Louisa Twining

“ I say it is a cruel statement for any one to make; cruel when said by men, who must wilfully shut their eyes and ears to the common facts of daily life around them, though they may be able of their abundant means of remunerative work or business to provide for those who make their homes blest and happy; still more cruel when asserted by women, who thus sheltered and caressed, with every luxury brought to their homes without thought or care on their part, express so selfish and thoughtless a theory about their less favoured sisters. ”

“ So far, then, the fact is established, that training is necessary for the office of a nurse for the sick, and few will now venture to dispute it.
There is scarcely a family where at some time or other the need of a nurse in sickness is not felt; and who can overrate the importance, not only to the patient, but to the whole household, of having one who is fitted for, and faithful to, her duties, or the misery of admitting one into the bosom of a family who, without conscientiousness or ability, has undertaken to fulfil them? ”

“ Not only is there the selfish motive that each one of us may at some time of our lives stand in need of help in seasons of sickness, but there is another, and that the very highest motive also. The care of the sick has been left us as a most sacred legacy by our Divine Master, in words which tell us that they are in some mysterious manner His representatives, and that in visiting and succouring them we are ministering to Himself. The question, then, for us is, how have we fulfilled this duty, which devolves upon us all as members of one Christian, social body? ”

“ Ignorant, degraded by vice of some kind, and of intemperate habits, the workhouse nurse may, with few exceptions, be said to be; for none would descend to the lowest depth of the social scale if there was any possibility of their services receiving remuneration out of doors. We have one such individual of this class now before our mind's eye, who, having filled the office of hospital nurse, came with her drunken habits, her coarse and evil language, to the workhouse. ”

“ Emigration has been tried as a partial means of relief, but still the evil and the complaint go on, and must go on and strengthen, because the number of workers will continue to diminish by the inevitable advance of the sewing machine. Now various other occupations are being suggested as suitable for women, and these will all help us in our difficulty, in time; but some are so novel that the public mind will not soon or quickly recognise them; and meanwhile more and more poor needlewomen will be starving.
On all sides there is a cry for "employment for women." ”

“ We are far from supposing that every woman is fitted to undertake it. Even a kindly heart and disposition alone are not sufficient, indispensable as they may be to the character of a nurse. The Notes on Nursing, lately published by one who has had a larger and more extensive experience of the subject on which she writes than any other woman, tells us what these trials and difficulties of the life are, as well as the various qualifications which are essential to the nurse's character. ”

“ Surely these facts cannot be known, or such a want in our social life would not be unsupplied. Young women who are toiling in needlework (whether plain work or dressmaking) , sacrificing health and strength and eyesight to the labours of the short London season, and then are in miserable inactivity and poverty during many months of the year, will not shrink from the work of a nurse because of its hardships and fatigues and trials; and there is really much to recommend it to them as an occupation. ”

“ The number and variety of callings which educated women are needed to fill, I cannot pretend to recount. But I may say, without fear of contradiction, that there is not a hospital, a prison, a workhouse, or an institution of any kind, where the presence of an educated and Christian woman would not be a blessing. In some institutions they are required, not singly, but by tens, twenties, or more. ”

“ At a time when the subject of the employment of women is pressing upon us on all sides, we ask with astonishment why comparatively few are found to undertake this most urgent and pressing duty of caring for the sick? ”

“ We will grant that there may be labourers of both kinds admitted to this work; some who have no earthly ties for whom to make provision may cheerfully and gladly devote themselves to it from the highest motives of love and self-sacrifice alone, while others there may be to whom present remuneration appears necessary. But for both classes of workers we must make this stipulation: there must be, over and above, or perhaps rather beneath, every other motive, the one conviction that it is work for God that they are called upon to do. ”

“ Many of us who have been accustomed to look upon the nurse's occupation as one that may be undertaken when all other means of subsistence fail, without previous knowledge or training, must have been astonished to find what are the requisites for making a nurse in the best sense of the word. ”

“ When we have said that workhouse nurses are, as a rule, either old and infirm or else able-bodied and vicious, and both equally ignorant and untrained, we think we need add no more to prove their worse than inefficiency, and the absolute necessity that there is for a change in our system if we would correct a crying and national disgrace. ”

“ We are well aware that the question of paid and unpaid labour is one that is not easy of solution in this country. All the foreign institutions, both Roman Catholic and Protestant, have acted on the principle of unpaid labour, providing only the present means of subsistence and a prospect of future maintenance in old age as inducements for the devotion of life and service to this cause. ”

“ Let us each bestir ourselves in our separate spheres to do what we may be able in this great cause. Let us endeavour, by showing our respect and sympathy for the office, to induce others to enter upon so high and holy a calling, even if none of us are able to undertake it ourselves. Let us encourage and sympathize with those who have already entered upon it; let us, at least, impress upon all the greatness of the need that we should redeem our national reputation in respect of the character of our nurses. ”

“ There will always be needlework to be done and dresses to be made, and I do not want you to think that you cannot serve God in this employment. It is from no such motive that I wish to direct the thoughts of young women to the avocation of a nurse. But we know it to be a fact, neither to be denied nor deplored, that the occupation of needlework is now far less remunerative and abundant than it has ever been before, owing to the introduction of the sewing machine. ”

