VOLUNTARY WORKERS IN HOSPITALS. [TO THE EDITOR ON TUE "SzitorAToz."]
Stn,—It is satisfactory to know from your correspondent " Red Cross 'Pro '" (Spectator, July 24th) that there are some hospitals in the country where the V.A.D. gets her chance and is properly treated; but " one swallow does not make a summer," and these sporadic cases unfortunately do not sweep away the testimony to the contrary from all sides, which led to the beginning of this correspondence. V.A.D.'s, like their trained sisters, naturally differ in experience and capacity. Most of the members of the Detachment I know best, but typical of scores of others, are not beginners. They have been working steadily for the last five years, and have grasped at every one of the sparse opportunities afforded them in the past by some general hospitals and infirmaries to get instruction and experience in the wards and the out-patient departments. They cannot be said to " know nothing." In addition to the elementary rules of hygiene and home nursing, they are familiar with the theory and practice of antiseptic and aseptic precautions, and carry them out on occasion with a conscientiousness not always to be found in the trained ranks. Such workers claim to be given "the opportunity to learn and improve" as a matter of course, and this should not depend on the goodwill or caprice of the individual Sister or nurse under whom they happen to be working, but should be laid down by the Central Authority. Unless such opportunities are given, it is clear that these ladies cannot attain the degree of skill and useful. ness which is within their capacity, and this must mean a definite loss to the community. But the question goes deeper than the present treatment of V.A.D.'s. "Red Cross 'Pro '" strikes at the root of the evil by her reminder that " the upper and lower boy " system condemned in your note to my previous letter " is very prevalent in hospitals as regards the profes- sional probationer, and that " V.A.D.'s are only getting a iiese of the real thing." This is exactly as it should not be. Young women seeking to learn one of the most arduous and responsible professions in the world should not be treated as naughty schoolboys.
It is the persistence of this bad tradition which places the nursing profession at a disadvantage when compared with other careers now open to women, and it is already reacting unfavourably on the quality of new candidates, as the matrons of our general hospitals are well aware. In every other branch of women's work the more enlightened teaching systems of to-day aim at helping the student to learn her business, and it is unfortunate that in the main the nursing profession should be so behind the age in this respect, and the learner
still have to fight her way to proficiency over every imaginable obstacle.. Let the fully trained nurse remember that on her example and teaching may some time rest the issue of life or death, and then she will neither be "distressful nor overbearing" to those under her, whether professional or voluntary, who are giving of their best to help in the grim emergency of these days. In conclusion, I will quote the words of the greatest woman of them all—Florence Nightingale—who in Addresses to her Nurses says :—
" I have boon in positions of authority myself, and have tried to remember that to use such an advantage inconsiderately is— cowardly. . . . No one can trample on others, and govern them. . . . That authority is the most complete which is least perceived or asserted."
To my mind that is the "last word" of wisdom to those in
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