supposed 10 be on the wane, door and
| windows may be opened cautiously
| To overcome this deep-rooted feeling OF
! fear requires no small amount of diplo-
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