Show public health nurses can best serve country by staying at posts B by mrs mr wailan K vanderbilt st sr head 0 of z the a american ambulance hospital Hoi pital in paris pan one of the great needs of america will be for public health nursing the organizations which are engaged in this work instead of being weakened by loss of membership should be strengthened to meet the increased demands which will be made upon u p on them trained and experienced nurses who are now taking care of women children and tubercular patients in their homes and in dispensaries dispensa ries can do no greater work forthe for the country and for humanity than by remaining on their iligir jobs they must not consider themselves sl ackers or feel that they are lacking in patriotism if they stick to their daily round of duties on the contrary it would be absolutely wrong for them to give up their work and jump at the first chance which offers for war service abroad somebody has to take care of the women and children while the men are care who know and understand their needs to fly off to some other place and work and leave them at thi the mercy of inexperienced workers we all ickow that war breaks down home conditions sickness and poverty follow in its wakeland wako and there area thousand and one ills which have to be met and overcome who can do this better than than the public health nurse who belongs to a well organized group of workers which is able to combat just such conditions at the beginning of the the war it was my first impulse to close the ilia vanderbilt dispensary in paris to women and children and devote it to the scare care of wounded soldiers on second thought I 1 realized that would be a mistake just because everybody was doing the same thing I 1 never regretted following my more mature judgment in a short time our attendance increased from to 1 I believe wo we saved any number of the future citizens of trance france by simply thinking twice and sticking to our original work |