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Provincial Board of Health","@language":"en"}],"DateAvailable":[{"@value":"2015-03","@language":"en"}],"DateIssued":[{"@value":"1932-03","@language":"en"}],"DigitalResourceOriginalRecord":[{"@value":"https:\/\/open.library.ubc.ca\/collections\/nursing\/items\/1.0383419\/source.json","@language":"en"}],"Extent":[{"@value":"54 pages : photographs","@language":"en"}],"FileFormat":[{"@value":"application\/pdf","@language":"en"}],"FullText":[{"@value":" IPEPT, OF NURSING & HEALTH\nISSUED BY THE\nPROVINCIAL BOARD OF HEALTH, BRITISH COLUMBIA\nPublic Health Nurses' Bulletin\nVol. 1\nMARCH, 1932.\nNo. 9\nm\nmm\n^%~i\n\u2022f^3BSk.\n*W\u00abm&m^?&<&ffi0$<0%^\n. w   _*,\nARMSTRONG FIRST-AID TEAM,  WINNERS  OF THE LEONARD  SHffl|J), 1931.\n1 CONGRATULATIONS. .\nIT HAS been said by an eminent authority, \"A Public Health Nurse\nis much more than a graduate of a good hospital. She may be doing\ninfant-welfare, school-nursing, tuberculosis or bedside nursing\u2014an infinite variety of combinations\u2014but she must understand how to enter the\nhomes of the simple people, she must knoAv hoAV to teach and advise\nacceptably when she gets there, she must know hoAy to get results in her\ncommunity.\"\nSo, because you are succeeding so well in fulfilling the strenuous\ndemands a Public Health Nurse's job entails; because you are carrying\nforAvard the enviable record and reputation the Provincial Board of\nHealth has in the eyes of its neighbours; because of your high courage,\nyour zeal and enthusiasm, your splendid response to every situation\u2014\nCONGRATULATIONS.\n la\nX\nif\nV\nv\n+\nx\nf\/^\"\n1&\nTABLE OF CONTENTS.\nPage.\nCongratulations . Front page.\nEditorial 1  3\nNorth of the Peace River.   By M. Claxton, R.N  3\nCarrying the Message of Health to Sayward, B.C.    By Edith M. Walls, R.N. 5\nOur Responsibility for the Health of the School-children.    By Elizabeth E.\nMartin, R.N 1  6\nChanges that are being made at Saanich Health Centre.    By Esther S.\nNaden, R.N  8\nSchool-nursing in Reatelstoke.   By Amy A. Lee, R.N  9\nThe Public Health Nurse and Child-study Groups.    By Margaret E. Kerr,\nR.N  10\nSummary of a Year's Work.   By Hilda E. Barton, R.N ,... 12\nVitamins for Health and Strength.   By Annie F. Grindon, R.N.....1*UJUm#>a..... 13\nI Health Must Come First.\"    By Helen Kelly, R.N fta.4M*<^t  16\nHealth-teaching.    By M. A. Twiddy, R.N i^sXuJLh^.  17\nGetting the Pre-school Child Ready'.    By Eileen M. Carruthers, R.N...b^^^> 19\nHealth and Happiness for the Rural Families.   By Isabella Craig, R.N.SjUiht 20\nThoughts on taking over a District.   By Emily G. Allen, Ti.N..hlS!&srt4fc&&f... 21\nI Finding your Footing.\"    By Margaret F. Sutherland, R.N  22\nAdvancement along Preventive Lines.    By Mary E. Grierson, R.N...?^*aA>.:  23\nNeav Developments in Health-teaching and Clinics in Nanaimo,   By Muriel\nUpshall, R.N  24\nKeeping a New Year's Resolution.   By B. Thompson, R.N  25\nThe Possibilities in a Well-coordinated Plan of Development.    By Geraldine\nHomfray, R.N \u00a3JLAik |9ft-  27-\nHow Impetigo can Travel !    By Heather Kilpatrick, R.N  29\nMeasles.    By Elizabeth Lowther, R.N ;dL^a.&  30\nHurrah for a Bowl of Soup !    By Edith W. Tisdall, R.N  31\nPublic Health in Kamloops, B.C.    By Olive M. Garrood, R.N  32\nPublic Health Service South of the Peace River, B.C.    By Nancy E. Dunn,\nR.N  34\nThe Chest Clinic in a Rural Community.   By Bertha Jenkins, R.N  36\nHealth-work in Armstrong.   By P. Charlton, R.N  36\nViews upon Education.    By Winifred E. Seymour, R.N A  38\n-What I have learned about the Hindu people.    By Velma Miller, R.N..U*J~-Hlt39\nThe Effects of the Depression on Public Health.   By Myrtle E. Harvey, R.N. 41\n\" First Impressions.\"    By Olive Ings, R.N Cpu4Ajp|txs\u00ab  42\nI Out of the Mouths of Babes    .\u2022  .   . \"    By M. Fyvie Young, R.N  43\nThe Public-health Attitude.   By H. Hillas, R.N  45\nA Day spent in the Mennonite Settlement at Yarrow.    By Marion T. Card-\nwell, R.N  45\nThe Old Sulphur Candle.    By Norah Armstrong, R.N  47\nSome Experiences in the University Health Service.   By Celia A. Lucas,\nR.N  48\nFrench Creek and District.    By Dorothy.E. MacKenzie, R.N  52\nHealth Insurance and Public Health.   By Dorothy E. MacKenzie, R.N  52\nPersonals  ;  53\n EDITORIAL.\nIt has been my privilege to be editor of the Public Health Nurses'\nBulletin for three years now. Perhaps because an editor has to be on\nclose watch for misspellings, faulty grammatical construction, and, occasionally, ambiguities, I have read each article with a great deal of care.\nMy enthusiasm knows no bounds, for this issue contains some of the most\ninteresting articles I have read in any periodical for a long time. It\nseems to me an indication of our groAvth that there is a branching-out\nof the subject-matter in many directions. A more or less stereotyped\nform of article that reports progress only in terms of the number of\nvisits made or the number of clinics held is missing the real purpose and\nvalue of this Bulletin. The underlying motive in Avriting any article\nshould be, is there anything worth while in what I have written? Will\nit help even one person to do a better job because of inspiration she has\nreceived from my article? If we do not lose sight of that objective, all\nour articles Avill be so worth while that Ave Avill be beseeching the Provincial Health Officer to publish the Bulletin more frequently than once\na year.\nMany articles in this book make interesting reading. You will be\ninterested to read about Mrs. Thomson getting stranded in the Similka-\nmeen River; of how Miss Claxton's trip of 60 miles up in the Peace\nRiver country took her three days; of Miss Cardwell's descent upon the\nMennonite schools, etc. There are so many articles that you Avill be\ninterested in that I cannot enumerate further incidents. But I would\nlike to recommend to you especially those by Miss Miller and Mrs.\nGrindon.\nIn view of the fact that smallpox cases of a virulent type have been\npresent in Vancouver, we Avould recommend for careful perusal the\narticles written by Mrs. C. A. Lucas and Miss Armstrong.\nOur combined thanks to the Provincial Board of Health for the\nBulletin.\nM. E. K.\nNORTH OF THE PEACE RIVER.\nPublic-health Ayork as undertaken north of the Peace is probably,\nI think, unique in British Columbia. There are several reasons for this.\nOne being that it is not a whole-time job, but is carried on in conjunction\nwith hospital-Avork in a little Red Cross Outpost. Another reason being\nthat it is essentially a pioneer country, and the settlers are very poor\nin this world's goods and very widely scattered. Many of them have\nbeen driven out of the Prairie Provinces by a succession of poor crops,\nand arrive here with practically nothing, to start all over again in a\nmore fertile land. Some of them come in covered wagons, having driven\ntheir stock before them for many hundreds of miles.\nTheir homes in many cases consist for some time of tents and shacks,\nusually plastered up Avith mud to withstand the climate; all their efforts\n3\n being directed towards breaking land and raising feed for their stock as\nsoon as possible, and procuring the bare necessities of life for themselves\nand families.\nEven among settlers who have been in for several years very little\nactual money changes hand, but business is largely carried on by the old\nmethod of exchange and barter.\nLife being such an uphill fight, and the settlers being so occupied in\njust I keeping the wolf from the door,\" it is not altogether surprising to\nfind that, although they appreciate a District Nurse, and are glad to have\na little place where their babies can be born,- the majority of them do not\nsee much sense in preventive medicine.\nHoAvever, one has to remember that | Rome was not built in a day,\"\nand it is no good getting discouraged. By helping them in every way\npossible their confidence is gained and the Avay made open for the\n\"word in season.\"\nBecause the distances are so great and the roads so often impassable\nfor some reason or other, the obstetrical cases usually come down to the\nOutpost in plenty of time.\nThat waiting-time can be made very profitable. Their minds are\nusually in a receptive mood, and away from their household cares the\nwomen have more time and opportunity to think than they haATe had for\na long time.\nChild-welfare in all its phases is discussed and all the family problems brought to light; and it is not only the mothers who come in for\nhealth discussions, but often the fathers and husbands too.\nIt so often happens that when the neAV father visits the patient, or\ncomes to take her home, he has to rest and feed his horses, and so joins\nus at a meal. This is often an opportunity for a lively discussion on\nsome health question, such as vaccination or immunization of the new\noffspring. We hope that some new aspects of these subjects are shown\nup, and, at least sometimes, help given toAvards breaking down old\nprejudices.\nAs I remarked before, very little money appears available up here\njust now, and hospital fees, if paid at all, are often paid in kind\u2014such\nas a pig or a quarter of beef for a new baby, and a load of wood or a\ncouple of fowls for a pneumonia case!\nWhen things are quiet in the Outpost, outlying schools and babies\nare visited on horseback or foot. In the fall, Avhen no patients were\nexpected in the Outpost for at least a Aveek, a visit was paid to Hudson\nHope, Avhich is, I suppose, the most westerly point of this district.\nThough only 60 miles away, it took us three days each way to make\nthe trip. The trail is very difficult in places, though very beautiful, winding sometimes along by the Peace, and sometimes going many miles\ninland to skirt deep ravines and canyons.\nA woman missionary accompanied me, and we visited nearly every\none along the trail. Some of the homesteaders are 7 or 10 miles from\nanother habitation. The women live lonely if busy lives, and seemed\nvery pleased to see us; gladly putting us up for the night.    Some of them\n4\n had not seen another Avoman to speak to for months, as very few go that\nway.\nWe visited the tiny school at the Halfway, and rounded up schoolchildren, pre-schoolers, and all the inhabitants of the small settlement\u2014\nmy friend, the missionary, with a view to their spiritual needs, and I to\ntheir bodily.\nIt was a new experience to both of us to ford the rushing Halfway\nRiver, but we Avere carefully shown the best place to enter and how to\navoid the undercurrents, and so arrived at the other side safely, if somewhat wet.\nAnother tiny school to visit at the Hope, and a day spent in visiting\nprenatals, preschoolers, etc., and then Ave took the homeAvard trail again.\nThe last night on the trail my horse broke loose and got away,\nleaving me stranded a good 20 miles from home. However, I didn't have\nto walk, as some one lent me another horse, and Paddy, the runaway,\nturned up at home a few days later.\nThough nothing spectacular in the way of public-health work was\ndone on the trip, I felt at least that a few useful contacts were made,\na few words of warning spoken, a few of encouragement, a little help\ngiven in regard to a difficult infant-feeding case, a couple of prenatals\nfound, and two children with defective vision discovered in the schools.\nAnd, incidentally, my own mind refreshed and my eyes opened still more\nto the needs of the people.\nM. Claxton, R.N.\nCARRYING THE MESSAGE OF HEALTH TO SAYWARD, B.C.\nIt is with much pleasure that I submit a brief summary of work\ndone during the year 1931. The school is visited twice a month, and\noftener if necessary. Child-AArelfare Adsits are made every month where\nthere are babies and children under school age. Nursing visits are given\nwhere necessary and I try to keep in touch with the doctor on the\nColumbia Coast Mission boat. They call in at Kelsey Bay every tAvo\nAveeks when possible. Sometimes they cannot keep to schedule owing\nto storms and urgent calls. Any patient Avishing to see the doctor goes,\nif possible, to Kelsey Bay. The doctor visits them if they require it.\nThe district is scattered, though small, and there are still some families\nof the old school that do not believe in tonsillectomy and preventive\nmethods in stamping out epidemics when it is possible to do so, by\ngetting the children immunized against some of the infectious diseases.\nOne must, hoAvever, be satisfied with the minority that are progressive,\nand even that is worth Avhile. During the year there have been one case\nof scarlet fever and two cases of German measles, and during the months\nof December and January it seemed that every one had influenza; but\nthe school-children are all at school and the majority of the people are\nbetter.