| Show public health nurses can best serve country by staying at posts by mrs william K vanderbilt sr head of the amerian AmU ambulance lance Hot hospital pital in paria one of the great needs of america will be for public health nursing the organizations which are arc 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 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 for the countr country y and alic I 1 for humanity than by remaining on their jobs they must not consider themselves sl ackers or feel that they are lacking c in im 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 w women omen and children while the men are at the front it is irrational for those who take care of them and who know and understand their needs to fly off to some other place and work and leave them at the mercy of inexperienced workers we all know that war breal breaks s down home conditions sickness and poverty follow in its wakeland wake and thero are a thousand and one ills which have to be met and overcome wio who can do this better than the public health nurse vh who 0 belongs to a well organized group of workers which is able to combat just such conditions at the beginning of the war it was my first impulse to close the yan van dispensary in paris to women and children and devote it to the care of wounded soldiers on second thought I 1 realized that would be a mistake just because everybody was doing 0 the same thing I 1 never regretted following ac my more mature judgment in a short time our attendance increased from to lo 1 I believe we saved any number of th the 0 future citizens of trance by simply thinking twice and sticking to our original work |
