The Ely miner., 1921-05-27


public health nursing. The public
health nurse may specialize in VAR
ious fields, such as school nursing,
industrial nursing, prenatal and
maternity care, infant and child well
fare,the care of tuberculous, vener-
cal disease control, mental hygiene,
and medical social service, or she
may combine these functions in gem
eral service to the community. The
name public health nurse" applies
to any nurse who is neither private
duty nor an institutional nurse who
makes the maintenance of health
and the prevention of sickness her
chief work. She is both nurse and
teacher. She is the interpreter be-
tween the scientist in his laboratory
and the health-needing millions whom
she serves. She has become an in
dispensable instrument of practic-
ally every modern health movement.
''She is graduate nurse doing
any form of social work in which her
training as nurse comes into play
and is recognized as valuable part
of her equipment"
"She may be an infant welfare
nurse, school nurse, medical So
cial service worker, a tuberculosis
nurse, an industrial nurse, district
or visiting nurse. If she is work.
ing alone in small community or in
a rural district, she may combine
these functions.
cd An infant welfare nurse
makes systematic and well-timed
visits to babies in the community,
keeping watchful eye of their pro-
gress, ready with the needed advice
when they fall with colds, Group,
bronchitis, pneumonia, or contagious
diseases. During, the trying periods
of teething and weaving, and in the
excessive heat, she gives constant
oversight and is always urgent that
the mothers seek advice from the ply
sician before illness becomes acute.
She holds conferences when mothers
bring their little ones to be weighed
and examined by doctor, and SIM
pie treatments. She holds mothers
meetings or talks to mothers clubs
about the care and feeding of child
rem.
"She visits the children under
school age whose interests are too
often lost sight of in the face of the
more pressing needs of the little bab-
les. Between the ages Of two and
five, bones are soft and easily bent;
delicate stomachs are subjected too
often to the diets of adults, and in
digestion develops which paves the
way for more serious disturbances
later in life. Failure to care for the
first teeth causes decay, resulting in
increased liability to infectious dis
ease, poor second teeth, and impair
ed digestion. Children are most
susceptible and most exposed to the
communicable diseases and the COM
plications of the communicable dis
eases, such as pneumonia, weak
impaired vision and tuberculosis;
all these take their toll of child life
and vigor to large extent before
children reach school age.
"(2) The school nurse assists the
school doctor in his medical inspec-
tion of the children. She carries
home his advise to the parents of
any child who is not perfectly well,
explains what the trouble is and what
may be done to relieve it. She in
structs the child with a weak back in
those exercises which will make him
strong and straight. She helps a
mother plan the right dietary for an
undernourished child. She seeks
to remove the causes of eye strain
and headache by securing better
lighting and ventilation. She holds
frequent inspections of the children
to discover unclean heads, decayed
teeth and other conditions which
interfere with good health, good tenn
per and good school work. She
teaches the children to work for
good health at home and at school.
"The medical service nurse forms
the connecting line between the sos-
pital or dispensary and the home.
She relieves the anxiety of both the
family and the patient by frequent