NURSES, TRAINED. 



661 



proved that a physician has often er to thank 

 than to censure his trained assistant. 



In most of the training-schools the limit of 

 age is from twenty-five to thirty-five years. 

 All of them provide blank forms of applica- 

 tion, substantially as follows : 1. Candidate's 

 name in full and address. 2. Condition in life, 

 single or a widow. 3. Present occupation or 

 employment. 4. Place and date of birth. 5. 

 Height. 6. Weight. 7. Where educated. 8. 

 Are you strong and healthy, and have you al- 

 ways been so ? 9. Are your sight and hearing 

 perfect ? 10. Have you any tendency to pul- 

 monary complaint? 11. Have you any physical 

 defects? 12. If a widow, have you children? 

 How many? How old? How are they pro- 

 vided for? 13. Where (if any) was your last 

 situation? How long were you in it ? 14. Names 

 in full and addresses of two persons to be re- 

 ferred to. State how long each has known 

 you. If previously employed, one of these 

 must be the last employer. 15. Have you read, 

 and do you clearly understand, the regulations ? 

 And an examination as to general intelligence 

 and attainments is required. It is of course 

 essential that a nurse shall be able to read 

 average handwriting, and to write a plainly 

 legible hand. At most of the best schools it 

 is the practice to receive approved applicants 

 for one or two months on probation, during 

 which time the superintendent and other 

 members of the management make up their 

 minds as to her natural qualifications. Dur- 

 ing this period the pupils are lodged and 

 boarded at the expense of the school. They 

 are not expected to wear the uniform, but 

 must come provided with clothing plainly 

 marked, and with dresses that will wash, for 

 use in the hospital. Those who at the end of 

 the probation period have shown themselves 

 fitted for admission as pupil-nurses are re- 

 quired to sign some such agreement as the 

 following : " I hereby agree to remain for two 

 years in the Training-School for Nurses as a 

 pupil-nurse, and to obey the rules of the school 

 and hospital." At the Training - School of 

 Bellevue Hospital, in New York city, the pay 

 for the first year is $7 a month, and $12 for the 

 second year. This sum is allowed for dress, 

 text-books, and necessary expenses, and is not 

 intended as wages. Every pupil is, however, 

 required to accept the allowance, in order to 

 discourage social distinctions. Board, lodging, 

 and washing, are furnished in addition. The 

 uniform of this school is a simple dress of blue 

 and white seersucker, white apron and cap, and 

 linen collar. The money allowance and uni- 

 form vary with different schools, but are sub- 

 stantially identical in simplicity. 



Day-nurses are on duty from 8 A. M. to 8 p. M., 

 with an hour for dinner at midday and addi- 

 tional time for rest or exercise. It has been 

 found necessary, for sanitary reasons, to sepa- 

 rate the nurses' dormitories from the hospital, 

 in order to relieve them during their off-duty 

 hours from sights and sounds that prove in- 



supportably wearing upon the constitution. 

 The pupils also have a right to one afternoon 

 during the week and to half of Sunday. A 

 yearly vacation of two weeks is allowed. In 

 sickness all pupils have gratuitous care. The 

 course of instruction includes : 



1. The dressing of blisters, burns, sores, and 

 wounds; the application of fomentations, poul- 

 tices, cups, and leeches. 



2. The administration of enemas, and use of 

 catheter. 



3. The management of appliances for uterine 

 complaints. 



4. The best method of friction to the body 

 and extremities. 



5. The management of helpless patients; 

 making beds; moving, changing, giving bath 

 in bed ; and preventing and dressing bed-sores. 



6. Bandaging, making bandages and rollers, 

 lining of splints. 



7. The preparing, cooking, and serving of 

 delicacies for the sick. 



They will also be given instruction in the 

 best practical methods of supplying fresh air, 

 warming and ventilating sick-rooms in a proper 

 manner ; and are taught to take care of rooms 

 and wards ; to keep all utensils perfectly clean 

 and disinfected ; to make accurate observations 

 and reports to the physician of the state of the 

 secretions, expectoration, pulse, skin, appetite, 

 temperature of the body, intelligence as de- 

 lirium or stupor breathing, sleep, condition of 

 wounds, eruptions, formation of matter, effect 

 of diet, or of stimulants, or of medicines ; and 

 to learn the management of convalescents. 



The teaching will be given by visiting and 

 resident physicians and surgeons at the bed- 

 side of the patients, and by the superintend- 

 ent, assistant superintendent, and head nurses. 

 Lectures, recitations, and demonstrations will 

 take place from time to time, and examinations 

 at stated periods. 



When the full term of two years is ended, 

 the nurses thus trained can choose their own 

 field of labor, whether in hospitals, in private 

 families, or in district nursing among the poor. 

 On leaving the school they will, after passing 

 the final examination, each receive a diploma 

 signed by the Examining Board and by a com- 

 mittee of the Board of Managers. 



The following is a list of the principal train- 

 ing-schools for nurses in the United States : 



Nurse Training-School of the Woman's Hospital, 

 Philadelphia, Pa. 



Training-School for Nurses at the New England 

 Hospital for Women and Children, Boston, Mass. 



Training-School for Nurses at Bellevue Hospital, 

 New York. 



Connecticut Training-School for Nurses at the Con- 

 necticut State Hospital, New Haven, Conn. 



Boston Training-School for Nurses at the Massachu- 

 setts General Hospital, Boston, Mass. 



Training-School for Nurses at Charity Hospital, 

 New York. 



New York Hospital Training-SchoOi for Nurses. 



Hartford Hospital Training-School for Nurses, Hart- 

 ford, Conn. 



City Hospital Training-School for Nurses, Boston, 

 Mass. 



