"Duties of the Floor Nurse-1887"

**SKM-NURSIEPOOH, BSN, RN** · Apr 9, 2003

...graduate nurses in good standing with

director of nurses will be given an evening

off each week if you go regularly to church.

...and this one...

...any nurse who smokes, uses liquor in any

form, gets her hair done at a beauty shop, or

frequents dance halls will give the director

of nurses a good reason to suspect her

worth, intentions, and integrity....

...but i truly love this...

...the nurse who performs her labors, serves

her patients and doctors faithfully, serves

without fault for a period of 5 years will be

given an increase by the hospital

administration of 5 cents a day providing there

are no hospital debts that are outstanding....

you're absolutely right stephine...i don't think i would be going into this profession either if things were the same today as they were then :imbar

cheers!

moe

NursieRN · Apr 10, 2003

We've come a long way, baby!!!!

SmilingBluEyes · Apr 10, 2003

glad it's good ole 2003.

Merry1 · Apr 11, 2003

Somedays I thought I was born too late in history...but this just confirms I am where I belong and grateful to be here at this time and place:smokin: :rotfl:

Paprikat · Apr 11, 2003

Oh, Damn...I guess I'll NEVER get to go to chruch.....

Nurse Izzy · Apr 11, 2003

in addition to caring for your 50 patients, each nurse will follow these regulations:

50 patients!!!?!?!?

daily sweep and mop the floors of your ward,

dust the patient's furniture and window sills.

maintain an even temperature in your ward

by bringing in a scuttle of coal for the day's

business.

dude - i have trouble even dusting at home!!!!

light is important to observe the patient's

condition. therefore each day fill

kerosene lamps, clean chimneys and

trim wicks. wash the windows once a week.

umm - how do you clean a chimney???

the nurse's notes are important in aiding

the physician's work. make your pens

carefully, you may whittle nibs to your

individual taste.

oooh - thanks for the allowance!!! i get to whittle my own nibs! whoo-hoo!

each nurse on day duty will report every

day at 7am and leave at 8pm except on

the sabbath on which day you will be off

from 12 noon to 2pm.

graduate nurses in good standing with

director of nurses will be given an evening

off each week if you go regularly to church.

each nurse should lay aside from each pay

day a goodly sum of her earnings for her

benefit during her declining years, so that

she will not become a burden. for example,

if you earn $30 a month you should lay aside

$15.

yeah, because during the declining years we're just not any good to anyone, right?

any nurse who smokes, uses liquor in any

form, gets her hair done at a beauty shop, or

frequents dance halls will give the director

of nurses a good reason to suspect her

worth, intentions, and integrity.

whoa - no beauty shop????

the nurse who performs her labors, serves

her patients and doctors faithfully, serves

without fault for a period of 5 years will be

given an increase by the hospital

administration of 5 cents a day providing there

are no hospital debts that are outstanding.

oooh - thanks for the favor!!

Brita01 · Apr 11, 2003

Jeez! Are these for real?

Brita01 · Apr 11, 2003

Oh. And what the hell is a nib? Whittle nibs?

CountrifiedRN · Apr 11, 2003

Whew! It was truly a calling back then, wasn't it?

Thanks Stephany!

Nurse Izzy · Apr 11, 2003

A nib is the point - back then, the writing instruments were such that they were actually dipped in ink - hence the use of the blotter - to blot off extra ink. You could whittle the nib (usually a piece of wood or even a feather!) to create a fine, medium or wide writing instrument.

http://members.tripod.com/~quillpen/

RN2B2005 · Apr 11, 2003

My grandmother graduated from nursing school in 1939, at age 17. At that time, hospital nurses had to purchase their own surgical instrument packs; the physicians would then select the nurses he wanted in surgery based on both their skill and their instrument array.

Sixty-four years later, my grandmother still has all of those instruments that she bought on her nurse's salary. Even surgical towels and bandages were purchased by the nurses themselves; my grandmother embroidered her initials onto the bandage ends so that when they came off a patient, she'd get them back. Each bandage was washed, boiled, ironed and rolled by the nurse who owned it.

When my grandmother retired in 1979 as head OR nurse at a major Southern hospital, she was making a whopping $8.39 an hour. :eek: