Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1919-07-03
RED CROSS NURSE
IS COMING HERE
Public Health Nursing and Home
Hygiene instruction Part OF
Peace Time Program.
SPEAKS Ar CHAUTAUoUk.
"Nurse the Most Needed Woman IN the
World" Says Miss Jane A. Dslanc,
: Director Of the Department Of kurs-
Inc Of the American Red Cross.

HI sET
TO place the public health on a
higher plane than it has ever been is
the object of a national program UNI
dertaken by the American Red Cross
as part Of its peace time plan. From
coasts coast and from lakes to gulf
the Red Cross is spreading the gospel
of good health and Of the proper care
OF the sick by fostering the study and
practice of nursing, both by organized
public health activities and by mem
bers of the family In every home.
Through the Chautauqua an official
representative OF the Red Cross De-
partment Of Nursing will soon tell the
people Of this community the story of
what is being done and will ask their
cooperation.
One Of the great lessons Of the world
war is found in the unnecessarily low
standards of physical health revealed.
This was brought out most forcibly in
the great number of reflections of
young men called to the colors under
the Selective Service Law Records
show that throughout the United
States one-third of the young men ex-
amined for military service were dis
qualified from bearing arms for their
country through minor physical de-
fects, a large proportion of which
might have been avoided by compul-
sorry school examination and proper
medical and nursing care.
Urgent Need of Nurses.
further proof of the general urgent
need Of women trained in nursing was
supplied by the epldemcs Of Spanish
influenza that have caused terrific
loss Of life and suffering throughout
the country. Hundreds of thousands
of persons died, and in many cOmnu-
mites the plague spread without any
adequate means of checking it because
of the impossibility of obtaining wom-
en- capable of caring for the victims.
Reports show that many persons ac-
tually died without attention because
the overworked doctors could not
reach them all, nurses could not be
found who knew what to do, and
neighbors feared to go near the help
less patients.
The uselessness and danger of such
waste of human power is only too
apparent, for the health and strength
of nation can only be measured by
the health and strength Of its people.
Recognizing the fact that the crux of
the whole situation lies in giving every
community the means of building up
Its own nursing strength, the Ameri-
can Red Cross, in cooperation with
the various Chautauquas, is sending
broadcast the message that none can
afford TO ignore.
Phases Of Public Health NURSING.
Public health nursing includes many
phases, such as bedside nursing In
which the nurse lists the patients
and gives them hourly care as neces.
sary school nursing care of expect
ant mothers, babies and small chill
dren; work in factories and Industrial
centers; rural nursing, and instruc-
ton in Red Cross courses, home hygi-
enc, home dietetics, care of the sick,
and various other forms Of commu-
nifty service.
To all American women the Red
Cross sends this message:
If you are interested In nursing
as profession, enter one of the train
| ing schools for nurses, many Of which
| offer scholarships and specialize in
| public health work. If you are al
ready graduate nurse and anxious
| to enter this field, the Red Cross has
scholarships and loan funds which
will equip you for this work. Wives
i and mothers are urged to take the Red
! Cross Course of instruction in Home,
Hygiene and Care of the Sick SO that
! they will be able to maintain to the
highest degree the health and to nurse
| members of their household in time ot
minor illnesses"
Throughout the length aud breadth
of the land the American Red Cross,
spreading the gospel of good health is
sounding call to American women to
adopt the study of nursing, either to
join a profession which is daily be.
coming more highly valued or to fl
themselves for nursing in the home
The Red Cross lecturer soon to ap.
pear her will help her hearers visual
ize the remarkable history Of nursing
service at home and abroad and will
expound the ideals of health conserva
ton so often neglected in many com
munities Supplementing the senti
mental side of nursing, the mother
touch, the lecturer will give a demon
stration of efficiency in the sick room
Modern methods of sanitation and sci
entific handling of the individual sich
and Of epidemics will also be outlined
to her audience.