Part 4

There has been lately introduced a new process of coloring pictures for which very strong claims are made. It is said that the "secret" can be learned in one lesson; the cost of the instruction is but $5. The method consists in the application of water colors to any kind of picture on paper. Some photographers say there is nothing new in the method, and that the pictures will not stand the light of the sun; others claim that it is a good process, and say that the pictures are both brilliant and effective. The teacher of the art asserts that he can, in half a day, paint a picture, and give all the necessary effects. With the usual method, he says, a colorist would require two days and a half. The process has not yet been introduced among photographers, but several ladies are soliciting work at private houses, receiving, it is said, $4 and $5 for painting a panel picture, and making a good living at the work. For obvious reasons I do not enter into the particulars of this method, or even mention the name by which it is known. That, however, can easily be learned from almost any photographer, and the searcher for information can then satisfy herself as to whether the business is worth a trial.

PROFESSIONAL NURSING.

It may not be known to many that, of late years, nursing has come to be a regular profession. Women are trained to become nurses by going through a regular course of study in what are called training schools, and they receive on their graduation a diploma signed by an Examining Board and a Committee of a Board of Managers. For some women this is an excellent occupation. The work is rather hard, but the pay is exceptionally good.

At the present time there are seventeen of these training schools in the United States. There is one in each of the following cities: New Haven (Conn.), Chicago, New Orleans, St. Louis, Syracuse (N. Y.), Washington (D. C.), Burlington (Vt.), and there are three in Boston, two in Brooklyn (N. Y.), three in New York City, and two in Philadelphia.

In order to gain admission to any of these institutions certain conditions of admission have to be complied with. First of all, the woman must have good health, she must be unmarried or a widow, she must furnish satisfactory references as to moral character, and have a fair common-school education. All these are essential prerequisites. Her age must not be under twenty or over forty-five. In the Boston schools the rule is between twenty-one and thirty-five; in Brooklyn, twenty-one to forty; in New York City, twenty-five to thirty-five; in Philadelphia, twenty-one to forty-five, and in Washington City, the same as it is in Brooklyn.

Aside from these qualifications, the woman who would enter upon this employment must have considerable "nerve," for she will be obliged to witness some very painful sights, and often be called upon to render assistance in some very dangerous surgical operations. And yet, at the same time, while possessing the necessary amount of self-control to go through her duties properly, she must be possessed of that gentleness, forbearance, and good temper, without which the most scientific nursing will be of little avail. She may shudder at the first operation in the hospital, even faint, but that is no sign that she will not be able to overcome her want of self-control. Some of the best surgeons have confessed to the same weakness at the beginning of their professional experience. The nurse will soon get used to seeing such unpleasant sights, and, as it was the case with the grave-digger in Hamlet, custom will make her business "a property of easiness." She, too, will learn that "the hand of little employment hath the daintier sense."

The pupil, having made her application to the superintendent of the school, is required to answer, in writing, certain questions; to give her name; to state whether she is single or married; to give her present occupation; her age last birthday, and date and place of birth; her height and weight; to state where educated; to tell whether she is strong and healthy, and has always been so; whether her sight and hearing are good; whether she has any physical defects, or any tendency to pulmonary complaint; if she is a widow, to state if she has any children, their number, ages, and how they are provided for; to tell where she was last employed, and how long she was employed, and to give the names of two persons as references, one of whom must be her last employer, if she has been engaged in any occupation. And then she signs her name to the statement, declaring it to be correct.

If the answers are satisfactory, and there is a vacancy in the school, she goes on trial for a month, and if, at the end of that time, she decides that she likes the position, and the superintendent finds she is able to fulfil the duties properly, she is engaged. For this "trial" month she receives no pay, but gets her board and lodging free of expense. Having been accepted as a pupil, she signs articles of agreement to remain two years and obey the rules of the school and hospital. All the schools are connected with some hospital; they are not always in the same building, but in the immediate vicinity. The pupils reside in the Home, or school, and in the large schools--the one connected with Bellevue Hospital, for instance--there are two sets of nurses, one set doing day duty, and the other going on at night. The day nurses are on duty from 8 A.M. to 8 P.M., with an hour off for dinner, and some additional time for exercise or rest. They have one afternoon during the week, half of Sunday, and a two weeks' vacation during the summer. If sick, they are cared for gratuitously.

The course of instruction covers two years, when the pupil, after passing a satisfactory examination, graduates and receives a diploma. Then she chooses her own field of labor.

In one of the large New York schools the course of instruction includes:

1. The dressing of blisters, burns, sores, and wounds; the application of fomentations, poultices, cups, and leeches.

2. The administration of enemas, and use of catheter.

3. The management of appliances for uterine complaints.

4. The best method of friction to the body and extremities.

5. The management of helpless patients; making beds; moving, changing, giving baths in bed; preventing and dressing bed-sores; and managing positions.

