NURSES, TRAINED. 



455 



der Government patronage, and also receive no 

 little yearly income from a system that might be 

 called a subletting of their nurses to private pa- 

 tients and other institutions. In America the 

 nurses are entirely detached from the training in- 

 stitutions and receive direct from their patients 

 the money they earn, which ranges from $20 

 to $30 a week. It was soon felt, however, that 

 something to take the place of the nursing in- 

 stitution in England was needed in America, 

 and the nurses' registry or directory was in- 

 stituted, first in Boston in 1879, next at Phila- 

 delphia, and now all cities, even those of Can- 

 ada, have a similar system. It requires a state- 

 ment to be left with the registry of name, age, 

 address, qualifications, kinds of nursing, rates of 

 rharge, and both family and medical references. 

 It' eligible, the nurse is registered and pays a fee 

 of $5. The person needing the nurse pays $1 on 

 application. Detailed inquiries from both families 

 and doctors are kept, and thus the nurse's charac- 

 ter and skill are followed throughout. 



To correspond also with the system of district 

 nursing throughout England, " nurses' settle- 

 ments " have of late years been established in 

 American cities. They are generally located in 

 the most densely populated districts, and among 

 the poor, and do a work in their line similar to 

 that done by the college settlements in another. 



The nursing throughout Canada is still most 

 largely in the hands of the Sisters of Charity, 

 but in the English-speaking cities the American 

 system has prevailed since 1881, when a band of 

 16 nurses with superintendent went from Belle- 

 vue Training School to Toronto. Others have 

 branched off from these to Montreal, Ottawa, and 

 other places. Nursing in Australia is also mainly 

 in the hands of Sisters of Charity, but a band of 

 trained Women under charge of some ladies from 

 Edinburgh have founded a fine training school in 

 Melbourne. Prince Alfred Hospital, at Sydney, 

 is also a noted training center. There is another 

 training institution at Adelaide, and one at 

 Launceston, Tasmania. 



Training schools almost if not quite equal to 

 those of England have also gained a footing in 

 India. Lady Canning founded a notable system at 

 Bombay, under the charge of the Protestant Sis- 

 ters of St. John Baptist. The institution at 

 Oodypore, known as the Lady Dufferin Fund, 

 founded while Lord Dufferin ruled India, is a 

 training school and association for supplying 

 medical aid to women. In 1886 a training school 

 was attached to the hospital at Poona for train- 

 ing native women of all castes for nurses. In 1888 

 the first detachment of Indian sisters went to 

 Rawalpindi and Bangalore to nurse some of the 

 troops that were suffering with enteric fever. 

 Malta, Goya, South Africa, and other places 

 where once only ayahs or Kaffir boys could be 

 had for nurses are now becoming acquainted with 

 the modern system of nursing the sick. 



Of all countries in the world, the history of 

 musing is perhaps most interesting in France. It 

 has had for the purpose the oldest and most 

 noted institutions. In no country was so much 

 benevolence toward the sick shown in times before 

 enthusiasm had learned to link itself with science. 

 As early as the eleventh century a nursing sister- 

 hood, the Hospitaliers Hotel Dieu, were famous, 

 and they extended their work into other countries. 

 The order of Fille de Marthe was established in 

 1443. About the middle of the sixteenth century 

 t lie Prince of Sedan founded the Demoiselles de 

 ( Iharite, a regularly organized sisterhood, but ex- 

 empt from vows, to work among rich and poor 

 alike. In the seventeenth century Frances de 



Bloiset founded the Fille Ste. Genevi&ve, especially 

 for sick nursing. In 1(530 the Hospitaliers de 

 Loche were introduced into 13 hospitals. There 

 were numerous others; even an inspired shepherd- 

 ess founded a nursing order. But the most fa- 

 mous and lasting of all, and that which corre- 

 sponded most nearly to the modern work of 

 deaconnesses or sisters of Germany and England, 

 was founded in 1633, the great order of Vincent 

 de Paul, which still dominates most of the nursing 

 world. The women of this order, unlike others, 

 were not bound to perpetual vows. They were free 

 to renew them or leave the order each year, though 

 the freedom was scarcely ever taken advantage of. 

 The words of its founder have often been quoted: 

 " Your convent must be the hospital ; your cell, 

 the ward; your chapel, the parish church; your 

 cloister, the streets of the city; your girdle, the 

 fear of God; your veil, holy modesty." This order 

 soon pervaded the world. It suffered persecu- 

 tions during changes of government, and it was 

 often suppressed during revolutions. It was in- 

 sulted in many ways. The doctors often com- 

 plained that it gave too much attention to the 

 patients' souls to the neglect of minute instruc- 

 tions with regard to the body. But men on battle- 

 fields always glorified these women, who knew no 

 fear, and penetrated the thickest of the fray, 

 heedless of their lives. 



The doctors of France wanted women wholly in 

 their own service, and they finally got them. 

 The sisters were suppressed, and in 1877 the 

 Municipal Council of Paris appointed Dr. Brown- 

 ell director of a school for training nurses, male 

 and female. The theoretic course included hos- 

 pital administration, anatomy, minor surgery, 

 physiology, dressings, hygiene, pharmacy, and 

 monthly nursing. Lectures were held twice a 

 week in the evenings, practical lessons were given 

 daily, and diplomas were awarded to successful 

 pupils at the end of each year. Many experiments 

 had to be tried in rudimentary education before 

 nurses were found who were fit to receive these 

 instructions. At first it was difficult to find 

 women at all, and when they came they were 

 mostly domestic servants out of place, dismissed 

 shopgirls, and the like. They were paid from 15 

 to 20 francs a week, with food, lodging, and uni- 

 form, yet they proved most unsatisfactory. 



They evaded rules, they demanded tips from pa- 

 tients, they drank the patients' wine, and even the 

 harder spirits in which the doctors preserved 

 specimens. The same trouble was found in Eng- 

 land and America. 



The replacing of nuns by trained nurses took 

 place in hospitals in about the following order: 

 Salpetriere and Bicetre, 1877; Laennec, 1878; La 

 Pitie, 1880; La Rochefoucauld, Des Menages, and 

 St. Antoine, 1881; Lourcine and Tenon, 1882; the 

 Incurables and Cochin, 1885; the Necker, Enfants 

 Assistes, and Enfants Malades, 1886; the Trous- 

 seau, Lariboisi&re, and Beaujon, 1887; and La 

 Charite, 1888. Despite all this, the decree that 

 banished the sisters from Parisian hospitals was 

 repealed in 1889, and they were free to return and 

 undertake nursing wheresoever their services were 

 wanted. A sister in full religious dress is again at 

 the head of some of the hospitals, while under her 

 are many lay trained nurses. The latter have be- 

 come improved as a class by the instruction re- 

 ceived from the Assistance Publique, which in- 

 cluded a first course in general education, read- 

 ing, and arithmetic, to be supplemented by prac- 

 tical instruction in the art of nursing, and a third 

 covirse of rotation or serving in every department 

 of the hospital. The hospitals of Paris and all 

 the European Continent have only of late taken 



