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church, Hon. Arthur Sewall, president of the hospital board of trustees, introduced Dr. Heibcrt. In presenting the doctor, Mr. Sewall spoke of the close association between Memorial Hospital and the Central Maine General and expressed the gratitude of the board for the cooperation the local hospital has received from the Lewiston organization.In his address Dr. Heibert said he strongly advocated schools for nursing in small hospitals. He said such schools not only provide splendid education for nurses but are also a great benefit to the community and deserve the cooperation and support of the community they serve. Dr. Heibert also stressed the desirability of scholarships for graduating nurses, to be provided by the directors or supporters of the hospital. Dr. Heibert's address was as follows:When sickness comes, two questions immediately present themselves for solution and often a third problem proves excedingly difficult. The first question: What is the matter? The second: What shall be done about it? And the third: How shall the costs be met? These are of vital interest to the patient, his family, and those who are called in to help.The mental processes resulting from situations arising from illness have been going on since the beginning of human history. It began when one neighbor was willing to assist another and the profession of medicine and nursing started when the services of individuals proved more effective than those of their fellowmcn. All along the pages of history are men and women who stand out prominently because of their efforts in trying to answer these questions: What is the matter? What shall we do about it? And in more recent years conditions of nurses and laymen have also concerned themselves, how shall the costs be met?With the advent of Christianity there came a clear definition of the obligations which one individual has toward another. The Great Teacher described for the first time the “good neighbor policy.” As a result of His teaching that those who are in trouble are the neighbors, there arose an increasing desire to i help those who could not help them-health they would confuse those who came to them for advice; and so there has been conflict.Many small schools of nursing have been closed because they were unable to meet required curriculum. In all too many small hospitals pupil nurses were used because their labors could be engaged at a small cost, and since the indigent sick were the beneficiaries, the community conscience was not particularly troubled by this fact. Many times pupil nurses were required to do labors which had no connection with the education the pupil nurse was seeking. Discovery of these abuses and the publicity given to them have added materially to the conflict, so that one is often uncertain as to what part the small hospital should play in the education of pupil nurses.It seems to me, therefore, proper that some space should be given to the discussion of the place of the small hospital school of nursing in the care of the sick. The small hospital has justified its existence by the service it renders to its community and no one will deny that a trained personnel is ndt necessary in order to make hospital procedures effective. Without the application of scientific knowledge and skill the modern hospital could not exist. It would quickly become the source where infectious disease spread rapidly and patients, instead of being relieved of one disease, would contract another within its walls.It is easier to understand this problem by reducing it to the simplest terms: What is a school of nursing, or what is education? In this simplest language an educational process requires a teacher, a pupil, and a patient, and the necessary appertincnces in order to provide the patient with modern, scientific, diagnostic treatment facilities. The small hospital has the patients and everyone will agree that the problem of illness is identical in the large and small hospital. As a matter of fact, the problem of illness is with the individual patient. It is also an historic fact that pupil nurses have been seeking admission to the schools of nursing in small hospitals all over this land. So there remains just one factor which, as I see it, should determine whether a small school of nursing
Newspaper Details
Bath Independent
Bath, Maine, US
Thu, May 29, 1941
Page 9
Full Page
Clipped by
Marla D.
NA, NA 04 Jan 2024
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