Evening star., 1925-03-22
PUBLIC HEALTH NURSES
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN

The United States Public Health serv-
ice estimates that in every community
there sh ould be one pu bile health nurse
for each 2, 900 of population According
to this city such as Washington
should have about 245 of these nurses.
whereas IT has only SIS, which num-
ber includes Instructive Visiting
nurses, Health Department nurses
school nurses and child hygiene
nurses
The Instructive Visiting Nurse So
ciety furnishes the greater number
OF the public health nurses in Wash
inston. II was organized 20 years
ago by DR.. Anne A. Wilson. Miss
Emily Tuckerman and Mrs. Mary w.
{. Bayard, with one nurse. During
the first year the staff was increased
to three registered nurses. Today
there are about 40 graduate regis
tered nurses including the director
and assistant director, supervisors
and staff nurses in the field
The Instructive Visiting Nurse So
| citey is private and non-sectarian
and was organized with the avowed
purpose of providing trained nurses
to visit and care for such sick per
sons as cannot, or ought not, be sent
TO hospitals and who are otherwise
unable to secure skilled attendance:
to teach proper care of the sick and
TO inculcate the principles of simpIe
sanitation"
Those persons of moderate means
VINO can afford to pay the actual cost
of this nursing service are asked a
Zee OF 81 cents for each visit Those
who cannot afford this amount may
pay In part for the care they receive
and those with insufficient income
may receive care without any cost.
NO discrimination is made in the care
given. Ihe person who is the sickes
receives the Dromptest attention.
As the director explained to a mem
ber OF the board Of managers "If
you were convalescing and your cook,
VINO perhaps lived in some alley
about 10 blocks from your home. was
i'll with pneumonia, and Won botb
called for visiting nurse at the
same time, the cook would be visited
flrst, because her need was the most
immediate"
Nursing by the Hour.
In addition to the regular visiting
service, there is what is known as
the hourly service" Under this the
patient is charged by the hour and
the Zee Is slightly greater. This sery-
Ice Is used by persons who want a
nurse at a particular time but do NOT
need one all day. person who is
having slight operation at home. or
taxing insulin treatments for din
petes, often calls for such seryfce
Cioer the regular system a person
who wishes a nurse in the morning
must call before O'clock or ~ he
"lshes one In the afternoon. before
CLOCK. And, as explained, he must
await MS turn, according to the
seriousness of his illness
Inc only night service maintained
py TINS society is the delivery service.
Ihree nurses are always on call for
connnement cases. The nurse gives
prenatal care to prospective moth
ers' assists the doctor and cares for
the mother and child afterward.
when the society was organized in
1900 1t was strictly a charitable or
ganization, but during 1924 it was 35
per cent self-supporting. This shows
that as people come to understand
the scope and work of the society.
the more anxious they are to avail
themselves of the opportunity 1t
offers
Formerly people of moderate in
comes were apt to avoid calling upon
these nurses because they were
averse to accepting charity. 1t is
now being stressed by the officers of
the society that 1t is a health organ
| ization. True, 1t offers free care to
the very poor, but so do hospitals and
physicians. 1t merely makes avail
| able to the person of moderate
means, or the one who does not need
a nurse for whole time, a nurse to
give him bed bath. change a dress
ing or straighten him out generally
for the day.
The visiting nurses work only in
conjunction with a recognized mem
Der of the medical profession The
initial call may be made at the re-
quest OF the patient, a member of
the family or some friend, but no
second call will be paid until a physi-
clan has been consulted.
Several large insurance companies
have contracted for the services of
/ the visiting nurses for their indus
trial and group policyholders. For
such service the society is paid an
nually. The Kiwanis Club of Wash
ington, which is greatly interested
In assisting the crippled children Of
this city, has also subscribed to this
nursing service, and has presented
the society with an automobile to be
| used in carrying out this work. Up
to the present time the society has
had four such cars given to 1t.
1t has been found that one nurse
can make twice as many visits in a
day with a car as she can when she
must walk or depend upon street car
service. This Is particularly true in
outlying districts,