\nThe Lower Sayward School Avas not opened last September, as there\nwere not enough pupils, but an arrangement was made between the\n5,\n trustees of both schools and the Education Department to send the\npupils from the lower end to the Upper Sayward School. A closed car\nwas engaged for the term and so the Ave pupils are able to get to school.\nNext year I think there will be enough pupils to open the Lower School,\nas there are more children ready to start school.\nDr. Youlden, from Victoria, was in SayAvard last August to attend\nto the teeth of school and pre-school children.\nThe annual fair was held last September. The school-children took\nan active part in the way of school-Avork, vegetable-growing, sewing, and\ncooking, taking several prizes. A health exhibit was put on, where literature, health foods, and posters were exhibited; prizes being given for\nthe latter. The posters were made by the school-children. There were\nalso races, etc., for children. After the judging Avas over the literature\nwas distributed amongst visitors and residents.\nAt Christmas the school-children gave an excellent concert, consisting of singing, recitations, and dialogue, ending up with a health play\nby Santa Claus and the school-children. Santa Claus then distributed\npresents and candies to all the children off the Christmas tree. Great\ncredit is due the teacher, Miss SteAvart, for her untiring work and\ninterest in the children, Avhich made it a success. Credit also is due the\nchildren for their hearty co-operation in learning their parts so well.\nThe question of cocoa for school lunches I have brought up, but the\nmajority of children have thermos flasks and bring hot milk or cocoa in\nthem for school. In that way they get the hot drink at noon. I am\nvery interested in the Avork in general and hope the time will come when\nthere Avill be complete co-operation between parents, teachers, and nurses\nin the way of prevention and health laws for children.\nI have received copies of several of the radio talks on infectious diseases and have read a paper each month at the Women's Institute meeting. The radio talks are very helpful and are put as plainly as possible,\nso that any one can understand them. I received them from the Greater\nVancouver Health League. I have some papers yet to read at the meetings and I am sure they will be enjoyed by the members.\nEdith M. Walls, R.N.\nOUR RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE HEALTH OF THE\nSCHOOL-CHILDREN.\nAnother year has gone by, and, considering everything, I think that\nAve have had an unusually good year.\nOne of .the things accomplished this year was the immunization of\nabout 500 of our school-children. We had no local cases of diphtheria,\nbut several Indian children living between Vernon and Kamloops were\nbrought into our isolation hospital. This Avas a great help in putting\nthe. immunization across.\n There has been no vaccination clinic for some years, but vaccination\nhas been done from time to time by local physicians, especially since the\noutbreak of smallpox in Vancouver and cities south of the line. We are\ntrying to arrange a clinic to be held in the near future.\nFor the past feAV years I have conducted Little Mothers' League\nclasses among the Grade VIII. girls. We have now finished the course\nfor this year and fifty of the girls have written essays and received marks\nfor them.\nHome-nursing classes have now been started with the Grade IX.\ngirls. In this course we take: (a) Bedside-nursing; (6) feeding the\nsick; (c) hoAV to give treatments and medicines; (d) communicable diseases; (e) emergencies and slight ailments; (\/) health in the home;\n(g) infant-care; (h) the feeding of infants and children.\nThese classes Avill continue until the end of June. I have carried\nthem on each year and think that they are a great help not only to the\ngirls themselves, but to those at home and others Avith whom they come\nin contact. There are thirty-three attending the classes this year.\nI have also done some of this Avork with the Girl Guides and have gone\nto camp with them as camp nurse for the past two years.\nDuring the cold Aveather all school lunches are eaten in one of the\nclass-rooms under supervision. A great number of these children carry\nthermos bottles; others bring part of their lunch, soup, etc., in a glass\ncontainer with a screw-top. These are heated on an electric plate in one\nschool and on a jacketed stove in another. The majority of our children\nare exceptionally sturdy and the percentage of underweights fairly low.\nProvision is also made to give milk and cod-liver oil during the winter\nmonths for undernourished children.\nLast winter the I.O.D.E. organized and operated a soup-kitchen.\nA relief-room was also established to provide clothing, shoes, etc. This\nwinter a committee was formed, representing all the societies of the city.\nFunds have been raised by voluntary contribution, the school staffs giving\n5 per cent, of their salaries as their contribution. A community chest\nAvas formed to proAdde Avork, food, and clothing for those who are in\nimmediate need of help. In this Avay shoes and clothing have been provided for our needy school-children. A Avonderful work is being done,\nthe people of the valley displaying, as always, a fine spirit of generosity\nand kind-heartedness to those in need.\nDr. Lamb visited this district twice and held clinics. A number of\nadults and twenty-two children attended. No trouble of a serious nature\nAAras found among these children, although some are watched carefully\nand examined periodically.\nThere is a decided improvement in the condition of the teeth of our\nschool-children. It is good, and Ave are trying to make it still better by\nstimulating the interest of the children and parents and taking care of\nindigent cases through our school dental fund.\nThrough the kindness of Dr. Ootmar a health exhibit was held in the\nhome-economics rooms last fall.    The parents were invited to attend, and\n7\n the exhibit was also used to give practical lessons in food values by the\nhome-economics teacher.\nA baby and pre-school age clinic Avas held during the year and was\nwell attended.\nAs I go from grade to grade, giving our children health talks, I\nrealize more and more the Avonderful opportunity and great responsibility\nthat is ours. I feel sure that the earnest health-teachers, no matter\nwhere they are, are developing a health consciousness among our children,\ninstilling into their minds character-building material that is going to\nbe a tremendous help in the years to come.\nElizabeth E. Martin, R.N.\nCHANGES THAT ARE BEING MADE AT  SAANICH\nHEALTH CENTRE.\nAgain we have had several changes at the Saanich Health Centre.\nMiss Clare Rose resigned last June to be married. Miss Audrey Paine\nwas transferred to Ladysmith in July. Miss Margaret Sutherland and\nMiss Heggie Hillas, Sc.31, U.B.C., arrived in August to take over their\nduties.\nDue to the general financial depression our committee has been\npondering over ways and means to curtail expenses. To our great satisfaction our staff has been left intact. We trembled for the fate of the\nschool dentist, but his excellent work and the satisfactory results proved\nthat it would be false economy to dispense with his services. Needless\nto say, the fees collected are considerably less than usual and more\nchildren are in need of free work.\nThe Health Centre building has a number of rooms which have been\nunused. The upkeep has been very considerable. A janitor service has\nbeen necessary and fuel, light, water, laundry, etc., have been large items\neach month. The committee has decided to rent the building to Mrs.\nThomson, a graduate nurse, who intends to start a private hospital. The\nnurses and doctor are keeping their offices as at present. The nurses\nare, for the time being at least, keeping their living-quarters, but we\nare making our own arrangements AAdth Mrs. Thomson and the Health\nCentre Committee will haAre no further responsibility in this regard.\nThe proposed arrangement will save the municipality between $1,500\nand $2,000 a year and there will be no curtailment in the services.\nWe Avere very pleased to have our old Ford replaced with a 1929\nChevrolet Sedan, Avhich has travelled only a feAv thousand miles and has\nbeen well cared for.\nWe were sorry to lose some of the members of our committee, but\ntheir places have been well filled, and we feel that our work and our\nWelfare have received every consideration from the committee and the\nmunicipal authorities as a Avhole.\nTo the ProAdncial Board of Health we owe our sincere gratitude\nfor their unfailing help and encouragement throughout the past year.\nEsther S. Naden, R.N. .\n SCHOOL-NURSING IN. REVELSTOKE.\nI can hardly believe that a year has passed since our Refresher\nCourse, and that it is time for another Bulletin to be printed. I think\nwe each look forward to seeing AAdiat the other is doing, and as we are\nnot having our Refresher Course this year, the Bulletin will be even\nmore interesting than other years, if that is possible.\nOn looking over my reports for the last eighteen months, I am fairly\nwell pleased with the results. It has been a hard year financially, and\none hardly likes to ask parents to have their children's defects attended\nto. But then, again, how important it is for the child to be rid of any\nhandicap! I am encouraged by the way parents have come to me and\nhave asked me about their children, and with the number who have had\ntheir defects attended to.\nLast April our two local dentists gave their services free; they\ncame into the schools and examined every child's mouth thoroughly.\nA chart was then sent home with each pupil, and the parent was able to\nsee just Avhat was the condition of the teeth. This, I think, has been a\ngreat help Avith the dental work.\nIn June, 1931, I found a number of children many of whom, though\nnot underAveight, had failed to gain in Aveight during the school-year.\nI visited most of the homes and drew the parents' attention to this,\nalso to any defect the child might have. I got a splendid response.\nIn one class there were eighteen out of forty who had not gained in\nweight. This year they have all made their gain. A number have had\nteeth attended to; others, some other defect, or the mother has been\nmore particular about the child's diet. In some cases where I did not\nget the co-operation of the parents I would ask our school doctor to\nspeak to them. This failing, I found the School Inspector could do\nwonders in helping me to persuade the parent some treatment was\nnecessary for the child's welfare. There was, for instance, one boy\nAvhose eyes were defective. He was also losing weight and having to\nbe sent home with a sick headache nearly every day. I paid several\nfruitless visits to the home; I asked the school doctor to speak t'o the\nparents, which he did, but with no result. Then I spoke to the Inspector\nabout it and he said he Avould see the father. The father promised to\nhave the boy's eyes tested some time, but the Inspector said, | Not some\ntime, but now. May I take the boy for you?\" The boy's eyes were\ntested and glasses given. He gained 9 lb. from October to January and\nnever had to be sent home with a sick headache.\nThis Avinter I received a lot of splendid information about most of\nthe poorer people of Revelstoke by working on the Investigating Committee for the Christmas Cheer. It gave me an insight into who the\nmost deserving cases Avere. I hope in the future some of the organizations here will take up child-welfare work, so we may be able to have\nsome of the children, whose parents cannot afford to have their defects\nattended to, looked after. Dr. Young's splendid address to the Rotary\nClub and the Canadian Club last fall has certainly made the people\nmuch more interested in school-nursing.    One result of his talk Avas\n9\n that the Local Chapters of the I.O.D.E. and the Women's Auxiliary\nto the Canadian Legion have offered to put milk in the schools for the\nunderweight children, or children Avho are not gaining in weight.\nLast year skin-diseases presented a great many difficulties. This\nyear I have excluded three pupils for scabies. One had just come from\nVancouver. All other skin conditions, which have been very few, I\nhave been able to treat in the schools. I think I have all the children\ntrained to believe it is a very great disgrace to haA'e a skin condition\nand not report to me or their teacher, and that it will be serious for\nthem if I find it when doing my class-room inspections.\nWe have 760 children attending school. Two hundred and forty of\nthese have received dental treatment since my coming here in September,\n1930; twenty-nine have had their eyes tested and have been giATen glasses;\nten more have had their glasses changed and eyes retested; eight have\nhad treatment for ear conditions; sixteen have had their tonsils removed;\nseven have had treatment for goitre.