Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-07-24
More Nurses
by Frederic j. Haskin

In few days an appeal will be made
by the government 20 the educated and
earnestly patriotic women Of the country
20 devote n part of their lives To n war
service of the utmost importance tC
America. II will be an appeal for re-
| cruts 10 the United States Student
| Nurses Reserve.
| With each SUCCESSIVE casualty Inst The
demand for the American soldiers at the
battle lines for more train d nurses
takes perceptible and sometimes start
ling increase So many thousand skilled
nurses h We gone to the front that the
hospitals and training schools Of the
United States cannot answer [ csc fresh
demands Virtually every genral hospital
IN the country is worrying along with n
shortage of competent nurses
It is to fill the gaps which the wound
| ing of 80 nanv American soldiers has
| made IN the ranks uf the NURSES here at
| home. and tn provide for the release Of
other nuraes adequately equipped for
service ut the front, that the United States
Student Nurses Reserve has heen- Or
ganlzed
THERE rs NC wDHg HERH
Victory against barbarlsm IN France,
the Young women Df America are to be
tbhis VIII uslsftiB tHf RstF Hiffh FfSAh 2
against dlscaae here nj home The war
cannot he won unless the workers m war
INDUSTRIES IN America are sustained n
health and strength against the hazarda
which besset them unless accident and
dlseaae are defeated here
More than 5000 women are needed
for the work The Surgeon General Of
the lnIted States Army. the United states
Public Health Service. the American Red
Cross the General Medical Board and the
Wornens 3 DIVISION Of the Council of Va
tlonal Defence have united m an effort
% find these women and - place them
where they sre mnst needod
recruiting campnlgn of two weeks
will he launched during this time the
5000 local units Of the state Divisions
of the Council will designate places where
young women who possess the requisite
qualifications may enroll
The problem lies m the selection ~
ucans for reaching proper maferiai
The government AZ all costs will endeayor
To- MAINTAIN tho present high standard q
hospital service
RoaF REoUIREsEHTs.
The educational requirements for adj
MISSION varies according to state laws
and hospital regulations, but IN rnost
casos they are rather exsctlng he Johns
Hopkins ! nIversltY Hospital. for example,
demands that each applicant shall pos
sess Mt least high school education or
certificate of graduation from another
school pf equal rating This = also the
case with army hospitals Some hospitals
demand that thor nurses be college grad
liates. while for others a year or two of
secondary school training will suffice
II will be seen then that tho recruiting
area for the Nurses Reserve w1Il be a
somewhat restricted ono The average
young woman of education. If she does
not marry usually manages after year
ar two 70 find herself pretty good Ioh
II might alfso be said here that the gov
eminent docs not wish ~ draw from The
ranks Of women who arc performing val
liable patriotic work, ~ in teaching or 10
social service.
The direct appeal must be made % the
patriotism 0f the individual and the gen
unenoaa Of her desre to help out The
advantages If nursing NJ a profession
must he made n side issue For with
these advantages though they are leo1on
must be taken INTO account the necps-
sity of three years training with little or
no pay.
tAC aAtAAAA4 ACNftAt41 AAfA SAf-41 asA[Ell4iS
must be tho satisfaction Of rendering ser
VICE IN time Of need Yet material ro-
wards Will not be lacking Modern nurs-
ing ID constantly opening new leids and
all Of these viii De open TO the members
oi the Student Nurses kesct We
soT MUCH ROMANCE.
Possibly there Will not be nuch re-
nance IN stole for the student nurse
There l. little chance, unless the var
continues for very long time that she
will be seut to the front Most Of her
work will be PLAIN, hard work. There
will be few flower vases 70 arrange, and
it will be long time before she Will be
allowed 30 adjust bandAges on heroic
heads In the present var, nurses, ike
soldiers. are not made overnight.
Yet she viii undoubtedly have her op-
poitunIty to nurse soldiers The army
hospitals IN this country are beng con-
stantly enlarged TO meet the arrival Of
fresh haryests Of the ceased IS battles Be-
fore long good many wounded soldiers
may be found IN the wards Of general
hospitals.
Two sorts Of service viii be open 10
the recruits of the Nurses Reeerye- PIE
ferred and deferred The girl who
enrolls for "pIofeued' services signifies
hef consent TO serve IN whatever hos
pitaI or school she may be assigned and
TO commence her service whenever the gov
ernment may ask La the deferred
class, the recruit expresses a desire 70
serve IN a particular hospital beginning
ut A particular time 80 lar rs is possible
all Of these requests will be granted, but
II Is inevitable that the girl who expresses
no preferences viii be assigned first The
government is hoping there viii be a
good many of her
The gravity Of the whole situation in
regard 10 nurses has not been oveIes-
timated More than 23,OOO graduate
nurses have enlisted for service overseas.
\ large proportion Of them have been
prevented from going abroad because
there was no one TO i'll their places at
home Whether these places are now
filled will depend ON the results oF the re-
crliting campaign for the Student Nurses
Reserve.