New-York tribune., 1920-02-01
Heroic Nurses
lnVan of Fight
On Influenza
Members of Visiting Service
Stand as an Impregnable
Gray Line Between CITY
and Attacks of Disease
AT Task Day and Night
Thousands of Sick Attended
in Homes; Duties of
Household Carried On

An army with "golden hands" I,
hghtlng In the front line against tn.
influenza epidemic. A thin gray lin,
OF nurses stands between the people
OF New York and the attacks of this
disease. The doctors are, Of course
working day and night against it. But
the work OF the doctor would be alros,
futile without the support Of the
nurse.
The problem Of our present influenza
situation is the care of the sick in
their homes. 1t is not just the needy
poor, always with US. who are in
trouble. universal situation exists
affecting families in all parts of the
city, of ali conditions and circum-
stances.
Under ordinary circumstances only
about 10 per cent of the sick go to hos
pitals, leaving 90 per cent to be cared
Tor at home. During the present epi-
denlic it is estimated that the per
ccntage of sick IN hospitals is much
less than under normal conditions.
me doctors and nurss always are
worked to the limits Of their strength
IN winter. Emergency situations such
as the present influenza epidemic
leave the public dependent upor or
carnations that have been created
solely for the care of the sick.
Care Given to Many Victims
In New York the visiting nurse serv-
Ice administered by the Henry Street
oettiement, the most completely
planned organization of this kind. car
RES the weight of service among the
SICK IN the homes. This service covers
Manhattan, the Bronx and Richmond
county. In Brooklyn similar work is
peing done by the Brooklyn Visiting
Nurse Association.
Last week the staff Of the Henry
Street service numbered 230 women
nurses, aids and office workers. The
people whom these quiet, efficient wom-
en- serve describe them as having "gold-
en- hands, The usual conception of
nurse as stiff starched. cool person
taking orders from a surgeon in an
operating room or managing the sick
room IN home, where every facility
ana convenience are provided, must
give way to this army of neatly uni
formed women, who go to all parts of
the city at ell times of the day and
night, only to knd their patients in
destitute circumstances and all kinds
OF household difficulties to be met be- |
lore the actual nursing can begin.
Student nurses and practical nurses
have been pressed into the service.
Every effort is being made to summon
women OF any nursing experience to
help meet the need. Graduate nurses
who have beer taking the visiting nurse
course at Teachers College are help
Ing. Many physicians have released
their office nurses for part-time duty.
The Department of Health has released
as many of the staff of the Bureau of
from other possibilities
Thirteen Centers Send Aid
From thirteen centers of the visiting
nurse service the nurses answer the
calls OF the sick in three boroughs. (
Most OF the cases are reported by the
doctors, but number come in from
neighbors and from welfare workers.
Early every morning the nurses make
their advance to fight the situation as
the disease spreads. From $50 to 500 |
calls come in every day. And each call
presents individual difficulties, and
sometimes as many as six or seven
patients.
Many of the nurses report back to
the centers at noon. And from at least |
five stations they start out to make
more calls at night
Every step is saved, every bit of
strength that can be conserved by this |
army of women is kept for the work |
in the homes of the sick. In congested |
districts they often cross from roof to
roof to save endless trips up and down !
stairs. To the outlying districts they
go by runabouts. Volunteers to drive /
cars, to help with meals that have to
be cooked in the homes, accompany the
nurses to eliminate as much work as
possible that an unframed person can