Page:A short history of nursing - Lavinia L Dock (1920).djvu/23

Rh and kindness. To trace nursing fully in this phase of its development it would be necessary to follow the path trodden, first, by spontaneous human good will, and later by conscious, dutiful undertakings of charity, which gradually became more and more organized to meet the needs of the dependent, and to create methods of dealing with the social problems of poverty, helplessness, and illness, all related as they have ever been. Such human customs became embodied in religious precepts. It is probable that in this search we should find, during many ages, some attempt at nursing care carried on by men, as a part of the public duties from which women were largely excluded.

The work of nursing the sick has, in the past, had a greater share in the dramatic and picturesque features of social life than other social and lines of so-called women's work. At epochal historical periods our profession has taken on unique and surprising forms, and prominent nurses, both men and women, have led lives of high adventure and distinction. The call of nursing is to follow the sick and injured wherever they are; thus it has often had periods of full publicity when it has shared in all the pageantry of war and peace. This dramatic character, with