Ipswich High School - Tiger Yearbook (Ipswich, MA)

Page 19 text:

GRADUATION ESSAYS. The History of Nursing By Lois Stultz N ursing is one of the most beautiful and tender of all the arts of life ' said M. Adelaide Nut- ting, and I think anyone who has come in contact with the nursing profession cannot dispute this state- ment. The feeling we have upon first seeing a nurse in uniform amounts almost to awe. We seem to have a sort of reverence for a person who can help people who are sick. Of course we do not have to go into a hospital to feel this rev- erence. One gets, I believe, the most potent feeling when watching a mother anxiously caring for a sick child. This is nursing in its most primitive form but a form which is ever new to each succeeding mother. Let us look back into the history of nursing. We shall find many in- teresting facts of which we have never dreamed and much that we shall find hard to believe. The art of nursing began, as we have said, when the first mother cared for and protected her chil- dren. The mothers became skilled in caring for their own families, and each told her neighbor the results of her experience; thus, in this sim- ple way, nursing spread throughout the communities. In the Bible we find that Moses, who lived about 1500 B.C. made rules for personal hygiene and enforced community sanitation. This is one of the earli- est attempts at the prevention of disease, and down through the ages wise men have tried to prevent dis- ease as well as to cure it. It is that for which scientists are working to- day — the prevention of disease. With the coming of Christianity, the care of the sick and poor be- came the duty of the church or mon- asteries. They carried on this work to a great extent until 1700 and in some parts of the world still do. In 60 A.D. we have our first district nurse in Phoebe, a friend of St. Paul, who worked with him among the poor. They found, as we often find to-day, that sickness was the natural accompaniment of pov- erty. Therefore Phoebe, with other friendly women, did whatever nurs- ing her limited means permitted. About the same time many Roman matrons of wealth and position tired of social life, began projects of collective nursing and thus insti- tuted the first hospitals. With the decline of the Roman empire the work for the most part was carried on by the monasteries, although two hospitals in France and one in Rome are known to have existed outside the monastic walls. Then came the Crusades. In 1066 William the Conqueror introduced the feudal system into England. The landowners became very rich and introduced a code of honor which bound them into a system of knight- 17

Page 18 text:

It was already dark, foi the dark came quickly in the forest when the sun finally sank below the trees. As she went up the steps, she stumbled over the top one. It had never been fixed after Dan left, and ten years was a long time for some- thing to be used continually without repair. She lighted a lamp (for no electricity wires ran as far from town as this) and hustled about, preparing supper. Suddenly she harkened. Some- body was walking down the road which bordered the trees. That was strange at this hour. Then someone stumbled heavily over the same stair vdiich had tripped her, and then came a knock. Scarcely know- ing whether to expect a tramp, a robber, the minster, or even the devil, she opened the door. But she never imagined she would see what she did. It was Dan, her boy ; but what first caught her attention was the body of Dash, which lay in his arms, limp and bleeding. “Oh Dan!” She took Dash from his arms and laid him tenderly on the floor. As they bent over him, they seemed to forget that they had ever been an- gry. Together they examined his wounds. One ball had hit him in his shoulder and another over the eye. It was Dan who spoke first. “He’ll get better, mother; don’t worry. It was so dark up in the woods that I took him for a fox, and when 1 started to pick him up, I recognized him. Of course I couldn’t see how badly he was hurt; so I brought him down here. Gee, 1 was awfully afraid you’d only let him in and put me out again.” “Oh, Dan, how could you think that ! Oh ! look ! he’s opening his eyes.” And indeed, when Dash’s eyes were fully opened they shone with happiness. He wagged his tail sleepily and, though one eye was closed by the wound, he kept the other open, giving the appearance of a sly wink. Margaret Hubbard, ’37 16

Page 20 text:

hood or chivalry. These were men of a hijih type of character who be- came imbued with the idea that the Holy Land should belong to the Christians. Therefore, knights set out in shining armor to conquer Jerusalem. On the long wearisome trail across the European continent, many became ill or wounded by the bandits who set upon any one who had money so that it became neces- sary to establish hospitals along the way. The monks organized these impromptu hospitals, but later, knights established a well-managed hospital of a military type. Half of the nursing v as done by men, for it was thought improper for a ymman to nurse a man who was not a near relative. The military training in hospitals has remained to the pres- ent day. After the Crusades, the Knights of St. John, which was one of the strongest nursing organiza- tions, carried on the v ork in the hospitals and established branches in many parts of the world. The completion of the Crusades marked the ending of the age of chivalry ; and with the passing of this age, the death of many of those interested in hospitals, and the abol- ishment of the monasteries by Henry VIII, nursing bevan to de- cline in about 1500. The higher class of women stayed at home, and nursing Tvas left to women of the lowest class in society. Vincent de Paul, a French Catholic priest, saw the dire conditions in the sickroom and tried to alleviate the suffering, but he found his v ork did little good because of the ignorance and disinclination or inability to work of the people whom he tried to help. Nevertheless, he set about to recon- struct society, and humanity owes him a great debt of thanks for his splendid work. In the period from 1675 to 1850 conditions became almost intoler- able. The civilian influence made conditions so distressing that only the poorest class of women could be induced to take up the work. They were absolutely without ideals of proper technique or of service to hu- manity. Their nursing was extreme- ly crude, and their personal lives were degrading. Charles Dickens, the English novelist, who lived at the latter part of this period, is known now for his entertaining stories, but in reality he was a so- cial reformer. In h:s novel “Martin Chuzzlewit” one of his characters, “Sairy Gamp,’’ represents the pro- fessional nurse of this period. She was drunken and untrustworthy and dishonest in the care of her pa- tients, always making herself com- fortable before them and eating the food found in their rooms. She was a large woman with a husky voice and a red and swollen face. People found it difficult to enjoy her so- ciety without soon becoming con- scious of a strong smell of spirits. She always wore a rusty black gown with a shawl and a large black bon- net, and carried a large bag in which were her necessities, includ- ing a bottle of her favorite liquor. Dickens’ creation of this character made people realize the existing conditions and helped to induce public opinion to bring about the needed changes in the care of the sick. Through Dickens and others interested in the problem reform spread throughout England, and through Dorothea Lynde Dix, to America. Miss Dix went to Eng- land and became greatly interested 18