Practical hints on district nursing / by Amy Hughes.

  • Hughes, Amy
Date:
1897
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Practical hints on district nursing / by Amy Hughes. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    other hand of every fully trained nurse thinking she is therefore qualified for the work. Many nurses, after varied experiences, decide to “ take up district nursing” for a change, never doubting they are equal to all its demands. They obtain a post, plunge into the work without the least idea of its peculiar difficulties, and then doctors, patients and nurse suffer alike from the experiment. It is here that the necessity of training in district work steps in. Every nurse should spend at least six months in one or other of the established training homes where experience has taught the best lines on which to conduct the work. The idea of entei- ing as a “ probationer ” repels some at first who fail to realise the different methods needed in the district, but special knowledge is essential for success. Ideal preparation for district nursing would be at least two years in a large general hospital, with experience in nursing children included ; and six months’ fever nursing. Then six months in a district home where, in addition to general nursing, monthly nursing, practical sanitation, and cottage cookery were taught. Such experi- ence, with the right character and spirit for the work, would make a district nurse whose influence would lead to the best results. The personal character of the nurse is really