US Army School of Nursing - Taps Yearbook (Washington, DC)

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First Lieut. Julia O. Fukke, Army Nurse Corps, Principal Chief Nurse, Walter Reed General Hospital.

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have recently been reading an account of the six essential attri- butes of good nursing as they hare been described by a close student of nurses — herself not a nurse, and it has seemed to me that your class might like to have a summary of these qualifications in your Annual They arc as follows: Simplest to teach and to understand is the char- acteristic of manual skill. The good nurse has learned hotv to move quietly and gently: how to make beds and apply bandages, and do many other things, some of which call for real muscular co-ordination. Important among the other characteristics is ' leadership ' — the thing that enables the nurse to lead her patients to believe in the doctor and to take the doctor ' s orders seriously. It is a characteristic born in or acquired by successful politicians and salesmen, and women of ' charm, ' and it is particularly valuable in the case of the nurse. ' Another quality apparently essential to good nursing is the quality of persist- ence ' — the ability to carry on in spite of hopeless discouragements. ' A fourth charactcrstic of good nursing is the knowledge of what it is all about. The good nurse is the experienced nurse. She has seen and cared for and thought about many different sorts of people with many different sorts of trouble. She has read hooks and talked with doctors and other nurses. She has a broad background of information and practice. ' The fifth characteristic is ' kindness ' — good heartrdness. but of a sort which is extremely rare, because it is kindness dominated by intelligence. Finally, perhaps the most interesting and dramatic of the qualities which make for good nursing is a kind of acute perception, which gives to some nurses what seems to the outsider an uncanny abil- ity to know what is happening to the patient. It is sometimes spoken of as ' intuition, ' or the nurse ' s ' sixth sense. ' It seems to be acquired by especially intelligent nurses, as a result of long hours of concentrated, highly keyed attention to patients. Let this be my message to the Class of 1927 as I urge you to think about these things. Major, Supt., Army Nurse Corps; Dean, Army School of Nursing. JULIA C. ST I M SON. Page 13

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As an An Rcvoir to tlic Class of 1297, I take great pleasure in addressing you as comrades. Many a time I have noticed that your countenances zvore a harassed look. Often, as I have broken in upon your feverish activities. I heme noted a great big question in your eves. But as the months have melted into years. I have come to feel that you understand. You appre- c : atc the necessity for discipline: you know why eternal vigilance is necessary; and I am sure that you Jiavc grown to place service before self. So it is with confi- dence I call you comrades and I know that as the years pass you will in an increasing measure understand the many intangible, but real things, that form the warp and woof of true comradeship. May each day bring you increased joy in service. JULIA 0. FLIKKE. 1st Lieut. A. N. C, Principal Chief Nurse. Page 15