\nAmy A. Lee, R.N.\nTHE PUBLIC HEALTH NURSE AND CHILD-STUDY GROUPS.\nWhen the first District Nurse commenced her work among the poor\npeople of Liverpool some seventy-five years ago, she was looked upon\nwith many misgivings by the better educated, more wealthy members\nof the community. Later, when her work Avas expanded to include\nschool-nursing, the Boards of Education and their supporters were\nunanimous in their challenge\u2014that this new departure Avas beyond the\nprovince of the nurse. The upheaval in the social structure as a result\nof the Great War and the realization of the tremendous handicap placed\nupon children by parental neglect led to the development of extensive\nprogrammes in the care of the infant and the pre-school child. This\nincreased demand required a far higher standard of knowledge and\ntraining than heretofore for the Public Health Nurse, and resulted in\na wider range of university courses adapted to meet the needs of the\nsituation.\nWithin recent years a neAV task has been laid upon this group of\nnurses, who are now shouldering many new responsibilities. The average parents re becoming more concerned all the time with the psychological development of the child. They have realized that there is a\ngreat gulf lying between their children and themselves in mutual assistance, companionship, and understanding. They are reaching out for\nmore help, and the Public Health Nurse, in response to this | felt need,\"\nis striving to adjust her teaching to include this new development.\nForemost among the organized groups Avho are thus contemplating\nthis psychological phenomenon, the child, is the Parent-Teacher Association. Child-study groups haAre been developed in many organizations\nwhere problems relating to behaviour, moral training, etc'., are discussed.\nIt is with this group that there appears a real opportunity for the Public\n10\n Health Nurse with a broad understanding of children and a background\nof psychology.\nThere are many communities where these study groups have not\nyet been formed. In the rural communities Avhere there are no Parent-\nTeacher Associations, the Women's Institutes are very often eager for\njust this type of development. The Public Health Nurse frequently\nhas to take the initiative in the formation of these groups, and as an\naid to her I am appending a suggested outline of topics and the titles\nof a few books which are valuable aids in almost any branch of child-\nstudy the group may undertake.\nEvery now and then you hear of a nurse, engaged in rural work,\nwho remarks that after she has been out all day in the district,, home\nlooks the best place in the Avorld to her in the evening. That nurse has\na peculiar opportunity that is denied her city sister. The recreational\nand educational facilities of the rural district are limited. Even in\nthis modern day, when the radio contributes lectures on worth-while\ntopics and it is possible to procure educational motion-picture films, there\nis a distinct gap between the provision made for an enriched educational\nservice in city and rural communities. This opportunity is afforded the\nrural nurse through the medium of the study group.\nAmong parents, one will occasionally be found who frowns upon a\nyoung nurse giving advice on child training and care. The nurse has\nample justification, as she can readily demonstrate to the parent.\nThe study of child-psychology teaches us that there are definite\ndifferences in all children. Many of them suffer from mental or physical\nhandicaps which tend toward the deArelopment of an inferiority complex.\nParents must realize that it is not the actual handicap that counts, but\nthe child's attitude toward it. They must strive to give the child the\nbest background possible, not pushing him beyond the limit possible\nfor his inherited ability, but allowing him scope to develop all his potentialities.\nTopics may be chosen from the folloAving for discussion at the meetings of the study groups. There are many other topics that will suggest\nthemselves to the leader of the group as the discussions progress.\n(1.) Heredity and the individual differences in inheritance.\n(2.)  Environment as a controlling factor on heredity.\n(3.)  Development from birth to maturity.\n(4.)  How habits are formed.\n(5.)  DeAreloping attitudes.\n(6.)  Fears, and other emotions.\n(7.)  Moral training.    A child's ideas of punishment.\n(8.)  Temper tantrums and other behaviour difficulties.\n(9.)  Play interests of children.\n(10.)  Children's interests in collecting.\n(11.)  Children's books.\n(12.) A child's ideas of religion, etc.\nThere are many very valuable books that may be procured. Many\ncan be borrowed from the Open Shelf of the Provincial Library.    Many\n11\n others are available at other libraries. The average nurse cannot afford\nto buy a large library, but certain books are invaluable in child-study.\nI am including the name of the publisher and the approximate price of\nthe various books:\u2014\n(1.) Blatz, Wm. E., and Bott, Helen McH.:   Parents and the Preschool Child (Dent & Sons, Toronto, 1929).    Price, $1.50.\n(2.)  de Schweinitz, K.: Growing Up (Macmillan Co., Toronto, 1928).\nPrice, $1.75.\n(3.)  Thorn, Douglas M.: Every-day Problems of the Every-day Child\n(D. Appleton & Sons, NeAv York, 1927).    Price, $2.50.\n(4.) Blanton, Smiley:   Child Guidance (Century & Co., New York,\n1927).    Price, $2.25.\n(5.)  Terman, L. M., and De Lima:  Children's Books and Reading\u2014\nA Guide for Parents (D. Appleton & Sons, NeAv York, 1926).   Price, $2.25.\n(6.) Bolton, F.:   Adolescent Education (Macmillan Co., Toronto).\nPrice, $2.50.\n(7.)  Tisdall, Fred F.: The Home Care of the Infant and Child (J. M.\nDent & Sons, Toronto).\n(8.) Brooks, F. B.: Psychology of Adolescence (Houghton & Mifflin,\nSan Francisco).    Price, $3.\n(9.)  Jones, A. G.:  Vocational Guidance (McGraw-Hill, New York).\n(10.)  Richardson,   Frank:    The   Nervous   Child   and   his   Parents\n(Putnam's Sons).    Price, $2.50.\n(11.) Von Gruber: Hygiene of Sex (Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore).\n(12.) Newman, H.:  Education for Normal Growth (D. Appleton &\nSons, New York).\n(13.) Heaton, K. L.:   Character Building through Recreation (University of Chicago Press).    Price, $1.85.\n(14.) Blatz and Bott:  The Management of Young Children (McLel-\nland & Stewart).\n(15.)  A'an Water, M.: Youth in Conflict (NeAv Republic, NeAv York).\nPrice, $1.\nMargaret E. Kerr, R.N.\nSUMMARY OF A YEAR'S WORK.\nThe second year of the Westbank-Peachland District is past and the\ngeneralized programme that we are carrying out here has proved very\ninteresting.\nVisits.\u2014Five hundred and twenty-three nursing visits were made;\n237 educational visits, including prenatal, postnatal, and infant-welfare;\nand seven confinements attended.\nClinics.\u2014Under the supervision of Dr. Ootmar, M.H.O., five well-\nbaby and pre-school clinics were held in Westbank, with a total attendance of sixty. We all appreciate Dr. Ootmar's keen interest in this\nbranch of our work.\n12\n Chest clinics were held in Kelowna Hospital in March and September. Fourteen T.B. suspects from Westbank-Peachland District were\nexamined by. Dr. Lamb, Travelling Diagnostician.\nIn Peachland a class of thirteen girls completed a course of twelve\nlessons in mother-craft. The closing exercises took place in May, when\nthe girls received their certificates and pins. In October the class\nrepeated this demonstration to the Peachland Women's Institute.\nSchool-work.\u2014Regular school inspections have been made. Health\ntalks Avere given and the children encouraged to establish good health\nhabits. One hundred and seventy-three home visits Avere made in the\ninterests of the children.\nIn March, 1931, Grades I. to V. in Westbank ToAvnsite School gave\na concert to raise funds for a much-needed lunch-cupboard. A play\nentitled | Milk the World Over \" Avas a leading number. The sum of\n$18.50 was realized. The splendid co-operation of the teacher, Miss\nMossey, and the, mothers avIio made candy to be sold the night of the\nconcert, and the enthusiasm of the pupils themselves aided in making\nthis concert a success.\nIndian Reserve.\u2014It is pleasing to note the friendly attitude these\nIndians have toAvard the nurse compared to Avhat it was a year ago.\nNursing care is given when necessary, and then I have an opportunity\nto give the whole family a health lesson, stressing the importance of\nreporting any illness to the nurse.\nWe are indeed grateful to the Westbank Women's Institute for the\nfurnishing of the nurse's office Avith a desk, cot, and curtains.\nHilda E. Barton, R.N.\n\" VITAMINS FOR HEALTH AND STRENGTH! \"-\nEXHIBIT AT KELOWNA,  B.C.\n-A HEALTH\nThe best time for a health exhibit concerning the value of vitamins\nis undoubtedly in the fall of the year, Avhen the thoughts of all are\ncentred on the rich harvest of field and garden produce, and there are\nmany varied hoine-groAvn and home canned vegetables and fruits which\nmay be used for demonstration purposes.\nWith this thought in mind at the time of the KeloAvna Fall Fair,\nDr. G. A. Ootmar, District Medical Officer of Health, planned an\nexhibit of fruit and vegetables which would interest the general public\nin the vitamin values contained in their OAvn home-grown produce.\nA large expanse of floor-space was needed for the exhibit, which was\ndisplayed in an emptied well-lighted school-room.\nSome 150 different varieties of fresh and canned vegetables, fruits,\nand foodstuffs were shown, each separately arranged on a labelled picnic\ncardboard plate, together Avith the appropriate number of differently\ncoloured 1-inch wooden cubes, to represent the relative distribution of\nvitamins A, B, and C in that particular vegetable or fruit. -\n13\n 14\n It was most interesting and instructive to walk around the tables\nand note the different Adtamin values of each food material displayed;\nalso the difference in vitamin content of dried and canned fruits and\nvegetables compared with the fresh article.\nPosters Avere hung on the surrounding blackboards, with blackboard\ndrawings and descriptions of the effect of the lack of vitamins A, B, C,\nand D on children, guinea-pigs, dogs, and rats.\nA special edition in booklet form of the Okanagan Health Journal,\nprepared for the exhibit by Dr. Ootmar, Avas given to all attending.\nOn the cover were the Avords | Many of us depend on neAVspapers for\nour education; their advertisements praise loudly the Avorth of the\nvitamins contained in the foods they advertise. With the aid of this\nspecial edition of the Health Journal you will find the vitamins in.the\nproduce of your own garden, orchard, poultry-yard, and dairy, and in\nthe store of your groceryman.\"\nIn this booklet interesting facts Avere given about Adtamins, Avritten\nin simple language, so that even the children could understand the full\nmeaning of the project.\nThe exhibit AVas especially much appreciated by the high-school and\nhome-economics pupils, who came in classes with their teacher, Miss\nWoodworth.\nIt is interesting to note that the Grade VIII. class in Home Economics made the highest average marks in the ProAdnce out of 150 classes\nwhich took the recent Provincial examination in food values.\nSpecial thanks were tendered to Dr. Ootmar for the help Avhich had\nbeen given through this valuable teaching display.\nIn appreciative co-operation with Dr. Ootmar's noArel idea, the Public\nHealth Nurses in their turn prepared an amusing exhibit for the younger\nchildren of vegetable mannequins, entitled \" The Vegetable Parade in\nHealth Land.\" An imposing \" House of Health \" (19 by 24 by 26 inches)\nstood in a large garden of vegetables, grass, and nut-trees. With stuccoed\nwalls of rolled oats, basement of dried peas, tiled roof of graham and\nsoda crackers, chimneys of milk-bottles, windoAV-curtains of lettuce-leaves,\nwindow-boxes of prunes and red peppers, door-posts and shutters of\nbrown bread, and door-steps of cheese, it looked most attractive. A Avide\ncurved driveway of rice, bordered with prune and raisin curbstones,\npassed in front of the doorway. At the bottom of the garden Avas a wall\nof prunes and raisins, Avith Avide drive-gates of macaroni.\nStanding at the door was \" Kind Nurse Milk,\" in blue dress and\nwhite cap and apron, holding by the hand little \"Eva Egg,\" whom she\nhad brought to see the \u00a7 Vegetable Health Parade \" marching by on the\nroad at the foot of the garden.\nHeading the parade Avas \" The Pure Gold Band,\" of seven carrots\ndressed in white trousers, blue capes, silver buttons, and small green-\npepper hats, led by a large Major Domo carrying the Union Jack and\na banner, J The Pure Gold Band. The Pride of Healthville. We put\nHealth in your cheeks and pep in your step! \" Mr. and Mrs. Bean from\nthe country in their new \" squash\"  car followed the band,  \" Queen\n15\n\u25a0\n Lettuce \" sitting in the back seat Avith a banner, 11 serve you well all\nthe year round.