The Nightingale Sisters: The Making of a Nurse in 1800's America

American Nurses in the early 1800's were for the most part drunks, illiterate and totally unreliable. Then inspired by Florence Nightingale's example in England, Bellevue Nurse Training School in New York came into being, changing the face of American Nursing. Well-to-do women in their hundreds flocked to train as nurses and gain a profession. This book talks about this era, giving details about nursing training at both Bellevue & its ‘Sister School’, Connecticut School for Nurses. Personal accounts from the 1800's of Night Duty, Visiting Nurse's Tenement work, assisting surgeons in operating theatres and visiting the mental asylums are given. Advice to nurse recruiters of the day is also included, listing a nurse's ideal qualities as: ‘One who is accustomed to playing lawn tennis, who can ride, skate and row, makes the best material. If she can dance is a great advantage for graceful carriage is a thing to be cultivated. If in addition to being well-formed she is favored with good looks it is all the better’ Containing seven rare engravings of Nursing, this book is a nostalgic treat for all nurses.