Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1935-06-30
BY GRACE TURNER

same time other thousands of this
years high school and college gradu-
ates have bowed themselves off in
Vulnerable commencement platforms,
and are asking the extremely impor-
tant question, What am I going to
do?"
Some of these young women will
definitely consider nursing. Others
will reject the suggestion, although
they are well fitted to make good in
the nursing profession. They may
think of it in terms of private-duty
nursing only, not realizing the diverse
opportunities it actually offers. Many,
too, will have heard that there is an
overproduction of nurses and will be
afraid to enter an already too crowded
field.
Yet, according to Alice E. Snyder,
director of one of the largest and fin
est placement bureaus for nurses in
New York City, THE potential gradu-
ate nurse today has more possibilities
and wider range in the selection of
her future speciality in nursing than
ever before" Her statement filings the
gauntlet straight into the face of in
timidating unemployment figures.
A study made under the direction
OF similar placement bureau in Chi
cago also shows that there are not
enough well-prepared nurses.
II Miss Snyder and the Chicago bu-
reau are right, why then are SO many
nurses unemployed? The answer is
simple, if not flattering. There are
too many poorly equipped nurses. Of
these there is, those who know tell us,
an overproduction. Some of them
are older women who had saved
money retired on it, and later specu-
lated with it and lost it. Since 1929
they have been trying to re-establish
themselves in their former profession.
Nursing Different Now.
Others of about the same age have
had unexpected responsibilities thrust
on them in the last lev years. And
they, too, must try TO resume their
nursing. Their plight is sometimes
tragic. 1t is not their profession that
has betrayed them, but the unfortu-
nate turn of their private circum-
stances.
1t is hardly worth while, perhaps,
to mention the many nurses who have
been outdistanced, because they have
continued over period of years to
rely on their basic education alone.
They. have not kept abreast in rap
idly developing field-for nursing to-
day is something quite different from
what is was 20 or even 10 years ago.
BY far the greatest number, how
ever, of those who might justly be
described as unemployed because I'M
employable" are apparently the VIC
tins of poor training
We have no need OF any more
graduate rurseS with mediocre train
Ing and background. There are alto
gether TOO many of them now. Of
the nurses who are coming into the
profession this year, by far the great
er number will be ineligible for the
openings now vacant This is the
conclusion reached, after eight years
of study, by the Committee on the
Grading of Nursing Schools whose
complete conclusions we're reported
last Fall in the book Nursing Schools
To-day and Tomorrow
The same committee, however, also
found that there are many positions
Tor nurses which are not adequately
filled and that there is great need for
nurses with broader experience, better
basic professional background and ad-
ditional specialized training.
So If you have recently acquired
an R. N. behind your name and
we're trained in a first class school
OF nursing, you have a profession in
which there is an opportunity for you.
II you were unfortunate enough to
spend three years in ii mediocre school
you would better give an additional
year or so to graduate work at once
or find another occupation.
Personal Requirements.
But what Of those who are Just
now thinking about entering a school
of nursing? How shat! they decide
whether this is really the profession
for them and If so wnat school it
would be best to enter?
The answer to the first question
must be purely personal one. It
depends on the kind Of person you
are. If you have a zeal desire to
serve, coupled with genuine liking
for people, you have the first two
fundamental qualities. If you lack
these qualities, you should not 60 any
further in your Investigations of this
field.
You need good health, sense of
humor, the capacity for keeping your
head, the ability to follow directions
and equal ability to take responsibility
You need intelligence and executive
and teaching ability. The better your
educational background and the more
general your interest, the finer will be
your opportunities.
Any good school will demand gradu-
alton from high school as minimum.
Many require that successful appli-
cants have stood in the upper half or
upper third Of their high school class.
number Of schools give preference
to college graduates, and most of the
better schools now charge tuition,
though room and board are provided.
They require physical examinations,
90 carefully into the background and
social history of applicants and give
them special tests Of personality and
adaptability.
Choosing your school Is the most
important thing you do if you are
going to be nurse The one nearest
you is not necessarily the best, or even
a good school. Another that you hear
Of by chance may not be any better.
This is something for you to in
vestigate for yourselves.
Aid Is Offered.
The Nursing Information Bureau of
the American Nurses Association, the
National League of Nursing Education
and the National Organization for
Public Health Nursing, ali with head
quarters in New York City, have CO.
operated in publishing small, helpful
leaflet, How to Choose Nursing
School"