\" \" The Squash Car,\" with its green body, and steering-\ngear and wheels of beet-root which | really turned round,\" delighted the\nboys, small and big, and \" Queen Lettuce \" looked particularly attractive\nin the back seat, with her bright black eyes (pins) and frilly green skirts!\nNext came \"The Strong Family\"\u2014\"Onions for Health and Strength.\"\n1 Mr. and Mrs. Strong,\" with two children, dressed in green shorts\nand yellow skirts, doing their exercises Avith dumb-bells of peanuts!\nThese caused much amusement, but perhaps even more amusing were the\ncorn-cob horses with corn-silk tails and green-pepper heads, which made\nthem look like weird prehistoric animals. They Avere gallantly driven\nby the \"Fat Tomato Lady,\" in her jaunty hat of green pepper, seated\nin a chariot of cantaloupe Avith Avheels of beet-root, bearing the slogan,\nI Beets! we keep the wheels of your system running smoothly.\" As the\nKelowna Capital News expressed it, \"... Tavo horses of corn-cobs\nwith flowing cormtassel tails, draAving the 'Fat Lady' of the tomato\nfamily, expressed speed; their stream-line bodies and green-pepper heads\nlooked as if they would just \u25a0 eat up' any distance. ... All who\nsaw the display were most fascinated, and, Avhether young or old, will\nlong remember this unusual and interesting portrayal of health foods.\"\nBy special request the exhibit of the Health Nurses was afterAvards\nmoved to the Kelowna Public School, where it Avas much enjoyed by the\nchildren for several days until the vegetables faded.\nAn important feature of Dr. Ootmar's vitamin exhibit is that it\nCan be loaned to any organization which can supply the perishable fruits\nand vegetables locally. It has already been loaned to. different Women's\ninstitutes? and to the Home Economics Department in Vernon School\nfor teaching purposes. It has also been set up as a health exhibit at\nArmstrong Fall Fair, and has proved a most valuable method of impressing vitamin values in foods on the mind of \" the man in the street,\" who\nis naturally much interested in a project using his own home-grown\nproducts to demonstrate the presence of the valuable vitamins Avhich\nare so essential to the proper development and well-being of the human\nbody.\nAnne F. Grindon, R.N.\nI HEALTH MUST COME FIRST.\"\nAs I have been only six Aveeks in this district, I am not in a position\nto give a detailed resume of the work here. Upon my arrival, AArhen I\nfirst caught sight of the steep, snoAV-clad hills of Port Alberni, the thought\noccurred to me, Would I ever have nerve enough to climb those hills in\na car, haAdng been accustomed to driving on fairly flat-surfaced roads.\nIt seemed to me that transportation Would be a real difficulty, and I\nsoon found my fears had not been%roiindless.\nMore than once Avhen I had-started out on these icy roads I felt like\nturning back, but just kept on going.    It snowed almost continuously\n16\n for the first two weeks after I arrived here. The poem | Snow, Snow,\nbeautiful Snow.\" did not appeal to me in the least and I ardently wished\nit Would go, and lived in the thought, \" Spring is on the Avay.\"\nI spent a large part of the first month finding my Avay around,\nlocating the various schools and villages, and calling on the local people,\nwho did\" much to make me feel at home and showed a keen interest in\nthe work.\nI found the health-education programme well started, particularly\nin the infant-welfare department. The very great number of \u2022 young,\ninterested mothers, avIio were anxious to follow the advice giveii to\nthem, that their baby might have every chance in life, made me feel\nthat health education is beginning to be practised by the laity, and\nimpressed me very convincingly that more people from year to year\nare realizing that our aim is education in obtaining and maintaining\nhealth.\nIt has pleased me greatly since coming here to note the emphasis\nthat has been laid on child-welfare, and to find the mothers are now\nbeginning to understand better the importance of proper care in the\npre-school years of the child's life. I feel that much more intensive work\nat this period of the child-life must be accomplished by us. I found a\nAvell-established and Avell-attended baby clinic here.\nThe dental inspection of the children attending school revealed the\nusual appalling number of dental defects, which has made it very evident\nthat the solving of the dental problem is a very urgent matter here.\nI think a safe means by Avhich to measure our progress in the public-\nliealth field is to note the aAvakening of more indi\\dduals in a community\nof the class who are desirous to help on the Avork, and this I am sure\nis the case here. It is evident, and pleasing to note, that the preservation and care of health is becoming more widely practised by the people\nthemselves, of Avhom a growing number have accepted the slogan, \" Prevention is better than cure,\" and from these results we take fresh courage\nin our work. Day by day it becomes more evident that the trend of\nthought is, unmistakably, \" health must come first.\"\nHelen Kelly, R.N.\nHEALTH-TEACHING.\nNurses who have taken the Public Health Course have often heard\nthe phrase \" Educate people \" as a solution to health problems\u2014teach\nthe prevention of tuberculosis; teach children health habits; teach,\nteach, teach! Some of us feel at times that we are not born teachers,\nnor have Ave had the regular teachers' training; hence we grasp at any\nnew method of presenting health lessons.\nHere is one on general health Avhich I find has interested the children\nof Grades III., IV., and V. The idea originated from Dr. Hill's comparison of an individual to a car in the first chapter of \u00a7 The New\nHygiene.\"\n17\n Lesson Plan.\nTitle of Lesson.\u2014| The Car and the Body Machine.\"\nTeacher's Aim.\u2014To encourage good health habits through the pupils'\nknowledge of a car.\nPupils' Aim.\u2014To learn hoAV to drive the machine properly.\nSubject.\nIntroduction\nto lesson.\nLink up\npupils'\nprevious\nknowledge\nof cars.\nTlje body\nmachine.\nFood\u2014oil,\nwater, air.\n.Lights.\nOther\nprotectors.\nBattery\u2014\nheart.\nVital\nessentials.\n.Wears out.\nKeep clean.\nRepairs\u2014\ngarage\n(hospital)\nmechanics\n(doctors).\nOther ways\nwe are like\na car.\nGood drivers.\nHeeds\nwarnings.\nMethod of Presentation.\nName one thing a car needs to keep it running? Gas-\nYes. Another thing?\u2014Oil. Another?\u2014Water. Anything\nelse?\u2014Air.    Yes, Ave need all these things for the car.\nDo you knoAV there is another machine that needs all these\nthings to make it run properly ?\u2014Our body machine. We need\nfuel\u2014food of the proper kind\u2014or we will soon wear out, as\nthe car does if poor gas is used. We have oil in our joints\u2014\nwe need to have air and water circulating to live and wear well.\nLights of a car are used for protection\u2014our eyes tell us\nwhen danger is about. Learn to steer straight and keep your\ncar out of the ditch (preArent accidents).\nCan you name any other protectors a car has? Brakes\u2014\nYes. We sometimes have to use our muscles to stop quickly\nif in danger\u2014and take a rest if tired. Guards\u2014cover of\nengine, etc., like our skin.    Bumpers and shock absorbers, etc.\nBattery may be compared to the heart. It runs the starter\nand sends out electricity to all parts, etc.\nThe parts of a car wear out\u2014the car lasts longer if care\nis taken of it. Our body machine also wears out quickly if\nwe do not give it the proper care.\nCar must be kept clean inside and out. If not kept clean\nit Avill not Avear well, etc.\nBoth haATe to be mended if accidents happen. The difference betAveen us and a car, Ave cannot buy new parts and be\nas good as ever. So we must care for the parts we have. We\ncan get new teeth, but they are never the same as our own,\nand we cannot see Avith a glass eye.\nCan any one think of another way Ave are like a car?\nAnswer:   We get stiff and it is hard to run when Ave get old.\nGood drivers know their machine, know warning-signs\nthat the machine is not running properly, and will stop the\ncar and let it rest.    Will find out if oil, etc., is needed.\nSo we have warnings (as headaches) that our body machine is not running properly. We must always stop to see\nAvhat is going wrong. It is always best to care for the machine\ndaily, so no Avarning will come. Good drivers kno]V all about\nthe machine, so we must learn all we can about our body\nmachine, so Ave can steer it properly, keeping put of the ditch\n(hospital). learn to be careful drivers and you 'will get the\nlongest and best life from the machine. Do not be satisfied\nAvith just keeping out of the ditch, but choose the best and\n18\n most comfortable road for the machine. Avoid the rough\nroads of sickness and ill-health by forming good habits that\nwill help you to maintain health.\nA man too busy to care for his health is like a mechanic\ntoo busy to care for his tools.\u2014Cicero.\nM. A. Taviddy, R.N.,\n\u25a0 Penticton.\nGETTING THE PRESCHOOL CHILD READY.\nI Dear Mrs. :\n\"All children Avho are commencing school this February are invited\nAvith their mothers to a pre-school clinic, to be held at the Legion Hall,\nFriday, January 22nd, 1932.\"\nEach child throughout the elementary school Avho had a small brother\nor sister or friend, ready to commence school, at the beginning of the new\nterm, eagerly conveyed the messages to the mothers of prospective pupils.\nTwenty-eight such invitations Avere delivered; a notice to the same effect\nwas inserted in the local papers, and a similar announcement made to the\nhigh-school students. The response was gratifying, for on the appointed\nday eighteen pre-school students, accompanied by \" mother or big sister,\"\narrived at the clinic. These eighteen children represented 50 per cent,\nof the total number of beginners who registered at the schools on-February 1st. On entering the clinic, each child Avas given an admission form\non which was Avritten his or her name and age. Each in turn was brought\nto the first nurse, AAdiere height, Aveight, and normal Aveight were determined, and entered on the admission card. There, also, foot impressions\nwere taken, not by means of a pedograph, but by painting the soles of the\nfeet with a solution of ferric chloride. The impressions Avere recorded\nfairly successfully on draAving-paper.\nFrom the first station the child with its mother passed on to the\nsecond nurse, Avho made an examination of the teeth, tonsils, and general\nposture, discussing these and the health habits of the children with the\nmother, and advising medical or dental attention Avhere necessary.\nHealth literature was also distributed to the mothers.\nA committee from the Public Health Nursing Council served refreshments to the mothers and children. From 3.30 to 4 p.m. Dr. Drysdale,\nthe Nanaimo Medical Health Officer, spoke to the mothers on \" Health\nproblems of the child from 2 to 6 years.\" This address seemed to be\ngreatly appreciated by the mothers.\nAlthough this clinic or pre-school round-up was held so short a time\nbefore school commenced, the results Avere evidenced in many ways,\nespecially in regard to dental care. In my opinion it has created a\nclearer understanding between the mothers and the School Nurse, Avhich\nin turn will establish a greater spirit of co-operation betAveen the home\nand the school.\n19\n In- the five Nanaimo schools there are 1,263 school-children; of these,\nabout 250 attend the high schools (junior and senior). The regular\nhealth programme is carried on. Each month the classes are inspected\nfor cleanliness and possible skin-diseases (of Avhich there are many), and\neach month the underAveights are Aveighed. Once a year, eyes, ears,\nteeth, and posture are carefully examined and defects recorded. Unfortunately, the children receive only one examination by the school doctor,\nand that is during the first tAvo months of schooling. During subsequent\nyears the physical examination of pupils is done by the nurse.\nThe condition of the teeth of the school-children is still distressing,\nalthough an improvement was noted after Dr. Harry Thompson's visit\nand lectures last spring. However, a large percentage of the schoolchildren, especially in the elementary schools, are badly in need of dental\ncare.\nLittle Mothers' League classes have been given to about sixty girls\nin the high school, these girls being taught the fundamentals of child-care.\n\u2022 At present Nanaimo is in the midst of an epidemic of measles. On\nJanuary 5th the first case Avas reported, and since then the cases have\nincreased in waAres. A closer supervision of the schools would greatly\naid in the control of the epidemic, but supervision is difficult without a\ncar. However, the school-teachers are giving splendid co-operation and\nAve hope that the epidemic Avill soon spend itself.