Sacred Heart Hospital School of Nursing - Carmen Sylva Yearbook (Allentown, PA)

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men - Wi H by new discoveries. But the all-important qualities of heart and mind of mercy with intelligence which are such outstanding factors in the art of nursing, are as unchanging as the hills. And of so much importaI1C6 are they that in the 0PiUi0f1 of manv the addition of scientific training is considered of secondary importance. Some will remember the commencement address of Dr. Lawrence Flick to the graduating class of our Training School several years ago, wherein he developed only the thought of kindness as a nurse's paramount qualification, dwelling upon this basic homely virtue without even touching the subject of a necessary added scientific training. f High Ideals and wise regulations consistent with the knowledge of the period, constituted the art and science from the days of early Babylon. As strong states developed and the individual became subordinate thereto, nursing in a sense fulfilled its calling more for the protection of others from a civic viewpoint than from the sense of a charitable care of the afflicted. So that although not in possession of the many advantages and the outgrowths from the wonderful discoveries of our day with their logical application, there is evidence of a devel- oping science in nursing from Mesopotamia, on into Phoenicia, thence to Egypt and along the course of culture and civic advance -through Greece and Rome. With the birth of Christ and from His teachings came again a new spirit of com- passion toward the sick and afflicted, which extended from these teachings and from the converts of the new religion to others. Who although perhaps slow in the acceptance of the religion as such, found in it a philosophy of life never' before equaled in a common brotherhood of man. Now again individual nursing advanced to organized training and with the growing efficiency of the nursing orders a science in the care of the sick steadily progressed. Yet as early as this history records very clearly, that power- ful and efficient as the nursing orders became, too often the actual care of the sick waned as cross-purposes brought about corruption in these organizations. And we see even in the early days of the science when the dominant factor of love was stifled that it soon crowded out entirely by the so-called efficiency of the science. While nursing as an art was pushed into the background. Like- wise we today are wont, unless careful thought is given to the art of nursing, and we recognize the great need of a close co-relation between the art and the science, to obtain a wrong conception of what constitutes the profession. Basing

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I ,men y vfa i R l' llI lIlllV 31 IIIlllllllllllllllIlllllIllllIlllll' 'lllllllllf nls. 'll'lllllIIlllllllllllilllllllllillllllllll'llllli''Ill l l i W W ' s IL . ' 9' v li-'ff 1 J The Art and Science 0 ursing URSING as an Art and a Science differs none from every other pro- fession trade or business, in its necessity for taking stock account at more or less regular intervals. And such a periodic health examination reveals many a departure from essential fundamentals, which unless noted and checked cannot but fail to undermine the profession. Where there is no occasional balance sheet, there can be no knowledge of the present status of any undertaking, nor can properly be met the ever-changing demands made upon it by the rapidly increasing complexities of modern life. Those w 0 fail to see a steady evolution in contemporary living conditions and are un- aroused to the necessity of new adjustments for the nurse, or those who see no need of holding to the 'well tried moorings of the past for the same, - both such will find themselves much out of step with the best in the profession. ' In nursing, like in every other human endeavor, we have no way of judg- ing the future but by the past. And the history of the nursing art plus the development of its science, coupled with personal experience, must form the basis for the attainment of a proper viewpoint of any angle on the subpect. As an art, nursing is as old as mankind and undoubtedly reached a high ' t f ffcienc in many individuals from the dawn of history. Compassion pom o e 1 y and mercv are inherent impulses of the heart, common to all humanity, and ' onl in degree alike in individuals and in nations. These, combined varying y i with intelligence and learning, have ever enhanced the art even when there was ' l 1'tt1 f what we today call the science of nursing. Study of the dim past revea s 1 e o many evidences of these inherited virtues which underlie and without which , . . . - d -our present day art in nursing would be non-existent. The art is age old an permanent while the science has been steadily added to and is constantly in a state oi flux. Science in its strict derivation means, - to know. It also has been well h t of its constant develop- termed - classified knowledge. Yet by t e very na ure I t ' ce needs repeated revision since it never remains fixed or permanent men , scien F or what today seems so, may tomorrow be obsolete and thrown into the discard Q r A q e e1f:.+ ew- T20

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men i vfa our opinion of the same upon conclusions arrived at from one or other of the various capacities in which we find the modern trained nurse. . Social service, public health, school inspection, insurance work, and the various calls of industrial nursing, are continuously drawing on and increasing the opportunities of the trained nurse. None would nor should decry the ad- vantages accrueing to the participant in these new Helds. Yet we would call attention to all concerned that primarily a nurse must be trained for and remain a nurse of the afflicted with a proper conception of her art, clearly holding aloft the torch of her profession or she will gradually grope about in her new departure. Now unmindful of the art and coldly following the science, at the oft-times ignorant and selfish request of her employers. Until scarcely a remnant remains of those professional ideals that should be held to and cherished. The trained nurse has developed with the art and science of medicine. And to this she owes her primary allegiance. Her evolution differs very little from that of her closely allied profession. And when diverted therefrom she has lost her anchorage just to the extent of the predominance of her new attach- ment. Never can she be independent of this training in the care of the sick and injured, nor should she allow herself to be incorrectly influenced by the demands of new fields. These varied demands on the modern trained nurse should not be ermitted to isolate her from the real art of nursing. But she should always P maintain a close relationship with the same or she will be like the specialist in medicine who can see only through the science of his particular subject, with- out the comprehensive grasp of his profession and its underlieing purposes, so essential to the maintenance of a valued place in the art and science of medicine. Cultivation of the art and application to the science 3 these two insepar- 'll ably united and moving hand in hand with the medical profession therefore, wi establish an anchorage without which a nurse will surely find herself afloat on an un- . - - h chartered sea. And without the guidance of a most necessary pilot. True t e profession of nursing has passed its majority and very properly asserts the . . . . . . . . d t prerogative of its justly earned position. But like the wise child who oes no forget its parentage, it will avoid many pitfalls by not overlooking and forgetting . . . . . . d the ever-present old home interest of the medical profession in its child an co laborer in the great work of mercy. W, A, HAUSMAN, IR., Chairman, ' -Trammg School Commnfiee.