New-York tribune., 1919-01-19
Need of Permanent
Nurses Ernerggenc
Council is Shown
Tiloroughness Of Work
After Organizing in Inhu-
enza Epidemic Seen by
Health Commissioner

The recent request sent by Commits
sioner Of Health Copeland to the
Nurses Emergency Council, asking the
organization to continue as a perma-
ncnt institution, was d public recog-
milton Of what this group of nurses did
during the influenza epidemic and an
acknowledgment Of the need for public
health nurses in general
Early in the epidemic, because of the
shortage of nurses, it became impossi-
bic to secure private nurses even for
those who could afford them. Hos
pltals were crowded and the hospital
STATS were themselves crippled by i'll
ness. Rich ana poor alike turned to
the visiting nurses for help in the
emergency. Because of its size, the
Visiting Nurse Service administered by
the Henry Street Settlement carried
the brunt of tho work in the homes.
Although there we're about 1S9 nurses
ON the staff each day during the cpl
dcmic. fully thirty of this number were
themselves off on sick leave
Through the Nurses Emergency
Council, organized on October 10, with
Lillian D. Wald as chairman, for the
purpose IF coordinating the nursing
work IN the epidemic, the cooperation
was secured of all other agencies in the
city employing trained nurses who
COULD give home care.
Inc Bureau Of Preventable Diseases
then suspended its regular activities
in so far as possible and turned over
Tor either full or part time about fifty
OF It's nurses. Thirty were contributed
by the Bureau of Child Hygiene. the
New York Diet Kitchen had eight
nurses, the Social Service Department
of the Presbyterian Hospital, three;
the Free Synagogue three the Eman-
uel Slstcrhood. one; the Association for
the AID Of Crippled Children. eight.
OF Great Help to Doctors
The nursing care of people in their
homes was supplied by these nurses,
assisted by unframed or partially
trained helpers. who either volunteered
or were paid for their services through
the Nurses Emergency Council, and
served as nurses aids. Bedside care
and treatments prescribed by the doc
tors We're given by the nurses, and
where necessary, food was arranged
for Many times, when a case was re-
ported, the nurse found that in one
home, the father, mother and from four
TO SIX children, and sometimes more,
had influenza. The nurse gave treat
ments Wherever necessary. bathcd the
patients and made them comfortable.
Strengthened the rooms, which in many
cases had been neglected for days. pre-
pared food and fed it to those sick
est, and then reported the family to
the Nurses Emergency Council who
tried in such cases to send some one
to stay all night with the helpless
patients.
Special credit is due the nurses of
the Department of Health for the ser
accustomed to giving bedside care
They usually conine their work to in
vestigatins and instructing They rose
to the emergency, however, and turned
to IN Whatever capacity they were
needed
Many cases Of influenza were never
reported, SO the city cannot compile
accurate figures on the epidemic as a
whole, SAYS the Health Department.
The hospitals and various agencies are
now sending reports to the Henry
Street Settlement. which hopes IN time
to be able to issue statistics on such
-HSc9 as came uHUcr Jne care OF THESE
organizations
Meanwhile, the October records of
Henry Street Settlement show that its
staff Of nurses alone cared for 1l,716
patients in that month, as against 1920
patients cared for during the preceding
month. The number of visits to homes
in October totaled 33,76S, as compared
With 1897 visits made the month
before.
Student nurses of the Post Graduate
and Beth-Israel hospitals formed them
selves into units of ten, to work in
the homes at night after their days
duties in the hospitals were over.
At the height Of the epidemic a night
service was organized. Generous people
loaned their automobiles to carry tho
nurses from home to home, and in Ger
tain sections of the city they even went
the rounds Of the sickest patients from
4 to II p. m.