Page:A short history of nursing - Lavinia L Dock (1920).djvu/303

287 Nursing in other Countries 287 Among the countries where the dominant system is still that of religious orders there are some, such as the South American republic, where Countries it may be said, no other organized where nurs- nursing exists. Others, as Spain, /°e^yeiig- ^ lous orders IS where some slight attempts at modem the prevail- methods have not in the least affected the general fixed conditions. There are others, such as Austria before the war, where the prevalent system was that of the religious Sisterhood, but where large city hospitals had completely laicized their wards by dismissing the Sisters and employ- ing only paid attendants, with results so bad from the standpoint of nursing and morals that no worse conditions could be thought of. The Austrian Catholic Sisterhoods, like the German, made very little use of lay attendants. They did the ward work themselves, and so far as their training went did it conscientiously and well. Their hospitals were clean and pleasant, their patients kindly cared for and contented. Those Sisters were also quite keen on introducing modern hospital and housekeeping equipment and offered, in a word, excellent material for training. There are, finally, countries where the modem system is taking firm root, and bringing about /