Massachusetts General Hospital School of Nursing - Yearbook (Boston, MA)

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The first few years saw enough obstacles and rebuffs to completely discourage less persevering leaders. Such adversity is not surprising considering the pion- eer days of training as a profession. At the time of the inception of this school, there was not in existence an American-trained graduate nurse. The Bellevue Hospital School and Connecticut School had been started in 1873. The New England Hospital for Women and Children had started a school less than a year before. Linda Richards, the first graduate of this school, had also been associated with Bellevue for a year. The successful career of our school really dates from its second year of exist- ence when Miss Richards came as Superintendent. Under her guidance rapid progress was made and the school soon became an indispensable factor in this hospital. Subsequent superintendents have upheld the high standards which she estab- lished. The names of these women will always be associated with progressive education in the profession. Then, too, tribute is due Miss McCrae, who, as Dr. Harvey Cushing has said, “for so many years has spent unselfish hours in giving nurses the distinctive stamp of the Massachusetts Hospital Training School. Page eleven 1 9 2 8

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Historical § krtdj INCE the first patient was admitted to the Bulfinch building on Septem- ber 1, 1821, many thousands have received care at the hands of those who have served in this, the oldest hospital in New England. The pioneer spirit in which it was founded has been evidenced all along the paths of the years of service. New steps in Medicine and Surgery have been discovered within these very walls, and others made elsewhere have been promptly adopted and oftimes further developed and advanced. “Ether Day” commemorates one such forward step. On October 15, 1846, Dr. illiam T. G. Morton administered sulphuric ether to a patient undergoing a serious operation. This event took place in the old operating room in the Bulfinch dome and was a complete success. From this first public demonstration has come the entire field of surgical anaesthesia, without which surgery itself could never have been used so extensively. In 1841, Dr. John C. Warren, one of the founders of the hospital, donated a thousand dollars to buy books for the patients. This was the beginning of the Warren Library, which was the first hospital library in the country for the benefit of the patients. Treadwell was established a few years later and has a large ref- erence library. It contains some twelve thousand volumes, and the Record Room, with which it is closely connected, contains the clinical records of the patients from the day the hospital was opened. Among other achievements are the use of X-Ray in diagnosis and therapy and the organization of Hospital Social Service. The step with which we are most vitally concerned deserves special mention. When, in 1873, an effort was made to establish a training school for nurses in Boston, the trustees of the Massachusetts General Hospital undertook this task. Originally operated under separate direction as ‘The Boston Training School for Nurses,” it gradually became such an integral part of the hospital itself that in 1896 the trustees took over the management and it became the “Massachusetts General Hospital Training School for Nurses.’ Page ten 1 9 2 8

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A S ong 3fnr M. . M. Her ivied columns rise to meet The glory of the Bulfinch dome, Serene, unruffled, beautiful. She waits to hid us welcome home. From many lands, o’er many days, We brought to her our restless youth, And she with patience took us all And set us in the way of truth. Stern Teacher, kindly, too, withal. Who saw the faults we could not hide, And building on our better selves, She wrought results that shall abide. What if she gave us arduous toil. She taught us reverence for our work; To ease the suffering, lighten pain, There is no task we dare to shirk. Where life and death are side by side, And creeds and races strangely blend, To share these things from day to day She helped us each to find a friend. Oh, Gracious Guardian of our past, Thy children rise to honor thee, God bless and keep you. M. G. H., Secure through all the years to be. Margaret Dieter, 19i6 Page twelve 1 9 2 8