\nEileen M. Carruthers, R.N.,\nNanaimo.\nHEALTH AND HAPPINESS FOR THE RURAL FAMILIES.\nMy first impressions of the Okanagan were of a veritable fairy-land\u2014\nsnow-laden pine:trees; soft feathery flakes of snow were floating earth-\nAvard.   A paradise to work in, I thought.\nAt frequent intervals class inspections bring the best part of the\nOliver Project scurrying doAvn the aisles, AAdth clean hands and shining\nfaces. There are a goodly number of children with dental fillings, that\nAvere put there, probably, after much painstaking effort on the part of the\nPublic Health Nurse. At the close of the period Ave talk about many\ninteresting subjects\u2014lunch-pails, what ought to be in them and where\nthey ought to be kept during school-hours; of the ship of health manned\nAvith a creAv of healthy boys and girls. Out of forty Grades I. and II.\nchildren eight have less than normal vision; the upper grades are giving\nhigher percentages.    When! Oh, when! Defects, will you be corrected ?\nThe competition for the Fraser health cup is an annual event in the\nOliver and District schools. This year, to provide a pleasant change, the\nteachers are being encouraged to Avork on a definite health project, each\nchild making a contribution to the whole. We are hoping to have a very\ninteresting exhibit when the contest closes. The teachers also have\ndevised various novel methods of keeping health-chore records.\nBaby and pre-school clinics are the joys of the Oliver and Osoyoos\nDistricts.    One of the most spacious homes is used, providing an eco-\n20\n nomical and convenient meeting-place. The clinics are well attended, and\ntheir success is chiefly due to the enthusiasm of members of the community in charge.\nYou arrive into the living-room of the ranch, with its cheery fireplace,\naround Avhich, at this time of the year, are grouped the pre-school children, enjoying an unusual luxury, and watching fairy palaces in the glowing logs. Here the babies are undressed and AA^eighed and every one\nbecomes acquainted. The kitchen makes a very comfortable examining-\nroom, Avhere the doctor and nurse are alone with the mother and her\nbaby.\nThe Okanagan Falls District was unfortunate in having an epidemic\nof scarlet fever during the fall months, and they are looking forAvard to\ntheir annual open clinic with greater zeal than ever before. It is a sad\nstory, but already several marked defects folloAving complications are\nnoticeable, one child being still out of school. We are expecting a heavier\ntoll in the final examination.\nVaccination and immunization are topics frequently under discussion throughout the districts at the present time. We are awaiting the\nresult, perhaps, of many conferences, but the organization and ammunition are ready.\nThe work on the Inkaneep Reserve is a pleasant change when the\npaleface tends to become monotonous. To accomplish most among the\nIndians, as among other peoples, whose habits are so different from ours,\nit would seem essential to study their background, historical data, folklore,, and to gain a speaking knowledge of the tribal language, in order\nto gain the confidence of the older people. This knowledge is difficult to\nacquire, but the Avork of past nurses has made an entrance into the homes\na simple matter, and from that vantage-point I am trying to stumble on.\nDr. C. E. A. WinsloAV; in his neAV book, \"Health on the Farm and\nin the Village,\" a review and evaluation of the Cattaraugus County\nHealth Demonstration, says: | Surely, the farm dAveller has his right to\nthe guarantee of ' life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness'; and of\nthis guarantee, health forms an essential and necessary part.!\" Surely,\nit is a privilege to be a part of the great machinery striving to gain for\nthe rural dAAreller this most necessary part of the guarantee.\nIsabella Craig, R.N.,\nOliver.\nTHOUGHTS ON TAKING OVER A DISTRICT.\nHaving taken charge of this district less than two Aveeks ago, I am\nnot in a position to write, from experience, of the work and progress\nmade during the past year. I have, however, looked over the records and\nnotice that a pre-school clinic has been added to the list of'child-welfare\nwork. I feel that this branch of service should be well encouraged, for\nthe physical well-being of the child from babyhood to school age is all-\nimportant, and hitherto these little people have been \" left out in the\ncold,\" so to speak, except for the occasional link-up with home-visiting.\n21\n The general health and care of the children here has received good\nreport on the whole, but during the past iavo months measles has found\nits way in, and consequently school attendance, clinics, and Little\nMothers' League classes have been interrupted. We hope, hoAvever,-to be\nin a position to resume a normal routine in March and to advance in our\nAvork in its many branches.\nOne still finds a mother keeping all the children home from school\nbecause 1 Johnny \" has the measles or chicken-pox. It is interesting to\nbe able to explain to the parent that this is no longer necessary and to\noutline the present methods adopted for the control of infectious diseases.\nA tuberculosis ciinic is held tAvice a year, when Dr. A. S. Lamb,\ndiagnostician of that disease, visits and examines contacts and suspects\nreferred to him by the health authorities here. About ten patients were\npresent at the last clinic.\nOf the outlying districts, eight in number, I have yet only visited\nfive, and only by way of an introduction through the courtesy of the\nMedical Health Officer.\nIt is hard to realize that I have been here so short a time, as the\nco-operation I have receiAred from the members of the Board and the\nteaching staff make me feel that I have knoAvn them for a considerable\nperiod. I can also speak in like manner of my home visits; this surely\nproAres that a good foundation has been laid here in previous years by\nothers holding my position.\nEmily G. Allen, R.N.,\nLadysmith.\n\"FINDING YOUR FOOTING.\"\nIn reading the life of Sir William Osier not long ago, I found that as\na boy he had received the same adAdce that was given to us in lectures\nlast year\u2014written in Carlyle's words: \" Our main business in life is not\nto see what lies dimly before us, but to do what lies clearly at hand.\"\nIn the past eight months at Saanich I have so often thought of this\ncounsel, as, coming fresh from five years of the theoretical side of public\nhealth, one early learns that by being steady and persistent far more is\naccomplished than by being over-enthusiastic.\nSituated as Saanich is, a large country district containing up to the\npast month no hospital, resident doctors, or bedside-nursing order, a\ngeneralized programme has been necessarily carried on. Previously the\nfour nurses have been each taking a special branch of this, as child-.\nwelfare, bedside-nursing, and school-nursing. But this year Ave have\ndivided Saanich into districts, each nurse being responsible for carrying\nout a full public-health programme therein. We each have definite days\nfor working in the schools, the remainder of the week being devoted to\nwelfare and bedside-nursing. In the mornings, while planning the visits\nfor the day, Ave discuss each case, and in that way keep in touch with one\nanother's families. Then, too, Ave compare the constructive Avork and its\nsuccess in the various districts.\n92\n So far this new division has proved satisfactory, especially as Miss\nHillas and I are both neAV to the practice of public health. It has given us\na much clearer picture of the programme in its entirety, and has enabled\nus to become acquainted Avith the family as a unit. Now that we are\nfamiliar with our district, Ave are finding that so much more can be\naccomplished when the family knoAvs you. Again, Avith the social-service\nwork unavoidably increasing, we have found it of inestimable value when\nmaking an investigation to be familiar Avith the agencies.\nI would like to say hOAV much more the two words | public health j\nmean to me, and increasingly so Avith each month of practice. Also of\nwhat value it has been to be with tAvo such experienced Public Health\nNurses, as there are so many neAV situations and view-points to be met.\nMargaret Sutherland, R.N.,\nSaanich Health Centre.\nADVANCEMENT ALONG PREVENTIVE LINES.\nThe impulse to omit sending in an article for the Bulletin held\nalmost too long\u2014or not long enough. Having been in each of the tAATo\ndistricts but about four weeks, and having found a live epidemic of\nmeasles in each one, kept one busy and made one feel that trying to stem\nthe tide of the disease was all that had been even attempted.\nBut I can write of the splendid work accomplished by my predecessor,\nthe organizer of the health-teaching here; the size of the fields and the\nusual obstacles which must have been but an incentive to good work for\nher. There is an unusual health consciousness in many of the different\nstaffs of schools and societies, and a willingness to help also.\nIn spite of the ever-present depression there are advances in the preventive care for the districts. Anti-goitre tablets for Mission District will\nbe given to the pupils of the public schools in prophylactic doses, beginning the first of March, the organizing for which service had been done,\nbefore Christmas. Vaccination clinics are now being held in all the\nschools in Mission District, the work being done free to the people; the\nMedical Health Officers merely receiving .their retaining fees. Some 300\npupils have never been vaccinated in the schools of 720 attendance, but\nwe hope that the number Avill shrink to a small figure, as a great many\nhave stated their wish to be done\u2014teachers and others as Avell as pupils.\nThe cases in Vancouver have influenced those who have objected heretofore.\nDr. Lamb held a very satisfactory chest clinic on January 22nd and\n23rd; thirty-five being examined, all but three of Avhom Avere found to be\nfree of tubercular disease. The attendance of patients asking to be\nexamined is an encouraging part in the fight against the dread disease.\nGiving first aid and home-nursing to a large C.G.I.T. group in the\nMaple Ridge District is an interesting and instructive proceeding. Some\nof the mothers are attending and entering into the classes at times.\nI find the students very keen indeed.\n23\n But, Oh! for the time and staff for the prenatal infant, welfare and\npre-school AA^ork, a much-needed part of any programme, but which here\nat present can merely be touched on at intervals, as one is only in each\ndistrict alternate months and the schools and home-school visits take up\nthe time. Of course much of the subsequent school-nursing could be eliminated if the two earlier stages could be thoroughly attended to, as has\nfrequently been demonstrated. It is difficult just noAv to make all realize\nthat individual adAdce is so necessary with infants, no tAvo being the same\nin habits and reactions, and that the pre-school defects are so frequent\nand so seldom corrected in that stage. The letters from the Department\nare very helpful indeed, but many parents need them supplemented by\npersonal advice for individual problems.\nThere is a splendid opportunity in this large field for good Avork, as\nthe School Boards, school staffs, women's societies, and others are so\nwillingly co-operative.    The harvest should be large.\nMary E. Grierson, R.N.,\nMission.\nNEW DEVELOPMENTS IN HEALTH-TEACHING AND CLINICS\nIN NANAIMO.\nDuring the past year more time has been spent on that ever-interesting and satisfying phase of public-health Avork, clinics and teaching.\nProbably one of the most advantageous undertakings of the year was\na well-baby clinic held in the local hospital under the auspices of the\nWomen's Auxiliary, who Avere celebrating the jubilee anniversary of the\nNanaimo General Hospital. Seventy babies were registered and forty-\nsix were Aveighed during the afternoon. Health posters of all kinds were\nexhibited. This also gave an opportunity for an exhibit which dealt with\nthe child's diet up to 1 year of age. Samples of prenatal diet and the\nbaby's diet from birth to a year were shoAvn. For the 1-year-old a day's\nmenu was given, showing three sample meals.\nOn another table were the necessary articles for habit-training, with\na suggested routine schedule for a child's day. A complete layette was\nalso displayed and valuable literature distributed.\nAnother ambition was partly realized. Last April we started a preschool clinic, held weekly Avith the well-baby clinic. This proATed popular,\nand especially to the 4-year-old, who loves to play with the toys and take\nhome a book (health literature), or a contest to do, like his big brother\nbrings home from school. In January a special clinic was held for those\n6-year-olds starting school. At this the Medical Health Officer gave a\nvery instructive talk on the \" Health problems of the child from 2 to 6\nyears.