West Rutland High School - Green and Gold Yearbook (West Rutland, VT)

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4? most of the time attending classes. They hear lectures,uthat are given by doctors, or nurse educators, and they also watch demonstrations and practice on rake-believe patients. First contacts with real patients come when students go with their instructors to thelrospitsl wards to put into practice the elementary nursing technics they have learned in classes. Once this introductory period is successfully mastered, the student wins the right to wear the coveted school cape Then follows a carefully planned schedule of combined class- work and supervised practice in the care of all types of patients. Such special services as Operating Room, cute patient department, and community health agency are a part of the courses of study. The program includes anatomy, physiop logy, chemistry, microbiolofy, elementary materia medics, and .gprgical nursing, and community health. dhen tne nursing cwreer is completed and the excitement of graduation is a happy, hectic memory, the new graduate goes before the State Board of Nurse examiners to prove, by examinations that she is qualified to write the herd earned initials of HR.N.H KHegistered Nursel, after her name. From that proud moment on, the registered professional nurse becomes an essential member of a health team whose job is to protect, improve and expand world health. Nursing is a versatile profession and an expert nurse can Htake it with heru to almost any community, state or nation in the world. An uR.N.His the nopenfsesamen to an array of satisfying jobs. While the majority of hospitals are general in character administeridg aid to patients in general, others care for special types only. Neuro-psychiatric, tuberculous, cancer , communicable diseases, orthopedic conditions, etc. Whether she serves in special or general hospitals a staff nurse can hold a position of great responsibility and trust. An effi- cient nurse is an asset to any situation. Branching out from the four main fields of nursing--hospital, public health, and education and private practice--are many alluring byways. For the nurse who has an urge to see the world, jobs are open in airlines, railroads and steamship lines. There are positions in foreign countries as missionary nurses, and public health, nurses. Whateger their field, there is always a welcome for 3 registered professional nurse. Nursing education today meets, inevitably, the influence of rapid changes in the world's social structure. In common with other institutions, it must adapt itself of these change if nurses are to be successful in their adjustments to a society in which they are destined to fill a new and impor- tant plece. At the same time nursing appears to have reached that stage in development ready to break through thechrysa- lis of an apprenticeship form of teaching and take its place nmong the professions. Rutland Historical Society and the Rzttlcmd Free Library.

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suffering made me want to become a nurse more than anything else in the world. The next stepping stone is the selection of a school of nursing and'oa1n acceptance, which is'no small prob1em,believe me.. Naturally, I would like the best training possible. By writing to the American Nurses Association and requesting a list of the accredited training schools, the required informs tion is promptly forwarded. enerally, the mail arrives in truckloads. One doesnft mind, sitting barely inches from the ceiling on the stacks of pamphlets and journals, happily thumbing through them---reading and dreaming. Selecting a training school is only the beginning. Next is for them to accept you! After the joyous tidings of ack- nowledgement arrive, the succeeding days are spent taking tedious physical, mental, and aptitude examinations. So many nshots' are given to the prospective student, she can undoubt edly qualify as an understudy for a pincusionl With spirits soaring, the student nurse embarks on her career with the thoughts of beginning a new life. Sle enters the portals of the nurses' home and pauses for a moment gating with awe and pure exhiliration at the edifice which is to be home for the next three years. In a great many respects, life in a nursing school is like that in a college or boarding school. Grades are con- sidered, personal interviews are an important factor, and a person's adaptability is measured. lhe applicant must be at least eighteen years of age, and have the necessary academic and personal requirements. She must have a liking for people integrity, imagination, kindness. sympathy, a keen sense of humor, ani above all the virtues of all virtues---PATIENCE. One soon finds that nursing is more than just wearing a uniform and smiling at people. There is constant and endless studying, nerve wracking at times, but it usually pays divi-- donde. Roomates and friends share joys and sorrows, qualms about ersminations, and trepidations of the first day of duty ' in the wards. There are class activities such as student organi rations, clubs, dances, holiday parties wlich all in all seem to keep one well occupied. Keeping up with the outside interest is important, too. Tre schools have their own particular traditions and customs, which make a girl feel she nbelongsn. lnere are professional associations also, where new friends are made and news and views on the world of nursing are exchanged. On the sober or serious sides of the course are class--W rooms, l5bror', and laboratories where students work and stud During the pre-clinical or probationary period, students sper This yearbook was digitized by volzmwteers from the

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While the hospital seems to be a central factor in an international scheme for public health, nursing is developing its own strength as a ccrrelatirg factor in this many-sided and harmoniously in a constantly enlarging pattern oi ideals for human well being. as the iorm of civilization changes , she nust be sufficiently capaole of changirg wltn it. Her individual contribution to its beauty and success depends on the concept that snc achieves of personal health, her cul- tural appreciations, capacity for creative thinking, and sansitivaness to new and higher aimsu The spirit of nursing defies capture of words, I be- lieve its roots lie ir the single wanting to help humanitya The Florence J ghtidgrle fledgs, cverv scnwant must recite upon receiving her school can illustrates this point. HI solenlv pledge myself before God and in the presence of this asnurnlv to pass my life in pirity and pI3CiJC8 ny profes- sion faithfullyn I will abstaic from whatever is deleterious and mischiefous, and will not take or Knowlingly adwiniw star any harmful drugt I will do all in my power to elevate the standard of my profession, and I will hold in ccnfidsnce all pervonal matters committed to my Keep- ing and all family matters eonins tc my knowledge in the prfctice of my calling. With loyalty will I endeavor To aid the physician in his work and to devote my- self to the welfare of those committed to my care.n The spirit of nursing is service to others. If a person wants to serve another it is because sne recognizes tne value and saczednass of human life. Lveey patient, even to the .' least, is a trusts--antentity of body, mind and soul, whose needs take priority over all elses Tuia is the foundation , but the spirit reaches into every professional relationship , and act, Respect for value and sacredness of life cannot step at the bedside. The respect for the trust and responsi- bility a nurse accepts in taking tnis pledge, carries ferr for nursing today knows no boundst The common cause is want- ing to help, and showing partiality for human life through skill and knowledge. . Nursing one of the youngest professions, is among the first to recognize that those wno serve are Hone with each othern, regnrdlas of race, color, or creed, This too, in my opinion, is essential in the prindiples of nursing. This spirit doesn't grow bv itself. It dnvclopa by exereisr and atrophies'by disusa. It begins with wanting to aid mankind, grows into an abiding respect for sacredness of life, inspires a yearning to help the needy. It invigorates This yearbook was digitized by volunteers from the