Norwich bulletin., 1918-01-21

bed for baby in a clothes basket proved of unfailing interest.
 Dr. Brophys lectures on First Aid to the Sick Baby were intensely prac- tical, especially the advice as to the diet of young children. The girls showed keen interest in the subject, giving special heed to the list of foods | which babies should not eat Many 1 were the narrowing tales told of ba- | bies who were known to eat popcorn, 1 peanuts. cucumbers, etc. One little l girl told of her aunts baby who was | living on liberal diet of bananas. To 1 the earnest remonstrance of the little 1 girl against such unwise procedure, | the aunt replied that she had been l giving the baby bananas for a long 1 time and she hadn't died yet. The 1 reply of the Little Mother is worthy l of record: T told her. nurse, that may be if her baby didn't die, she would grow up sick woman on Her yeti" The girls had been taught that well babies make strong men and women.
 At the close of the eight weeks course, simple demonstrations were given by way of review to which out side friends were invited. Certificates were given for perfect attendance to 69 girls.
 The work of giving nursing care to the sick in their homes has been con- tinued throughout the 12 months. During the year 2,674 calls were made, i,05S of which were purely nursing visits. This is an increase of 631 over the number of last year.
 On, the Hourly Basis.
 Because of the increasing demands being made upon our service by fami- rxYiI1 aE11 a higher fee than the cost price of 50 cents, it was decided to put this branch of our work on the hourly basis, the cost of the visit being determined by the time given to the patient and charged at a slightly higher rate This arrangement has been of great con- venience to many families, and is in accordance with a custom established in other cities where an hourly nurs- ing service Is conducted in connection with a public health nursing assoc.a- ton. Our receipts for the year totaled s2f5.45, d surplus over last year of S1S4.63.
 Twenty-one doctors have made use of our work during the year. This we note with considerable announcement, as public health nursing work is so closely associated with the medical profession that little progress could be made without their co operation In this connection we are pleased to re- port the action taken by the Norwich Medical association on March 19, 1917, by which the public health nurses were authorized to give bath and simple l catharsis in cases of emergency with out doctors orders. We feel grate- 1 ful to the Norwich Medical associa- 1 tion for thus recognizing our work, and sincerely appreciate the action of Dr.
 P. J. Cassidy, who made the recom- mendation. 4swi;ajss
 However, this by no means caucels l our rule to continue with the care of a patient only under the authority of 8 physician.
 1 Nearly a fourth of the cases treated have been Polish. These people are as a rule. undemonstrative, and at times seem lacking in appreciation : However, no part of the work has been more encouraging or more fruitful of i results than what has been done in i these homes. Many of them show q
 sincere desire to learn the right way of doing things. To be sure the prog
 ress is slow and much remains to be
 taught but the desire to learn and willingness to adapt themselves to new ways is gratifying indeed. Of the nine | received honorable mention for keep ing the attendance at the highest ma rl was made up almost entirely of Polish girls from St. JoseDh's Parochial | school.
 An Independent People.
 The Poles are an independent peo- pie and resent an intrusion upon the
 privacy of their homes unless it has the warrant of necessity. But if theii confidence is won, much can be done through tact. coupled with patience and a friendly spirit.
 In most cases they pay for the nurs. ing work, many giving the full fee while others make a nominal pay. ment, and even insist in some cases
 upon paying for instructive visits, thu,
 manifesting their appreciation of thu
 value of work. for which, as a rule
 we have made no charge.
 In one Polish home. where the gen
 sral intelligence of the family wouIe
 not warrant the expectation of extra
 ordinary results, a serious case O
 pneumonia was carried through to !:
 successful recovery. The patient, young man of 24 the only son of Ii parents, was found in a small room
 with but one window and that securel
 nailed down. Although it was Marc]
 end the weather not severe the patien
 was warmly clad in two complete suit l of heavy f1annels and sandwichet
 snugly between two feather quilts. Tn temperature ranged between 104 an,
 105. The doctors order was tepi alcohol bath with the usual care for pneumonia patient.
 The pathetic figure of the little ol mother upon her knees with uplifte :, l fha %o l her boy. will finger long in memor , already well furnished with simila , pictures. The father was set to work releas ing. the window, the mother in findin , lighter weight clothing and bed GOV , CTS, while the nurse made ready tn articles necessary to the bath. A 5 hour later. the patient bathed and cla 5 in cooler raiment. with temperatur | ranging degree lower, presented a. entirely different appearance. Afte , leaving instructions about rf1edicatio 5 and nourishment. the nurse left to re turn in the late afternoon, hopin against hope that she might find tn s room as she left it, flooded with sun shine and sweet pure air. For a week two visits were mad 1 daily; the doctors orders obeyed. an |, the patient carried through the crisi s Ito a successful recovery. several time ? it was necessary to teach the value C l pure fresh air when the window woul s ,be found partly closed. The parent were amenable to reasoning, but tn
 offcious kindness of neighbors an r friends often requires more patier 9 tact than the dealing with the -imme v diate family.
 Officers Were Reelected. 2 Following Miss Culvers report tn : election of officers took place Tn 7 nominating committee read the list C ; officers and they were elected coIlec