"Duties of the Floor Nurse-1887"

[Love-A-Nurse]

many may have seen this before. i thought it was interesting. i don't know how long i would have lasted with these duties.

duties of the floor nurse - 1887

in addition to caring for your 50 patients,

each nurse will follow these regulations.

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.

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.

the nurse's notes are important in aiding

the physician's work. make your pens

carefully, you may whittle nibs to your

individual taste.

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.

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.

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.

nurses helping nurses: nursing in the 21st century.

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http://www.virtualnurse.com/nana/duties1887.html

[nursemouse]

My mother was a student in a diploma program prior to WW II, then served in the Army in multiple theaters during that war. I've treasured her "way back when" stories and shared them with my children. Yes, 40 Med/surg patients on nightshift as a senior student with one aide/tech to help her...and she was in charge!

[sanakruz, ADN]

HOLY SHIP!!!!

[Love-A-Nurse]

rn2be2005, interesting post.

[TCW]

Thanks for sharing! I just love those historical posts. I wish I could hear more first hand accounts though.

Tonya

[liberalrn]

My Mom was a nurse (OB, L&D) just after WW2. As a senior student, she was THE lone night nurse in the gen. med. ward. dunno know how many pts, but do know she had to work at noc and attend classes in the daytime (wtf?). Also, she used to tell me about sterilizing the gloves and putting the powder in them etc. before packing them up for re-use. She also had to stand up against the wall with her class, facing the wall and the instructors would check to see is their stocking seams were straight--if not, back the dorm to correct the prob. and a demerit to YOU!

[LoisJean]

In 1932 when my Mom was in nursing school, they were responsible for the dietary needs of their patients, too. Among all the other duties-including mopping, dusting and laundry detail, special diets were prepared ONLY by the nursing staff. Broths, teas, purees- (which were, "hand mashed and vigorously whipped")-and every other special diet food were hand made, cooked, boiled and steamed. It was the nurse's responsiblilty to be certain her patient ate- and so, not only did the nurse fix the diet she also fed her patient as well, if needed.

Mom is 90 years old and can still recite word for word the nutrient value and receipe for diets specific for every gastric disease known to man, colic, cancers, pneumonia, arthritis and gout, dementia, all manner of skin disorders, TB and so many other infectious diseases that I can't remember them all.

I can still recall when I was a wee girl and was sick, she would be in the kitchen chopping, boiling, mashing and mixing together all kinds of weird stuff and then hand feeding it to me!

Peace,

Lois Jean