Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania - Record Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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way, and secured help. Sometimes, though, we were cornered, and one member of our class was lectured for fifteen minutes by the genial Dr. Pfeiffer, as to the proper way of giving enteroclysis. It was the first time she had ever seen it given, but she never will forget. Speaking of chiefs, how they gained our earnest admiration and affection. We will never forget them in lectures, in clinic, and by the patients' bedsides. Then classes started. It did not take many weeks of class work before it began to dawn upon us what a friend we had in Miss Stephenson. .Much credit belongs to her if we do anything great in the nursing world. How many times the thought of her honest, straightforward opinions helped us when we might have been tempted to shirk, also the friendly humorous side shown us, especially in our Senior year. First came our Anatomy Lectures, which we had the pleasure of taking from Dr. Wfillard. We were the last class so honored. He is now serving his country somewhere across the sea. VVe, as a class, will never forget his lectures, not only what we learned, but the wonderful personality of the gentleman who gave them. Dr. Piper gave us Physiology, in his usual breezy style. He scared us almost silly by his threats to flunk us, but when we knew him better, we found that his weakness was -his love of teasing nurses. He is n-ow one of the most popular odicers at Fort Gglethorpe. Dr. VVolferth gave his scholarly discourses on Bacteriology, and the gentle Dr. Birdsall, Preventive Medicine and Hygiene. Bandag- ing was taught us by Dr. Prosser in the latter days of his stay at the hospital. These three are also added to the list of, f Heroes in The Making. Q ' , By this time, summer was with us again, and vacation. Will we ever forget that month at home, and all its joys? The least of these not being our return back to our work, which was no longer drudgery but a part of ourselves, so vital had it become. This summer we had our Hi-st brief taste of being 48

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ln the early days of the older members of the class, the new Maternity Building was in the course of construction. Can't you still hear that drill, that awful noise that never stopped by day or by night? just before we went to sleep, someone told us that the cries we heard in the distance were from The Philadelphia General Hospital. When we awakened in the night, and heard them, the cold shivers ran up and down our spines. Then the various noises from Maternity made us long for that quiet little room at home, that was empty to-night and where we were so missed. We saw. In the morning we arrived at roll-call, and an- swered f'present, right at the end of the long line. How many more times were we to answer it? And, alas, how many times were we to arrive just too late? VVill we ever forget diets the first day, sweeping one side of the ward, cleaning the bathrooms, assorting the linen, etc.? How wonderful the older nurses seemed and how much they knew! How the sick patients frightened us! Some of us had two months' probation work, and some of us had two months plus. , Will you ever forget when we were accepted, how shaky we were when we climbed the incline, and how hard it was to talk? Qur hands and feet were in the way. What a glow of happiness swept over us, when we were allowed to try for four months more. Then when we were relieved, how de- lighted we were at the prospect of doing up patients. When we were First called into the dressing room, we did not know what to do. The awful feeling which accompanied this new experience was a composite sensation, a mixture of feelings in the past, such as Valedictorian on Commencement Day, going to the dentist, and being walked home with for the first time, with the boy next door. VVe recovered from it and came to like it. VVhen we ran into a chief accidentally, we went the other 47

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staff nurses, and had our dressing-room experience. What pleasure it afforded one to say, I had ward M dressing room. Night duty. By this time we had our first and second terms. All through life we shall remember these long hard watches in some of the larger wards. It was then we learned tokput ourselves in our patients' places, and we came most intimately in contact with them, for all responsibility was ours. P y In the fall we resumed our lectures and were given all there is to know of surgery by the brilliant Dr. Eliason. Dr. Keene gave a course' in Gynaecology, which was followed by a helpful lecture by Miss Baker, the head nurse of ward K. Then another treat followed, our lectures on contagious diseases by Dr. Ostheimer, which were most thoroughly en- joyed. Our classes in Massage, by Miss Corbin, and Dietetics, by Miss Barr, wove in and out the spaces left from lectures. I think, in some future world, Miss Barr will wear a brilliant star in her crown. She taught dietetics to the nurses in this School for several long years. Then we were treated to Dr. Llewellyn's course in lVIateria Medica. Up to date we have had 'Obstetrics by Dr. J. C. Hirst, and a most interesting and instructive series of lectures on Medicine, by Dr. Miller, which we have greatly appreciated and enjoyed. Captain Bates gave a course on First Aid, which helped to prepare us for the work in the future. During our training we had the pleasure of hearing several talks by bliss Smith. Very wonderful they were, given in her sympathetic and magnetic manner, especially the last one in the interest of The Red Cross. Our eight weeks' course in Social Service was much ap- preciated and enjoyed by all, except Miss Frantz. It has opened our eyes to new and fertile fields in which our train- ing has fitted us to work. 49