Lincoln Memorial University Training School for Nurses (1914)

E. V. Rodkey, Directress
Margaret Kleinhentz, Assistant Directress

A three year course of training is now offered to women who wish to become professional nurses. The work is divided into three separate parts; in each the candidate is assigned a definite series of duties which when completed will have given her all the practical and essential phases of modern and up-to-date nursing.

The requirements for admission to the course are as follows:

The applicant must be at least 21 years of age; she must offer at least two letters referring to her character and moral standing; she must have had at least two years in an accredited high school; and she will be subjected to a physical examination to show that at the time of entering she is in good health. Before being regularly enrolled as a student nurse, eligible for her degree, she will be placed on probation for a period of six weeks, after wihch service she will be enrolled as an undergraduate, providing she has given satisfactory evidence of her fitness for her chosen profession.

The work in the Lincoln Memorial Hospital is general, and offers ample material for training of student nurses. The Directress of the Training School, with her assistants, instruct [sic] the nurses thoroughly in all branches of the work. By lectures and actual practice the applicant is taught the best methods of cleaning, of sterilization, of preparation of dressings, of isolation and care of contagious and infectious diseases. She will be instructed in the methods of preparation of plasters, stupes, hot and cold packs, poultices and other local applications used in allaying the pain and suffering of patients. By actual observation the student is taught to recognize untoward symptoms of her charges, to correctly obtain and record temperature changes, to report any variations in the heart’s action by means of the pulse readings, and to note dangers of respiratory embarrassment.

Special care is taken in teaching the nurses to medicate patients and to utilize the most rigid technique in measuring doses of the more powerful drugs used in treatment.

In the operating room the student becomes acquainted with the methods of aseptic surgery. She learns to prepare patients for operation, to sterilize all instruments, gloves, suture materials, dressings, and bandages that may be needed in the carrying on of the operation. She is taught to fear bacterial contamination of all wounds of the body, and the precautions necessary to prevent their presence in any abrasion or rupture of surface layers of the human body.

The subject of dietetics is thoroughly considered before the termination of the course; the relative food value of the various foodstuffs is explained. The nurse is required to prepare and serve to patients the proper kinds of victuals, and she thus learns those which are valuable in the various diseases and those which are dangerous. She is taught to prepare the diet in ways that give taste and flavor as well as the most value in nutrition.

A course of lectures is given to the nurses by the different members of the Medical school. This embraces the following subjects:

Anatomy, Physiology, Materia Medica, Gynaecology, Bacteriology, Hygiene, Anaesthesia, Surgery, Medicine, Pediatrics, Obstetrics, Sanitation and Public Health.

The standing of the nurse in the school is based upon the general character of her work throughut the year as well as upon the results of examinations. Each nurse who remains in the school until the completion of her course will receive a diploma and the graduate’s badge of the school, provided she has passed the examinations successfully and that her conduct and standing as a nurse has been satisfactory.

Source: http://dla.acaweb.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/Lincoln/id/3288/rec/4 (page 61)
http://dla.acaweb.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/Lincoln/id/3290/rec/6 (page 62)
http://dla.acaweb.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/Lincoln/id/3293/rec/8 (page 63)