Page:A short history of nursing - Lavinia L Dock (1920).djvu/265

249 Nursing in other Countries 249 Nightingale, hospital reorganization went on rapidly in the large hospitals supported by volun- tary contributions, and more slowly, but still steadily, in the vast infirmaries connected with workhouses under the Poor Law. The old sys- tem of nursing had passed away entirely within twenty-five years after the Nightingale School was founded. Yet it was difficult for English nurses to advance their educational claim as they wished, and to free themselves from the control of their hospital schools after training, because directors or trustees of English hospitals, who were chosen primarily for their ability to raise funds and administer the business side of the hospitals, did not understand educational aspirations, nor did they create special training school committees of women. Even the council of the Nightingale Fund was composed entirely of men, and other so-called nursing com- mittees of hospitals were formed in the same way. This is the explanation of the stiff fight that EngHsh nurses have had to make for professional liberty. They have been far more closely subjected to the domination of laymen than we have been, and English Matrons have been far more in the complete power of hospital boards. As a general statement, it may be said that the attitude of