\" At one of the clinics last year Dr. Thompson gave an extremely\nvaluable lecture on \" The Care of the Teeth.\"\nIn this district Ave have a fairly large Chinatown; so last April a\nAvell-baby and pre-school clinic Avas established. This is held every month\nin the    \"hinese Mission, and Ave have been very fortunate in having\n24\n Dr. Gung, of Victoria, Avith us; twice he examined the children and gave\nan address to the mothers in their own language, as they can speak little\nor no English. This is a great handicap, but we have partly surmounted\nit having received from China many Chinese posters and pamphlets on\nhealth, Avhich are read and explained by Mr. Chan, the local Chinese\nmissionary.    A sample layette has also been obtained and is used for\ndemonstration.\nHome-nursing classes have been well attended during the winter\nmonths, with an increase over the previous year.\nThe Girl Guides Avere given a series of lectures on the pre-school\nchild, enabling them to obtain their proficiency badge for 1 The Child\nNurse.\"    They also Avrote an examination for their \" health badge.\"\nAnother group receiving health instruction are two C.G.I.T. groups\nof about a dozen girls each. These talks on health are given under the\ntitle of I Beauty Culture,\" which proved very enticing. Included in the\nlectures are several demonstrations of the more simple nursing procedures.\nThe plan for giving hot drinks to the children at the Indian school\nwho bring their lunch is now realized. A dozen children or so each day\nhave a hot cup of cocoa to warm them and to make their cold lunch\nmore appetizing.    Some of these children come 5 miles into school, so\nthis hot drink is a great boon.\nMuriel Upshall, R.N.\nKEEPING A NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION,\nMy third year in the Similkameen has just begun. The past two\nyears have been eventful and on the whole very pleasant. I hope this\nyear will prove equally so.\nThe first year I had to reorganize considerably, as the Indian work\nAvas neAV. The time Avas ripe for putting on a campaign for immunization against diphtheria, so \"toxoid\" Avas administered to the school and\npre-school population and later a vaccination clinic Avas held and the\nregular bi-monthly baby clinic Avas put into effect. These things had been\nplanned before, but never put into action.\nI have now got the work down to a regular system. Each day has\nits duties, leaving a margin to take care of emergencies. I have had time\nto observe and to know my district better. Whether it improves on\nacquaintance is better left unsaid. But love for humanity as a Avhole\nand toleration for all must ever be a requisite of a Public Health Nurse.\nBeginning with the school-work, I visit Keremeos School tAvice a\nweek and Cawston once, and get names of absentees on each visit. I\ninspect each room once a Aveek for cleanliness, skin-disease, and signs of\nillness. On the Avhole the children are very particular about personal\nhygiene. Skin-disease is practically unknown. I found two cases of\nscabies last year; none this year. Every child OAvns a toothbrush and\nuses it too.    The attendance is very good.    December and Jan :ary are\n25\n our bad months for illness, mostly colds. Last year (1930) we had.to\ncontend with a bronchial cough. This year (1931) there was a nasty\nsore-throat complication (septic throat).\nWe made a New Year's resolution for 1932 that we would do all in\nour power to have no colds during the year. All our \" health talks \"\nlead up to this aim. Children with a coryza, cough, or sort throat must\nbe excluded until symptoms have subsided. We call this our \" one-year\nplan.\" It seems to have created new interest and I try to get up a discussion when possible. If we can get the present school population to\nthink rightly and rationally about health, they may not fall victims to all\nthe propaganda and fads for corrections of defects and how to live right,\npublished in the daily papers and broadcasted all over the land.\nI am also going to read and discuss the Provincial Health Report\nin the school. It is splendid reading, so absolutely sane and expressing\nso much forethought and action.\nRegarding the correction of defects, such as enlarged tonsils, in\nmost cases it is laek of funds which hinders the correction being made.\nIf we had a resident physician, arrangements could be made, I believe,\nbut we are a bit handicapped there. I am hoping to be able to make\narrangements for a tonsil clinic in June, if possible. For this, I must\nhave the co-operation of the doctors in Princeton or Penticton.\nMost of the eye defects have been seen to. We are fortunate in-\nhaving a good eye and ear specialist in Penticton. SeAreral children have\nhad teeth attended to. The children in the primary-room and many of\nthe pre-school haAre extremely poor teeth, but their permanent teeth seem\nquite good. I consider that lack of prenatal care accounts for most of\nthese poor deciduous teeth.\nI carry on the well-baby clinic every two weeks. The babies and\npre-schools are weighed and measured. We discuss food formulas and\nthe general hygiene of the children, habits included. During the winter,\nattendance is not so good on account of weather and roads. One mother\nwalked 4 miles to attend the clinic on December 11th. I took her back\nin the car.\nI hope to haAre a doctor in attendance at one of our clinics in the\nspring, mostly for the sake of the pre-school children AAdio begin school\nin September, and if possible have defects corrected at once.\nMy prenatal cases reported quite early this year. We have had\nseveral new babies. I had, all told, five confinements at home. Two of\nthese were Indians. All other obstetrical cases Avent to hospital. In\ncase of confinement, where a physician is not in attendance, I insist that\nthe mother go to the doctor for her sixth week examination\u2014all except\nthe Indians of course.\nThe prenatal letters are received by all prospective mothers. I also\nsend in the names for postnatal advisory letters. These are read and\nappreciated. One mother (a primipara) has been receiving a lot of\nadvice from friends and neighbours about the care of the baby. She says:\n\" I pay no attention. I do as the letters from the Department tell me to\ndo.\"    She has a lovely baby too.\n26\n We have not had much illness. There were two cases of whooping-\ncough, one scarlet fever, and one German measles. Regarding the reporting and isolating of infectious diseases, the people are excellently trained.\nWe had one case of threatened mastoid, one haemorrhage in the newborn, and one strangulated hernia. Also a serious case of a foreign body\nin the eye, two cases of cerebral haemorrhage, and convulsions of doubtful\norigin. All the rest have been minor illnesses, symptoms subsiding in a\nfew days.\nI have splendid help from the doctors in Princeton and Penticton.\nThe aloneness of being alone is sometimes a little overpowering. The\nroads this winter have been so slippery I have had to cut down some of\nmy trips to the Chopaka Indians. It is 84 miles return to Chopaka, and\nstorms in the mountains come up so quickly. I ford the river whenever\npossible, cutting off about 40 miles. The Similkameen River is rather\ntreacherous and it is easy to get stuck in it. This has happened.to me\ntwice. The second time I had a passenger and we Avaded into the river\nand pushed the car to land. We arrived home soaking wet, but thankful\nto get out so quickly.\nI enjoy the Avork among the Indians and can see a little progress.\nThe tuberculosis problem is some task there. Active cases are cropping\nup here and there all the time. I do my best to carry out the \" cure \"\nin the home. The Indians know that the disease is contracted by contact, and I must say the Indian people keep away from the infected home\nremarkably Avell. They Avill not let the children in at all. I am getting\npermission from the Indian Agent to have all contacts and suspects\nexamined by Dr. Lamb. I have obtained co-operation from the priest in\nenforcing the cure, such as better food and rest. There is much improvement in the housing. There are very feAV houses left now with only one\nsmall Avindow which does not open. Every child is taking C.L.O. during\nthe winter months. Some of the underAveights have come up wonderfully. So there may be hope for them yet, but it is sort of doubtful,\nand Ave can only hope that \" SomehoAV good may be the final goal of ill.\"\nB. Thomson, R.N.\nTHE POSSIBILITIES IN A WELL-COORDINATED PLAN OF\nDEVELOPMENT.\nVariety is the spice of life, and what life could afford more variety\nthan the lite of a rural Public Health Nurse. We encounter something\nnew each day. Our range of activity, already very large, increases\nconstantly\u2014so much so, our enthusiasm is neA^er allowed to Avane or\ngrow old.\nMuch has happened in the six months that we have been here. In\nSeptember three days were spent at the local fair, Avhen we held a baby-\nshoAV and better-baby competition, Dr. J. R. Davies taking the difficult\npart of a very popular judge.    Two silver cups were awarded\u2014one to a\n27\n baby of 6 months, the other to a child of 3 years. Besides, there Avere\ntwelve medals given to school-children 98 per cent, physically fit. The\ninterest sIioaatcl at the fair was full reward for any hard work it may have\noccasioned. It afforded us a splendid opportunity to meet not only our\nlocal mothers and children, but also a large number of citizens who are\nkeenly interested in our work. Unfortunately we haven't any well-baby\nor pre-school clinics operating here, but we do have weighing-stations in\ncharge of the Provincial Health Nurse, where the children are Aveighed\nand advice is given to the mothers. We find that these mothers are very\nloyal supporters. They place a great deal of confidence in the nurse and\nher work, and eagerly follow out her instructions. A remark recently\nmade by one of our mothers Avill serve to illustrate this confidence.\nA six-month baby, whom we had not got in touch with, recently died in\na convulsion. The remark I heard was: \"If only that baby had been a\nregular attendant at the Aveighing-station, that tragedy may never haAre\noccurred.\"\nSchool-work includes monthly inspection of all grades, weighing of\nunderweights. It will be interesting to note that the percentage of underweights from September to December decreased from 58.2 per cent, to\n27.4 per cent. Health talks and health stories are given monthly in\ncollaboration Avith the class-room lessons. Last but not least, there are\nthe home-school visits Avhich afford an intimate contact between the school\nand the home, and it is here that we endeavour to instill into their minds\nthe gospel of prevention.\nMuch credit goes to the Kinsmen Club for the activity they have\nshown toward child-Avelfare Avork. During Christmas they conducted the\nT.B. seal campaign, and as a result have a fairly large sum of money\ncollected to be used locally for preventive work. During the past month\nthey donated to the ChilliAvack Central School a silver shield to be competed for by all the grades. The rules of the competition include the\nsimple rules of health, and one expects to see a great deal of enthusiasm\nstirred up when each individual student works for the shield.\nHere I must pay tribute to the school-teachers and School Boards,\nwho have co-operated so heartily in the health-work among the children.\nIn Chilliwack we are proud of our schools, our teachers, our children,\nand our former nurse, Miss Peters.\nAt the hospital Ave conduct an eye, ear, nose, and throat clinic.\nA specialist from New Westminster visits us once a month. The nurses\narrange the time schedule for the patients and assist the doctor. The\nclinic was an experiment started by Miss Green and much good work\nhas been done, as it brings to the children here the services of a specialist.\nSince September, 1931, forty-three cases have been examined.\nThe saddest and most discouraging part of our work here has been\nthe measles epidemic. It reduced our school attendance from the high\npercentage of 97 per cent, to less than 50 per cent. There was lack of\nunderstanding among the four doctors here, Avhich led to lack of co-operation toAvards preventive work. There was no uniformity of action, and\nthe whole problem became so involved that it was necessary to call for\n28-\n Dr. Young's assistance. However, the damage had been done, but it may\nnot all have been in vain. In all probability it may result in the establishment of a full-time health unit in the near future. Chilliwack is\nfortunate in having many active women's organizations and we are relying upon these organizations to work out the financial solution of a full-\ntime Health Officer.