Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1920-08-02
HOW TO BE HEALTHY
tBy Mary T.. MarshalD

Adam was III. The father of the
race had his first pain. He held his
arms folded across his abdomen
and rocked slowly from side TO side.
emitting a dismal groan each time
he did so. Finally his voice broke
out In a long-drawn, foflorn wall.
Il want a nurse" he cried. Ana
Eve appeared.
Down through the ages it has
been the self-appointed task OF
women, as wives, mothers, sisters
or sweethearts, to mitigate the suf-
terings of all things sick and
helpless, The tiny infant, the
wounded soldier on the battlefield.
the fever-tossed patient in the hos
pltal, all are dependent on the min
istrations and unselfish care OF
some woman.
1t was a woman, Florence Night
lngale by name, 1.-The lady with the
lamp as she was fondly called,
who laid the cornerstone of eur
modern system of public health AMI
hospital nursing.
we must prevent the unneces-
sary number of infant deaths,"'
writes the statistiCian. I'VE must
discover tuberculosis early" says
the diagnostician. Take the prop
er treatment for consumption"
says the sanatoriu mexpert But In
the final analysis, the actual work
of doing all these things lies in the
hands OF the nurse. The hospital
nurse teaches the patient to care
for himself after he leaves the in
stitutiOn, the public health nurse
educates the family in disease pre-
vention and infant care, and the
industrial nurse gives first aid to
the workers in shop and factory.
But with the best and most I'M
selfish of intentions q woman car
rot become q good nurse unless
she has the proper equipment. She
cannot discover tuberculosis in its
early stages and send the patients
TO clinics for proper treatment I'M
less she has had special training in
the disease. Nor can she guide
families from sloVenly, unhygienic
habits of living into wholesome,
ones without large sup
ply of tact and understanding Ut
human frailtles.
The public is rapidly coming to
appreciate the value of the nurse
in public health work, but it does
not IA yet realize the Importance
of training and character in the
making of competent worker, The
nursing profession is one of the
most splendid in which a woman
can be engaged, but 1t has been
eclipsed as "A desirable vocation by
other professions, because they Of
fer better salaries, hours, and
working conditions. There is a cry
ing need for high grade women in
the nursing profession. The public,
which benefits from IT, should
make it possible for women to be-
come trained nurses by Offering
them the same inducements that
are offered In other fields. At this
very moment enormous sums are
needed to improve our training
schools and to provide for special
courses in various branches of pub
lie health nursing.
Only women with the highest
should be admitted
to a profession which deals so in
imateiy with human life and hap
piness, but a nurses work Is more
arduous, more exacting than most
Others, and Improvements in con-
ditions have not kept pace with
in other fields or Ia
Dor. 1t therefore remains for the
public to exert every effort to sup
port nursing service which can
the highest standards, by
making the work sufficiently at
tractive. If it does not do this,
nursing is in danger of degenerat.
ing into a profession of mental and
social mediocrity