Page:A short history of nursing - Lavinia L Dock (1920).djvu/340

324 324 A Short History of Nursing ness, sanitation, etc. This left the situation so unsettled that an amendment was presently given out, placing the head nurse in full charge of the ward. But this left the staff nurse where she was before. Moreover, the regulation was so verbose and inconspicuous that it fell flat. The women working for relative rank were not satisfied, and though the war came to an end with their purpose unattained, they declared their intention to con- tinue the effort. They had sought an Act of Con- gress, presented a bill and had a hearing where all the arguments were clearly set forth and the re- luctant grudging attitude of many men high in the army and Surgeon-General's ofhce made evident. The entire legal part of the work, with the plea made at the hearing, was carried through admir- ably and with complete understanding by Helen Hoy Greeley, of the New York bar, who, at first, gave her time, afterwards being retained by the organized profession. In 1920, rank for nurses was voted affirmatively by both houses of Congress. Its adoption is just, yet many friends of nurses have misgivings in regard to the spiritual effect it may have in creat- ing among nurses a military caste, and develop- ing among them a championship of the cult of Mars.