\nEducation of the public Avould appear to be the keynote to the\nfuture success of preventive work. By giving talks to the various organizations en masse, besides the individual contact Avith parents when doing\nhome visits, one can accomplish a good deal, but adults are sIoav to learn\nand it requires persistent repetition to make new ideas take the place of\nold ones. We are greatly indebted to Dr. Amyot, who, during the winter,\nhas given us three very enlightening and valuable lectures.\nLast but not least, Ave must express our sorrow on hearing that the\nRefresher Course will not be held this year. We had counted so much\non this valuable opportunity of having our many little problems solved.\nMay finances soon return to normal conditions!\nGeraldine E. Homfray, R.N.,\nChilliwack.\nHOW IMPETIGO CAN TRAVEL!\nIn some of our rural schools this year, folloAving the summer holidays, impetigo was quite prevalent. Within the first month, by excluding\neach case until a complete cure Avas effected, the condition was Aviped out.\nHowever, in one school this was not accomplished Avithout some\ndifficulty. At the beginning of the term there were several mild cases,\nbut, by the third week, of the fifty-tAvo pupils only four were excluded\nthrough impetigo. The same week saw the readmittance of two of these.\n' Nevertheless, when I visited the school in the fourth week, the number of absentees was astounding. Another thing which surprised me\nwas a letter which had been sent to the principal. A mother stated that\nshe was keeping her two children at home until the school Avas certified\nfree from infection.\nI hastened to make out my list and start out on my rounds. The\nfirst home I visited was the one from AAdiich the letter had been sent.\nI might mention here, this family had recently come to the district and\nwere unaAvare of the nursing sendee. The mother appeared to be a very\npractical, sensible individual Avhen she explained to me Avhy the children\nhad been kept from school. The preceding week the two youngsters,\naged 6 and 8, had come from school with the tale that there were many\nChildren in the school suffering from \" infectious sores.\" Such circumstances were to the mother naturally rather alarming.\nInvestigation shoAved that several days previously the principal had\nassembled the school and had imparted advice regarding impetigo infection. The import of her talk seems to have been that the school was\ninfested with what she termed \"infectious sores,\" and to protect them-\n29\n selves the pupils were to shun any one with sores of any sort, and to\nwash frequently and well with Lifebuoy soap.\nThis information was, I am sure, given with the. best intentions, but\nthe results were very far-reaching and, from our point of view, most\nunsatisfactory. To begin Avith, the statements were anything but accurate. Impetigo Avas not rampant in the school\u2014there being but two\ncases, both of which were at home. The efficacy of Lifebuoy soap may\nbe left to the imagination.\nFurther, the mind of a 6-year-old certainly could not grasp the\nsignificance of such information; nor even that of a child in the second,\nthird, or fourth grades. Therefore one can easily imagine the variety of\nstories that were taken home. Such a term as | infectious sores | is in\nitself upsetting, particularly to the layman.\nWhen homes are as far apart as those in this district, it is rather\ndifficult to visit each mother individually and allay her fears by a statement of fact. This was my problem. I can assure you it was a long\ntime before every one in the district, Avhich, incidentally, is a large one,\nwas assured that the school was free from infection.\nThus the unfortunate zeal of a teacher, supplemented by the misrepresentation of children, brought about a chain of untoAvard circumstances. Just another example of that old adage, \"A little knowledge is\na dangerous thing! \"\nHeather Kilpatrick, R.N.,\nDuncan,\nMEASLES.\nMeasles is one of the most universally prevalent of the acute communicable diseases, occurring in cycles of tAvo to three years, during\nthe winter months. It usually spreads in schools, from where it is\ncarried to preschool children and infants. Immunity is obtained by one\nattack of the disease;   all other persons can be considered susceptible.\nMeasles is spread directly from the patient to susceptible contacts,\nand very seldom by fomites or a healthy person. Discharges from nose\nand throat apparently harbour the causative agent.\nThe incubation period is from eight to fourteen days, after which\nthe cold or onset stage of the disease is observed, followed in three to\nfive.days with the rash. The infectious stage is from the earliest sign\nof onset till about seven to eight days after the appearance of rash.\nWhen preventive measures can be adopted during the cold or pre-rash\nperiod of the disease, control of the epidemic is reasonably sure of\nattainment.\nFrom 80 to 95 per cent, of deaths due to measles and complications\noccur in the age-group under 5 years. It can be readily seen that this\ngroup of children should be protected against the disease.\nHealth-workers should impress mothers with the fact that it is\nunwise to allow young children to have measles (to get it OATer with),\nas it may have a serious outcome.\n30\n Control Measures.\u2014As we have seen from the above, an epidemic of\nmeasles spreads most rapidly in schools. In January, at one of the North\nVancouver City schools, a child attended class for half a day during\nthe cold or pre-rash period of measles. To this girl nineteen subsequent\ncases of measles were traced, which started an epidemic in the school.\nThe nineteen infected children carried it into their homes and naturally\npre-school cases resulted.\nWhere definite contact was known, all susceptible children were\nallowed to remain in school for seven days following their first possible\ninfection, and then excluded from class and isolated until fourteen days\nfrom their last exposure to measles. In this way fifty-one children\ndeveloped the disease Avhile isolated at home, thus preventing the further\nspread in the schools and elsewhere.\nPeriodic visits were' made to all homes having contacts or measles\ncases. Instructions re spread, details of isolation, nursing care, etc.,\nwere given to each parent; the danger in allOAving young children to\ndevelop the disease was emphasized, and harm from complications was\npointed out, also the parents advised to call the family physician. In\nmany homes the results were A^ery gratifying, Avhile in others, where\ninstructions were not heeded, the outcome was as bad as was expected.\nA great deal of time and energy was expended by the staff of the\nHealth Unit on this work with the idea of training parents and others\nin modern preventive measures. It is hoped that this work will bear\nfruit in future epidemics of perhaps a more serious nature.\nThe school-teachers, principals, School Boards, physicians, and many\nof the parents, by co-operating with the Health Unit, assisted to a great\nextent. Due to this help 99 per cent, of all cases of measles were\nreported.\nElizabeth Loavther, R.N.,\nNorth Vancouver.\nHURRAH FOR A BOWL OF SOUP!\nThe big achievement, if one may be permitted to call it such, in\nKelowna this past school term has been the establishment of a soup-\nkitchen. This project has been on its way for two years now, but this\nyear saw its actual arrival.\nThe undertaking Avas financed by the teachers, but some outside\nfinancial contributions were received. The pupils brought their donations of garden produce, and potatoes, onions, peas, rice, etc., descended\nupon the school in almost overwhelming quantities. The kitchen was\nset up in an unused room in the girls' basement of the Elementary School.\nA woman was hired to prepare the hot drink, cocoa, vegetable, or milk\nsoup, as the case might be.\nOpening day was held early in November and we are planning to\nkeep operating until the end of March. The number of children varies\nfrom 80 to 100, and of these 70-odd are \" free \" cases. Those who can,\npay 3 cents a day.\n31\n The personal thanks of some of the parents and the grateful looks\non the youngsters' faces has more than compensated us for our efforts.\nThe relief-work has increased tremendously within the past few\nmonths. The town has its own Central Relief Department and the\nschools are kept in constant touch with them. Through them clothing,\nfood, medicines, toothbrushes, exercise-books, and pencils have been given\nout to the worthy cases in the schools.\nThe past AAreek has been a very busy one, with vaccination clinics\nmuch to the fore. The response of the public to these clinics has been\nmost gratifying. Approximately 525 school-children, 35 adults, including\nteachers, and 44 pre-school children and infants have been \" done \" up\nto date.    Public-health teachings are showing their mark slowly but\nSUrely* Edith W. Tisdall^ R.N.,\nKelowna.\nPUBLIC HEALTH IN KAMLOOPS, B.C.\nAnother year has flown past very quickly, in spite of many adverse\ncircumstances. Most of us have learned many necessary lessons of\ntolerance and understanding in dealing Avith the ever-present question,\nrelief of our needy.\nKamloops has suffered, as all cities have. It is through the sympathetic support of the Red Cross Society, City Council, and Provincial\nDepartment that I have been able to obtain adequate relief for many\nfamilies. The Red Cross Society is doing a wonderful work, especially\nin giving relief. The following particulars help one to realize just what\nwas done last year: There were 3,752 garments given to 225 families,\nand 1,798 quarts of milk, also 36 bottles of cod-liver oil. This gives some\nidea of the activities of this splendid society. The lady in charge of\nthis relief-work is Mrs. R. L. Johnstone. No words could possibly convey\nwhat we, of the Red Cross, and all whp come in contact with her sympathetic personality, Avish to express. She gives daily of her time, intelligence, and sympathy to all Avho desire her help. She is much loved by\nall. We are also most fortunate in having Mrs. J. E. Fitzwater as our\npresident, who is always ready with her Avise judgment and understanding. It is indeed a privilege and great pleasure to work with these two\nremarkable ladies. In addition to their many activities, they are my\nright-hand helpers at our Red Cross well-baby clinic. These we hold\nfortnightly. Last year we held thirty clinics and we were much encouraged. The mothers showed a great deal more interest. They come more\nregularly and are more willing to accept the advice that I give them.\nFollowing is an account of the work accomplished during 1931:\u2014\nNumber attending clinic: Babies, 202; adults, 220; pre:schOOl, 53;\ntotal, 475. The previous year the total attendance Avas 234. So you see\nwe had an increase of 241.\nThere were: NeAv babies, 46. Breast-fed, 32; artificially fed, 12;\nsupplemented, 2.    Number of babies registered, 72.\n32\n Visits to homes: Babies, 78; pre-school, 73; total, 151. Advice to\nexpectant mothers, 20; adAdce given per telephone, 118; advice given\nper letter, 12.\nIt may interest my readers to know that all advice given at these\nclinics follows the teachings of Sir Truby King. It should not be\nnecessary to explain who he is. All who are interested in the modern\nwelfare of mothers and babies knoAV of this eminent man from New\nZealand, whose intelligence and research-Avork for the past twenty-five\nyears have made him beloved throughout the Avorld. I am delighted to\nsee that, at last, Canada has a mother-craft training-school, where nurses\ncan be trained along his lines of simplicity. This was started last year\nin Toronto. Miss Satchell, who is in charge, I hear, is doing wonderful\nwork. Sir Truby King has been invited by the Canadian Government\nto visit Ottawa this year.    I only trust his health Avill enable him to do so.\nThe Lloyd George School still continues its good work in connection\nwith the Junior Red Cross. They held their annual Primrose Tag Day\nlast April and collected $130.50, which is to be used for our Dental and\nMedical Fund. Since starting this fund in 1930 they have assisted\nthirty-four children in having defects corrected, mostly dental work.\nThey sent $3 to the Hamper Fund at Christmas-time. We now have\n174 members.\nAs usual, I assisted with the Christmas Hamper Fund. This year,\nowing to the condition of the times, our work Avas greatly increased,\nI made many investigations for our committee. Our list of needy seemed\nnever-ending. We sent out 147 hampers in all. They were Avonderful\nones, too. In addition to food, they included warm underclothes, stockings, and many goodies. It was splendid to see the many public-spirited\nwomen who gave of their time so cheerfully to help cheer their fellow-\ncitizens at this time. Our Chief of Police, Mr. Anderson, Avho was the\nchairman of the committee, was ever on hand with a cheery Avord for all.