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

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Miss Sleeper ' s Message Dear Seniors: I lie supreme moment of any action is the beginning . I o each one of you as you start forth into the profession of nursing, we, the Faculty of the School of Nursing, wish for you all the joys and satisfaction of a good beginning. Your educational experiences in nursing have been differently planned and arranged than were those of your predecessors in the School. And, so. too, will the society in which you work he different. The national and international trends give promise that you will enter a different world. I he threat of total war hangs over our Nation. In one part ol the world. Army. Navy, and Air Corps nurses are serving men wounded in combat. State and city authorities are calling for nurses to assist in a new plan for civilian defense. Hospitals, industries, and homes throughout the country need nurses, ' t our School of Nuring has increased its student enrollment hoping to have more of its own graduates to fill the many essential positions in the Hospital. No other graduating class was ever more wanted or needed than yours. Such a demand for an individual s services gives a sense of great personal and professional security. At the same time the opportunity to choose from an almost unlimited number of positions may develop a feeling of freedom which brings irresponsibility. I here may be a tendency to focus on personal interests and gain, a tendency to taste many varied and distant experiences, an inclination to overlook the work at hand, though it be of equal urgency. Supreme moments in life come only when the individual gives of herself, not to herself: when she shares in a great work; when self can be submerged in tbe fulfillment of others needs; and when in the commonplace activities of daily life the great purpose of life for all is not forgotten. Again our thanks for all you have done as students for the Massachusetts General Hospital and the School. Each one of you consciously or unconsciously has changed the School through your participation in its activities; through the acceptance of it as your own. May you now as you go forth into graduate nurs- ing service find that the School, too. has given you the equipment for a good beginning lor a happy life.

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RUTH SLEEPER. R.N., M.A. Director of the School of Nursing and Nursing Service

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SYLVIA PERKINS, R.N., M.A. Assistant Director ol the School of Nursing, Supervisor of Instruction in Nursing 8