Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-03-07
Nurses W ante d
sy Frederic J. Ilaakin

Washington March b.--whoro Is tho
FirI vino wants to ho nurse Tho
national uurainF organizations ~ tho
country are looking for hor hccRueo
lately she doesn't seem % y" looking
for thcm.
Nursing has always boon woman =
work cut ~ every class 81 high
s, hool graduate. w even out ot gram
n5ar school graduating classes, th"to
have invariably h.Cu eorHe Etpla Who
would hc nurses sow rur hiE hospital
iu Now Noik rrporfs that instead of
having RI or 40 puui nurses entering
each y,ar. il scis oulN 2bout fpur That
proportion If rer"atrd all over the
country and conditions arc 'rao ~
the smaller h0srital schools whore
facilities fur training aIc not 80 atftac +
tive tr student nurses
Whcu the VAR offered adventure and
drama,p.- service tn volunteer nurses
there were thousands rt women who
studied and worked t'ringly-cvon
to sacl ifCinE theI health. some Uf thsuf
$50 tong as the nEhttuf lasted Aftgr
that like tho soldiers. Uust of thtw
vautod tn r,t Ia,k io thcir rceulat
livcs Nursing vlth them Was war
vork-incidcntal
So ,hc war did not food the country
with uurscs seeking cN lnan employ
mont ou the contrary. tn, lack If
nurses for hospitals ard homes has
hcComr acute And bcCaQsc the futuf.
looks still more critical The national
nursing associations have started "a
campaign To- interest girls iu nursing
as a profession. This campaign has al
ready been taken up enthusiastically III
- States. for the need foI more nurses
is nation wide
White recruiting Is being pushed. the
nursing organizations are also trying
they cannot expect 10 attract IN" kind
OF girls that should he III the nursing
profession unless student life Is Iuad.
easier and more proiitatlc. The hospl
tails were beginning u see this FOR
thcns' ives and a reform IS under way
oNerw0rked Students.
In the past. the student nurse worked
ie hours a da! Her classes were
moved about from one hour to another
OF left out entirely when. her services
were needed about the wards. In fact,
these conditions still obtain in some
training schools. but they Will not last
long. because girls viii not enter these
schools Progressive hospitals have
shortened the pupil nurses duty to
eight hours. though in some schools
studying ana class work has 10 be done
outside Of this period
What the nurs,s organizations are
saying is that nU hospital should take
students for tho purpose Of getting free
labor II a hospital Is going TO conduct
school ii should understand that its
obligation L. the students to give them
a thorough training Us as great as its
obligation to the patients TO give them
proper treatment. That they do not all
feel this obligation toward the nurses
they are TO send out to all sorts of re-
sponsibe positions is proved by such
facts as those given by a State in
spector of training schools This in
spector figures that 80 per cent Of the
training schools that he visits are 10
varying extents taking unfair ad
vantage Of their pupil nurses by sur
rendering the rights Of the pupils IN
The alleged interests Of the sick
one way in which the pupil nurse is
often carelessly used 10 help the hospital
is that sometimes a patient in the
| hospital desires nurse exclusively for
his case but cannot pay the rate of
a graduate. lie says he will take an
undergraduate nurse. and one of the
pupils is detailed to him at about half
the graduates fee. the money going 10
the hospital. Now if this work lasted
few days. even week. it might be
practical experience for the student
She would learn something of that par
may 90 on for weeks or months, and the
nurse is gaining nothing.
Besides too long hours and a too
flexible system Of instruction in train
ing schools pupil nurses have had to
put up with bad rooming conditions.
In one hospital here an unused ward
is fitted as a dormitory for the pupils
In another school the students live in
houses across the street from the
hospital, four or five girls in a room
The desirable standard for nurses
quarters is a comfortable residence,
well lighted and heated and separate
from the hospital with single rooms
for the students.
Hospitals are having to meet higher
standard because they can on longer
overlook the fact that young women are
more cautious about starting upon "A
career now than they once were. No
have an easy time. but she does eN-
pect and demand a broad course OF