Page:Nurses for the sick.djvu/15

Rh thought to be a necessary accompaniment of her work. As to a religious mind being at all essential to its performance, we suppose that such an idea was hardly ever entertained. The race of old women who undertook to nurse private patients were, generally speaking, ignorant and vulgar, acting upon experience or prejudice rather than from actual knowledge.

We hardly know what led to the first stir of public opinion or action that was made upon this subject in England; but we believe the first effort that was made to improve the character of nurses for the sick was when Mrs. Fry added to her other noble efforts the establishment of a small institution for training nurses for private families. This still exists, and carries on its useful labours in London.

We are not aware of any other effort that succeeded this till the year 1848, when, under the sanction of the late Bishop of London, the "St. John's House Institution for Training Nurses" was opened. It included from the first the additional object of supplying good nurses for hospitals, but this part of the plan was only carried out much later. So difficult was it to move and interest public opinion on these