HOSPITAL 



2846 



HOSPITAL 



first to cook delicacies for the invalid and the 

 more substantial food relished by the con- 

 valescent. She also receives instruction in the 

 pharmacy concerning the ingredients of the 

 most important drugs, and is taught how to 

 compound them and how to read and fill pre- 

 scriptions. The making of surgical supplies 

 and the care of the dispensary rooms are also 

 included among her duties. 



After she becomes a pupil nurse, her work 

 is mainly in the wards, though she is required 

 also to assist in the operating room. In addi- 

 tion to the practical experience acquired in car- 

 ing for the sick, she takes courses during her 

 period of studentship in anatomy and physi- 

 ology, hygiene, bacteriology and pathology, 

 dietetics (the science of diet), massage and 

 bandaging; this training also includes various 

 general and special courses in surgery and 

 medicine. The daily routine of the pupil nurse 

 in a modern hospital is somewhat as follows: 



7-10 A. M. Wards routine work. 



10-10:40 Domestic work (cleaning uten- 

 sils, bath tubs, dusting, etc.). 



10:40-11 Lunch and change apron. 



11-12 Class or class-room. 



12- 1 P. M. Recreation and luncheon. 



1- 2 Study in private room. 



2- 4 Recreation out-of-doors. 

 4- 6 Wards routine work. 



6-7 Preparation of surgical supplies. 



The last hour of the week is frequently util- 

 ized as a lecture period. At seven o'clock the 

 nurse dines, and her twelve-hour working day 

 is over. Some hospitals have a ten-hour and 

 others an eight-hour day, but usually the nurse 

 observing the twelve-hour schedule is allowed 

 more time off than the one who works fewer 

 hours. One afternoon off each week and one 

 or two Sunday afternoons during the month 

 are generally permitted the former. The aver- 

 age yearly expense of a hospital course amounts 

 to about $100. 



Graduate nurses who continue in hospital 

 work receive as a beginning salary $30 a month. 

 In the course of time this increases to $75 a 

 -month. Hospital nurses have work the year 

 round, an annual paid vacation, and their 

 board, lodging and laundry are provided for. 

 In addition they receive free nursing and medi- 

 cal attention while ill. Superintendents of 

 nurses in large training schools receive from 

 $1,000 to $1,500 a year. Private nursing seems 

 at first thought to pay better than hospital 

 work, as the efficient private trained nurse 

 can always command $25 a week, besides her 

 board, lodging and washing. It must be 



remembered, however, that there are always 

 periods of inactivity, during wjjich expenses 

 continue while income ceases. These seasons 

 of idleness reduce materially the yearly income 

 of the private nurse. 



Necessary Qualifications. The question 

 "Shall I become a trained nurse?" comes to 

 many a young woman who must decide upon 

 a vocation. No one should answer this ques- 

 tion in the affirmative who is not strong in 

 mind and body and able to bear constant and 

 severe strain upon the nerves. Nursing is an 

 exacting profession one that demands pa- 

 tience and perseverance, gentleness and sym- 

 pathy, tact and self-control, and constant sacri- 

 fice for the good of the weak. To the nurse 

 fall many disagreeable and laborious tasks. 

 She must be willing to bear with the petulance 

 of the sick, and to obey her superiors; she 

 must be ready at all times to act quickly and 

 with composure. Above all she must love her 

 work, believing that there is no higher calling 

 than that of serving others. 



Military and Naval Hospitals are maintained 

 by civilized nations for the care of sick and 

 wounded soldiers and seamen. In Europe 

 fighting men in need of medical attention 

 and nursing are often cared for in civil hos- 

 pitals, but the United States government keeps 

 its military establishments entirely separate. 

 Hospitals under the supervision of the De- 

 partment of War are maintained at Washing- 

 ton, D. C., San Francisco, Fort Bayard, N. M., 

 and Hot Springs, Ark. That at Fort Bayard 

 receives consumptives belonging to the United 

 States army and navy, and the one at Hot 

 Springs is maintained for soldiers who may be 

 helped by the mineral springs. 



In time of war temporary hospitals, which 

 can be moved from place to place, are oper- 

 ated on the field of battle. During the War 

 of the Nations the French army kept in service 

 an automobile hospital having a forty horse- 

 power motor, capable of developing an aver- 

 age speed of twenty miles an hour. This hos- 

 pital was equipped with an operating room 

 containing the latest appliances, including ster- 

 ilizing and electrical apparatus and X-ray 

 equipment. The most serious wounds cannot 

 always be cared for in the ordinary field hos- 

 pital, and in many cases the wounded have 

 died before they could be removed to a per- 

 manent hospital. The motor-hospital of the 

 French army was therefore a means of saving 

 many lives and of preventing many cases of 

 permanent deformity. 