6. Bandaging, making bandages and rollers, lining of splints.

7. The preparing, cooking, and serving of delicacies for the sick.

They are also given instruction in the best practical methods of supplying fresh air, warming and ventilating sick-rooms in a proper manner, and are taught to take care of rooms and wards; to keep all utensils perfectly clean and disinfected; to make accurate observations and reports to the physician of the state of the secretions, expectoration, pulse, skin, appetite, temperature of the body, intelligence--as delirium or stupor,--breathing, sleep, condition of wounds, eruptions, formation of matter, effect of diet, or of stimulants, or of medicines; and to learn the management of convalescents.

This teaching is given by physicians, some of whom are connected with the hospital, while others, often prominent men, occasionally give lectures. The superintendent, assistant superintendent, and head nurses also give practical directions to the pupils as to the management of the sick.

Each school has its favorite text-book on nursing. One of the most popular works is the "New Haven Hand-book of Nursing," which is used in the East and West, and in New York. In the New York schools the "Bellevue Manual" is also used. Among the other text-books studied in the different schools throughout the country are "Anatomy and Physiology," "Domville's Manual," "Woolsey's Hand-book for Hospital Visitors," "Williams and Fisher's Hints to Hospital Nurses," "Lee's Hand-book for Hospital Sisters," "Cutter's Anatomy and Physiology," "Putnam's Manual," "Huxley's Physiology," "Smith on Nursing," "Frankel's Manual," "West on Children," "Notes on Nursing," by Florence Nightingale, "Draper's Anatomy, Physiology, and Hygiene," "Bartholow's Materia Medica," and "Miss Veitch's Hand-book for Nursing." The Boston and New York schools use the largest number of text-books, averaging six. At one of the schools in Philadelphia, but one book is used; in Connecticut, Chicago, and Washington two text-books are studied.

While the nurse is receiving her training she is boarded free of expense, and receives a stated salary per month during the time she is in the school. The amount varies throughout the country. In New Haven it is $170 for the term of eighteen months. In Chicago, $8 a month for the first year, $12 a month for the second year. In Boston, at two of the schools it is $10 a month for the first year, and $14 a month for the second year. At the third school it is $1 a week for the first six months, $2 dollars a week for the second six months, and $3 a week for the last four months. Brooklyn, $9 a month for the first year, $15 a month for the second year. In New York, at the Charity Hospital on Blackwell's Island, it is $10 a month for the first year, and $15 a month for the second year; at Bellevue Hospital, $9 a month for the first year, $15 a month for the second year; at the New York Hospital, it is $10, $13, and $16 a month for the first, second, and third six months, respectively. In Syracuse $10 a month. In Philadelphia, $5 a month for the first six months, $10 a month for the second six months, and $16 a month for the second year.

It will be seen at a glance that this is merely nominal pay, but it must also be borne in mind that the nurse is receiving instruction in what is to be to her a profession. Then, again, she is under little or no expense; she is boarded, lodged, has her washing done in the institution, and the dress or uniform which she is obliged to wear costs but a trifle, the material of which it is made being generally what is called "seersucker."

After the nurse has received a certain amount of training, she is deemed competent to go out to private service. She receives no extra pay for this, her salary being paid into the institution, which, in that way, is enabled partly to maintain itself.

When she goes to a private house, she carries with her a certificate of recommendation signed by the lady superintendent of the school. When she returns to the school, she brings with her a report of her conduct and efficiency, either from one of the family or the medical attendant. While engaged in this service, the people employing her must allow her reasonable time for rest in every twenty-four hours, and when her services are needed for several consecutive nights, she is to have at least six hours in the day out of the sick-room. Except in cases of extreme illness, she is to be allowed opportunity to attend church once every Sunday.

Appended to the rules of the Bellevue Hospital Training School, in regard to this subject, are the following remarks:

"It is expected that nurses will bear in mind the importance of the situation they have undertaken, and will evince, at all times, the self-denial, forbearance, gentleness, and good temper so essential in their attendance on the sick, and also to their character as Christian nurses. They are to take the whole charge of the sick-room, doing everything that is requisite in it, when called upon to do so. When nursing in families where there are no servants, if their attention be not of necessity wholly devoted to their patient, they are expected to make themselves generally useful. They are to be careful not to increase the expense of the family in any way. They are also most earnestly charged to hold sacred the knowledge which, to a certain extent, they must obtain of the private affairs of such households or individuals as they may attend."

The field of employment which has just been described, offers great opportunities for the proper kind of women to make an independent livelihood. The work is hard and confining, but the pay, as women are paid, is very good. A trained nurse never receives less than $20 a week, her board being, of course, included, and more often she will get $25, or even $30, a week; in fact, she can command her own price, and that price will depend upon the wealth and liberality of her patrons, and the ability which she brings to bear on the case in hand. Good nursing is very often more important than good doctoring, and thousands of people are willing to pay liberally for such exceptional help. The demand for trained nurses far exceeds the supply, and, provided a woman has made herself fully competent in this peculiarly appropriate branch of women's work, the extent of her employment will only be limited by her physical strength to render the services required.

PROOF-READERS, COMPOSITORS, AND BOOKBINDERS.