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

Page 13 text:

Florence Nightingale once said that nursing is an art which requires an exclusive devotion. Such a devotion has been demonstrated by the Principal of our School of Nurs- ing, Miss Sally Johnson. Although a native of Connecticut, she has lived almost exclusively in Massachusetts since she entered our School of Nursing at the Massachusetts General Hospital in 1907. Previously she had taught in a grade school in Connecticut. Teaching positions with greater opportunities had no appeal for her, therefore she decided that school teaching was not her field. Fortunately for us a doctor cousin influenced her to enter the nursing profession. After graduation and a six months post-graduate course in psychiatric nursing at the McLean Hospital, she accepted a position at St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford where she was Instructor in Practical Nursing. At the end of the school year she accepted a similar position at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, and was later appointed Assistant Super- intendent of Nurses in that institution. In 1917, Miss Johnson became Superintendent of Nurses and Principal of the School of Nursing at the Albany Hospital. War was soon declared and in 1918 she was given a leave of absence to become Director of the Unit of the Army School of Nursing at the Walter Reed Hospital. On October 1, 1920, Miss Johnson returned to the Massachusetts General Hospital in the position of Superin- tendent of Nurses and Principal of the School of Nursing. During these years Miss Johnson has been President of the Massachusetts League of Nursing Education, of the New England Division of the American Nurses Association, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Suffolk County Nurses Directory. She has been a member of the Board of Directors of the National League of Nursing Education, of the Board of Directors of the American Journal of Nurs- ing, and is now a member of the Board of Directors of the American Nurses Association. Miss Johnson has a great capacity for work and a sense of humor which often saves a trying situation. She also has a quality which is necessary for the successful admin- istration of a school of nursing, namely, an understanding of young women.

Page 12 text:

A D M I N I S T R A T I O N Throughout the hospital no other group has worked more energetically, nor forged ahead more progressively than the Administration itself. In the face of war-time shortages and complications, our Administration has combined its forces and concentrated its efforts to bring about literally the greatest good for the greatest number. One night supervisor, as well as a medical supervisor and an assistant in charge of volunteers have recently been added to the staff. The improvement of personnel practices has been paramount among the Administration ' s objectives. In November, 1944 the cafeteria was put on a new all-cash basis, thus offering graduates and students alike increased opportunities for choice in the cafeteria and graduates the choice of living in or living out. Of interest, too, is the new volunteer unit recently organized for the Central Supply Room. It is significant to note that despite the overwhelming shortages confronting it, the Administration strove con- sistently to uphold efficient standards. The past year saw the closing down for only one month of two more wards, one in the General Hospital, and one in the Baker. All in all, our Administration has maintained a broad view- point, and has handled with skill any number of time- consuming and thought-provoking problems. We brought to them our restless youth.” Page Eight

Page 14 text:

Faculty We are indeed fortunate in having as our Assistant Principal, Miss Ruth Sleeper, a national figure in nursing. Ever gracious and charming, she gave us our first introduction to the Cadet Corps and now holds the position of Special Consultant. Her war activities include service on committees of the National Council for War Service and the National Committee of the Red Cross Nursing Service. At present she is President of the National League of Nursing Education, an honor that she well deserves. Though her activities carry her afar, she is ever mindful of the problems with which we students are faced and is always willing to talk them over and to give us the benefit of her vast experience. Miss Florence Kempf, Assistant Principal and Supervisor of Science In- struction, has played no small part in our careers here at M.G.H. It was she who undertook the prodigious task of rearranging our schedules to leave the last six months free for Cadet affiliations. Along with this she is taking courses at the Harvard Graduate School of Nursing and spends what free time she has in the country. She is at present on the Committee on Records of the National League of Nursing Education besides carrying out her heavy schedule of teaching and arranging programs and affiliations. Ever on the aiert to help us better ourselves, Miss Kempf is an excellent example of a successful and charming gentlewoman. Although we seldom come in contact with Miss Edna Lepper, our Assistant Superintendent of Nurses, she indirectly has influenced our nursing career many times. As seniors she advises and helps us to find our chosen field upon gradua- tion. Since the war she has been in charge of the Senior Cadets, seeing that they receive their six months’ affiliation or added experience in some desired field. Miss Lepper has often been responsible for the helpful services we have received from many of the volunteers in time of need. She is a soft spoken, un- assuming nurse to whom we give many thanks for so many things. Besides her many activities here in the hospital, she is also a member of the Massachusetts Council for War Service and the Greater Boston Procurement and Assignment Board. Our first introduction to nursing was given to us by Miss Sylvia Perkins, Assistant Principal of the School of Nursing and Supervisor of Instruction in Nursing. As preclinical students it was Miss Perkins who taught us our prac- tical and theoretical nursing, and as seniors, again she furnished us with a rich understanding and knowledge of the care of the sick in the home. During the last three years, Miss Perkins has directly been responsible for many revi- sions of nursing procedures and refinements of teaching methods to meet the need created by the tremendous increase of preclinical students from 172 ad- mitted in 1942 to 221 admitted in 1944. Miss Perkins has also helped to provide much of the improved equipment now available for use in classes throughout the three year period. Our Supervisor in Nursing Arts was a member of the National League of Nursing Education Committee on Films working with the U. S. Office of Education to produce a series of films for nursing. In her preparation of films here for nursing she has been a pioneer in this new method of teaching. Page Ten