“ But the chief point on which I wish to dwell, is the opportunity that would be afforded of training for permanent employment in our various institutions. The boarders in such a college or home should in turn go out to learn the work in hospitals, prisons, workhouses, and schools, for only on the spot can the work be learnt. It is useless to talk of superseding the present race of matrons and managers unless we have first provided persons who have acquired something of their method and practical knowledge. ”

“ When we see the modest women, attired as Christian women should be, who now, thank God, are to be found in the wards of some of our hospitals, and hear of the pains that are bestowed upon their training, it is difficult to imagine how the work was ever accomplished under a former and very different system. In one such institution we find the instruction of the nurses in turn undertaken every evening by the lady who has the superintendence of the whole establishment ”

“ We fear that one answer may be found in the love of liberty and the love of dress which are now so fatally prevalent amongst the young women of the lower and middle classes of society, both of which are felt to be utterly inconsistent with the office. ”

“ I began with a few words to young women, who might, I hoped, become nurses for the sick. I would end with a few more words to those whose education has fitted them for other offices of usefulness, which are not less urgently required to be filled. There is work for every class of women, and for every individual to whom God has given health and strength, and mental capacity for serving Him. Yet some lives are being sadly wasted. Many are calling out for work, and know not where to find it. ”

“ I know that there are young women to spare by hundreds in the occupation of needlework, and I am sure that I am doing no injury to that calling by inviting some of you to leave it for another, which greatly needs labourers. If you determine to try it, may you find it a safe and happy occupation, bringing to you peace and satisfaction in this life, and bearing with it the promise of the life to come. ”

“ Then, again, in the homes of the poor, either in towns or villages, who does not know the urgent need that exists of some Christian women to guide and help them at times when the father or mother of the family are laid by through serious sickness, with all the cares of the little household devolving, as they generally do, upon one person? How often precious lives and strength might be saved by the timely aid brought by an active and kindly helper at such seasons of trial we need not pause to prove, because we are quite sure it must be known to every one of our readers, whether rich or poor. ”

“ At a season of distress, and amidst the solemn scenes of sickness and death, how greatly is the trial aggravated by the presence of one who is not only ignorant of her duties, but is without any moral or spiritual power to sustain and guide her in them. ”

“ Ladies, with the best intentions and highest motives, would at present find themselves grievously at a loss if they were placed in institutions in any post of responsibility. We do indeed require all that educated women would bring to the supervision of institutions where the control of human beings forms part of the work, but then this must not supersede another kind of knowledge, but be added to it ”

“ Popular opinion and private experience give us some insight into the true state of the case, and a very discouraging and unsatisfactory insight we fear it is. Yet there seems to be every motive that nature and humanity can suggest to encourage us all to a right performance of this duty. ”

“ In the establishment of such institutions or homes, I see a prospect of increasing happiness and a boundless sphere of occupation for women; though probably a diminution in the number of readers for the circulating libraries, and a decrease of fancy workers may be anticipated.
But we shall hear less of the want of "employment for women," as well as of their sorrows, real or imaginary, physical or mental. ”

“ At present, when every one is struggling for employment in an overstocked market, the lowest rate of payment is readily accepted; and when work is only done to eke out a maintenance chiefly provided by other members of the family, this is comparatively unimportant; but when it is the sole provision and means of subsistence, it becomes a fearful evil, and drives persons to yield to the saddest temptations in order to avoid starvation.
In conclusion, let me mention where it is that nurses for the sick are chiefly wanted, and also where they can be taught their profession. ”

“ The calling of governesses for the better educated classes of women, and of needlewomen for the lower, have been the two chief vocations open to those who must earn their own living, and for years past we have heard with pain, and, I must confess it, with somewhat of weariness and impatience, of the sufferings of half-starved needlewomen, hundreds of whom have, it is said, been driven to vice and crime by the insufficiency of their earnings. ”

“ Many more are equally wanting it, yet know not the cause of their weariness, their dissatisfaction, their vague craving after unrealized objects, and vain endeavours after happiness. Of all the sufferers in this busy world, I am. ”

“ Whether or not it can be best done by those who look for no reward here, we are quite sure that a very high tone of feeling and source of action is necessary for those who enter upon this difficult, but noble profession. ”

“ One reason why the demand is not yet made, is that we know the right persons would not be forthcoming. And why is this, but because there is, and has been, no possibility of their being trained to useful work of any kind? ”

“ This will show that it is no imaginary picture of either a hospital or a workhouse nurse that we are giving, but one which is strictly true and taken from the life. We could tell too many stories of cruelties practised and deaths hastened by these women in workhouse wards, where they have nearly unlimited power, the one visit of the matron daily having but little power to check, or even discover, such evils as we are describing'. ”

“ There would be an opportunity of learning all the useful arts of life, useful equally for the future wife and mother, as for the parish helper or assistant in an institution. In the house there would be teaching in cookery, needlework, keeping of stores, accounts, and all domestic occupations, besides visiting the poor at their own homes, under the care and direction of experienced persons. ”

“ John's House to the wards of King's College Hospital was sanctioned. Facts prove more than arguments and theories in favour of a cause, and so it has been in this case; for after years of steady and progressive work, the soundness and excellence of the principles and the practice have been established, and at the present time the services of these ladies and nurses are demanded in several other hospitals, both in London and the country. ”