Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 178, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 August 1917 — Want to be a Red Cross Nurse? [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Want to be a Red Cross Nurse?

This article tells what are the requirements and describes the work some .American women in field service have done in Europe

By JANE A. DELANO Chairman National Committee Red Cross Nursing Service. work of the Red Cross divided roughly into two ’ N |S| classes —first, peace ac- * fl tivity in cases of pestl|§S lence, famine, fire and W flood, and, second, in time i|Xw ESN of war, relief and care for 1 the sick and wounded and relief to dependent families of soldiers—carries an appeal at this time to the American woman exercised perhaps by other organized war effort, either governmental or private. To those who may have felt the pull of this appeal or who may be in contemplation of essaying the difficult role of the Red Cross nurse the question “What does a woman need to know to be eligible as a Red Cross nurse?” must often have occurred. A glance at some of the most important prerequisites to service as a Red Cross nurse will prove at once that more than 90 per cent of those who aspire to go to the front as Red Cross nurses must be eliminated at the start through Jack of experience necessary to fit them for the work. The Red Cross nurse must have been graduated from a nurses’ school, giving at least two years’ general hospital training in an institution caring for both sexes and maintaining a daily average of at least 50 patients. Some of the Qualifications. She must be not only of voting age, but must have added four additional years of discretion and arrived at the mature age of twenty-five, yet she must not have passed her fortieth birthday.

If her state law so requires she must have been registered as a nurse under the law. If your potential nurse has satisfied all of the requirements already named she must be in addition a member of an organization affiliated with the American Nurses’ association and obtain the indorsement of Its executive committee or two of Its officers. She must have the Indorsement of the superintendent of the nurses’ school where her diploma was acquired, the further approval of the local committee on Red Cross nursing service, and, finally, must pass the exacting physical examination required by the Red Cross before assignment to" active duty. A woman needs to know many things and have wide experience to be eligible as a Red Cross nurse. The work which must be done in the case of the wounded In hospitals not only demands skill and training In the technique of nursing, but also a constitution accustomed to bear the strain of physical effort and a nervous system which will withstand shocks of whatever Intensity. The stipulations made by the Red Cross, to be satisfied by its nursing candidates, can be said to

be most appropriate to Insure nursing material capable of proving equal to wartime emergencies. Nurses' Aids May Be Needed. A limited number of nurses’ aids may be used at the front who lack the wide professional training required of the nurse. Though the greater volume of Red Cross work must be done at home, the experience of deepest human interest will always be met in the paths trod by the Red Cross nurse in the actual care of the wounded soldier. The professional Red Cross nurse who is so fortunate as to reath the front will meet with experiences to which the supporting armies of. women behind the lines are strangers.

The last request of the dying soldier is often intrusted for fulfilment to the Red Cross nurse and his last message to her hands for delivery. American Red Cross nurses have’ served In caring for wounded of all European armies since September, 1914, but with the sending of the Pershing expedition to the western battle front American boys will bleed, suffer and die and the American Red Cross nurse will share their sorrows. Service as a Red Cross nurse, while founded upon the principle of ministering to others, is not without its own Inherent hazards to those’engaged, as witnessed by the regent Mongolia in-, cident, in which the fives of two American hero nurses were sacrificed for the American cause. The function of the Red Cross nurse might be best expressed in the words of lan Malcolm, the representative on the British commission recently in Washington of the British Red Cross, who deflned.lt to be “to draw a great net of mercy through an ocean of unspeakable pain.” Incidents are legion which show the patriotism, heroism and bravery of American nurses In the Red Cross

service, and these attributes have made the service what it is today. — It is stated that as soon as information reached Chicago of the loss of the two nurses on board the Mongolia and the serious injury of a third a number of nurses in that city promptly volunteered to fill the places of--those-who had made the “major sacrifice” in the service of their country. Red vCross nurses in Serbia, In order that they might have better facilities in caring for the wounded, elected to go to Belgrade, on the Austrian front, taking up a position in a hospital exposed to shell fire of the enemy. These nurses remained in this dangerous position through the capture of Belgrade by the Austrians, followed by its recapture by the Serbians and later by a subsequent recapture by the Prussian and Austrian armies, all the time directly in ffie line of fire. That it is impossible to anticipate and provide against danger is demonstrated from the fact that not a nurse among the number of more than 250 sent by the Red Cross to foreign battlefields since September, 1914, has lost her life, while it remained for two nurses peacefully seated on the deck of a ship in midocean to meet with a fatal accident which occurred during practice firing.

Nurses, working, in Belgium occupied a spot situated in the line of flight frequently traveled by Zeppelins in crossing the English channel. In some instances windows in hospitals occupied by these Red Cross nurses were broken by bombs cast by the aircraft, yet not a nurse suffered injury. Experience of Two Nurses. Red Cross nurses have been assigned to duty in all European countries and not a single nurse died from accident since the opening of the European war. The experience of Miss Helen Scott of Illinois and Miss Rachel Torrance of New York is a drama of thrills. Thestf two nurses were sent out, on board the Red Cross ship in September, 1914, to Russia, where they helped to organize a Red Cross hospital at Kleff. After about one year’s service in this city, at the urgent request of the queen of Bulgaria, they were transferred to her country to aid the Bulgarian government in establishing a nursing service for the Bulgarian army. In this work a nurses’ school was established in Sofia, into which many native women graduated from the American college at Constantinople, were., received for training. These two American nurses continued their work at Sofia until the hospital service there was taken over by the Germans. During this time they were always under tbp dl rect patronage of the Bulgarian queen. After the assumption of the work by thie Germans, Miss Hay and Miss Torrance werit to Phllippopolis and took over the relief work In that part of the country at the request of the Bulgarian queen. These nurses were recalled to the United States immediately after the declaration, on April 6, of the existence of a state of war by the congress of the United States and have already reported to Red Cross headquarters in Washington.

In war expert services must be conserved, and while it seems necessary to hold our enrolled Red Cross nurses for the technical hospital service, there is still ample opportunity for the service of the patriotic women throughout America. To meet the needs of the present situation every woman must be willing to perform the duty for which, she Is best qualified, believing that every service rendered to once’s country is equally important—New York Herald.