\nOur school-work goes on as of yore. It is hard to find anything new\nto say about that part of my work. To me, the most interesting feature\nwas organizing my Little Mothers' League classes in the three Grade\nVIII.'s of our Junior High School. It was a great pleasure to teach\nthese young girls the most essential of all studies, in my opinion\u2014the\nresponsibilities of motherhood. The results Avere very good. Seventy-\nfive per cent, of these girls passed with 60 per cent. I gave these lessons\nalong the lines of the simple teachings of Sir Truby King. Many mothers\ntold me of their appreciation of these classes. The same lessons I gave\nto the Girl Rangers. I completed these classes by giving my pupils a\nlantern-slide lecture, depicting interesting features of my work in Canada\nand New Zealand. By these simple means one is able to present to one's\npupils a brief idea of the greatness of the teachings of Sir Truby King.\nCertainly, we Public Health Nurses are most privileged to have this\ncontact with the children of to-day, in all stages, from the prenatal care\nof the mothers, following the interesting development of the. baby to\npreschool age. Why, in no time, we find our clinic babies in our first\ngrades at school.    Then on to Junior High School.   What more interest-\n33\n ing profession could any woman desire? As I say, so many times, it is\nnot only weighing and measuring and peeking into Johnnie's and Mary's\nmouths and ears, and teaching them the essentials of health, but, may\nI humbly say, helping to mould their characters and helping them to\nrealize what the \" Spirit of Canada \" really stands for. I would like\nevery Canadian child to have heard the stirring address which Hon. R. L.\nMaitland, of Vancouver, gave to our Canadian Club. Our youth is so\nprecious. May we more and more find men and Avomen to lead them\nmentally, physically, and spiritually to the best of all things that mean\nso much to the future of Canada.\nOlive M. Garrood, R.N.\nPUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE SOUTH OF THE\nPEACE RIVER, B.C.\nI On to the Peace! \" is the slogan that has been draAving many new\nresidents to this part of the country. The Avriter journeyed five months\nago into the Peace River District, being sponsored jointly by the. Red\nCross and the Provincial Board of Health. The Peace Block is a vast\nrolling country, Avith huge cut-banks gouged into it. The banks are\ncovered with golden birch. Patches of stubble surround the clearing\nof the homesteader. There he lives in a little log cabin, often with only\na dirt floor. His nearest neighbour is a mile away at least\u2014usually\nfarther.\nI have charge of tAvelve schools and their districts, scattered over\nmountains and along the banks of streams, in an area of 120 square\nmiles. Transportation is difficult, as the Aveither is likely to change\nunexpectedly from 60 beloAv to above zero. The roads may be lost beneath\nheavy snow and ice, or submerged beneath floods of water. The thick\ngumbo is almost impossible for a car, and is bad even on a horse.\nLast week I had to take a maternity case into Pouce Coupe, to the\nRed Cross Hospital. It is only 40 miles and the roads had been cleared\nof snow for the mailman, who conies through once a week. I keep my\ncar 3 miles from where I live because of the bad drifts. It was necessary\nto harness my team and in the open cutter drive to the place where my\ncar is kept. Picking up my patient, A\\Te drove into Pouce Coupe in the\ncar. It had started to snoAV before we turned homeward, but by pushing\nahead we managed to get back Avithin 8 miles of my home, when the car\nstuck in the snow in a field. I had to walk 2 miles back in a real blizzard\nto the home of one of my committee-men, who drove me to my own team.\nThe drifts were so bad by this time that Ave could not keep to the road.\nWe upset three times into the snow in weather 60\u00b0 below zero! We were\nlost in a woods with which I am perfectly familiar and could not find\nthe gateway to our own place. It Avas 3 a.m. before we reached home.\nJust a day's work in the Peace!\nThe work as a whole has taken a great hold on the community.\nI have twelve committees, one in each district. . Each has a representative\n34\n on the Central Committee, which meets once a month. They work hard\nand are taking a keen interest in public-health matters. They all want\nto help toward the development of health services in other parts of the\ncountry in time to come.\nThis is a country of no Avater, unless you are lucky enough to live\nnear a creek or river. This presents a real problem to the school trustees,\nas well as to the parents, to see that there is a sufficient water-supply\nto meet the needs for both drinking and washing. Since most of the\nwater comes from the melted snoAV and ice, Ave have started giving iodine\nto many of the school-children to prevent goitre. This is done under the\ndirection of our school doctor.\nThe most interesting event was the \" family \" clinic which I ran in\nfive districts. Each family was taken as a unit and all the children\u2014\ninfant, preschool, and school\u2014were examined by Dr. Becworth. Many\nof the mothers travelled long distances to reach the clinics, where they\nwere greeted by members of the committee avIio assisted with the weighing\n| ON  TO  THE  PEACE.\"\nand the taking of records. The mothers took a great interest in the whole\nprogramme. For many of them it was their first trip in years farther\nthan a few miles from their homes. We are planning to complete all\ntwelve districts in this Avay and should have some interesting statistics\nwhen we are through.\nI hope that the day Avill soon come AAdien we have more Public Health\nNurses up here. There is much to do. People are gradually filling in\nall the farm lands. This part of the country has wonderful prospects\nand a fascination all its own. But, like all the Northland, it is a stern\nmaster and demands stamina and courage in all those who choose to\nsettle here. In a land Avhere all the news and messages travel by\nI moccasin telegraph \" and neighbours are scattered, a real community\nspirit of helpfulness and patience must develop.\nNancy E. Dunn, R.N.\n35\n THE CHEST CLINIC IN A RURAL COMMUNITY.\nDistrict-nursing has its exciting moments; for instance, through the\nmail may arrive any day, a miserable-looking post-card advising you that\na visit from the chest specialist is to be precipitated soon. You may\nget a week's notice; you may only get a feAv days' Avarning; but, nevertheless, the search for T.B. patients and contacts is forthwith on. The\nannouncement to this effect is duly placed in the local paper and telephones begin to ring incessantly for appointments. On occasion some\nkind soul will inquire if they can be vaccinated at that clinic! With\ninfinite patience you explain that the clinic is solely for those with chest\ntroubles\u2014and the receiver is hung up the other end of the wire with an\namazed | Oh! \" Another patient | reckons it's a good thing to have a\n-medical examination every so often, so I'd better see the doctor at the\nclinic. You know, nurse, all the doctors are advising us to be examined,\nand so are you nurses too! \"\nFinally, however, the time-schedule is made, fifteen minutes allotted\nto each patient, and all are given a definite time at which to report at\nthe clinic. Patients, miles away, are assured that a nurse Avill call for\nthem and bring them in in time for their appointment.\nSoon another phone call: 1 Miss Peters speaking; Ave are all ready,\"\nand off we fly. Dr. Lamb, that genial chest-examiner, greets you with\na big smile as though you were his best friend, and you feel that it is a\nprivilege to help him make his clinics a smooth-running success. Both\nhe and Miss Peters are charming and have, seemingly, an inexhaustible\nsupply of patience and good nature; and even though they make many\nextra chores they are more than worth Avhile, and we need them very\nmuch in our preventiA7e programmes.\nFor the duration of the clinic, cars rush madly to and fro in an\neffort to keep schedule and overlook no one. About the last afternoon\nof the clinic Ave get a long-distance call about 13 miles aAvay: \"Nurse,\nthere's a poor old man living alone out here Avho does nothing but cough\nand spit all day. I think it's something wrong with his bronchial tubes;\ncould you come and see him ? \" We assure the caller that we will do\nso immediately, and, with a feeling of dread, we tear off, only to bring\nsaid old man with his \" bronchial\" tube disorder to the hospital to die,\nan advanced case of T.B. who has had all the neighbours doing things\nfor him and consequently exposed to infection. Needless to say, the list\nfor the next clinic is already long with names of | the poor old fellow's \"\ncontacts!\nBertha Jenkins, R.N.,\nDuncan.\nHEALTH-WORK IN ARMSTRONG.\nIn these times of depression Armstrong is possibly a little better off\nthan most places. By a little forethought and planning every one should\nhave enough food and fuel.    Various local societies have co-operated in\n36\n providing clothing for those who need such aid. Despite the hard times,\nwe have feAver malnourished children than ever before,. and on a whole\nthe children are Avell clothed. Milk is provided for those Avho need it\nand cannot obtain it at home.\nOur school attendance has been good. The days lost from communi-\n. cable disease were less than any previous year. It may have been good\nluck instead of good management, but I really believe the majority of\npeople are beginning to be.a little more careful about reporting infectious\ncases. What a slogan for any school is that quotation, \" To cure is the\nvoice of the past.    To prevent is the divine AA'hisper of to-day.\"\nSpeaking about prevention, about 50 per cent, of our pupils have\nhad toxoid and 75 per cent, have been vaccinated for smallpox. The\nvaccination has fallen off a little since the School Board has discontinued\nthe free clinic, but Ave try to keep up the good work by having the doctors\nvaccinate the beginners at the pre-school clinic in June. This they do\nfor a nominal sum.\nOne of our educational activities is the home-nursing and first aid.\nLast year our boys' first-aid team won the Leonard shield, the Provincial\ntrophy. This year we are entering a boys' and girls' first-aid team and\nalso a girls' home-nursing team. The competitive spirit seems to stimulate the pupils and much greater interest is taken in the work.\nTo interest the pupils in their OAvn appearance and that of their\nsurroundings, a shield is given every month to the class receiving the\ngreatest number of marks. Marks are given for the cleanliness and\ngeneral appearance of the pupils, class-rooms, desks, floors, lobbies, and\nalso for the posture of the pupils. A general check-up seems to be necessary to keep things to a high standard.\nWe are indebted to Dr. Ootmar for our exhibit at the Provincial\nInterior Exhibition held in Armstrong last September. The exhibit consisted of over 100 plates shOAving the various foods and their vitamin\ncontent. Booklets were given out explaining the exhibit and some one\nwas on hand to impart any information required. We also had quite\nan array of pictures and posters and other health literature Avas distributed. Altogether the exhibit was an educational project and caused\nconsiderable interest.\nDuring the past year there has been a decrease in the number'of\nphysical defects remedied, but as soon as prosperity comes around the\ncorner we hope to haAre many things done.\nMost of our pupils have good health and care. Every day I feel like\npaying a tribute to the mothers who send several clean, well-fed, and\nclothed children to school. When I think of their ceaseless work and\ncare my part seems very small in comparison.\nBefore closing I should like to mention my appreciation for the\nco-operation and* help I have received from the doctors, the School Board,\nthe school staff, the ProAdncial Board of Health, and various local\nsocieties.\nP. Charlton, R.N.\n37\n VIEWS UPON EDUCATION.\nNot so very many years ago, education\u2014of any sort\u2014was available\nonly to a very limited few; those few, of course, being the children of\nthe upper classes.\nIf a child of poor and illiterate parents exhibited any special talent\nhe usually got a chance to develop it, through systems of patronage or\nscholarships. In these days of compulsory education we have talented\nchildren and those whose mentality is extremely poor, struggling along\nin the same class-room to obtain an academic education.\nEducation every year is becoming more and more of a drain upon\nour Government funds, and the aim of education is supposed to be:\nI To prepare our children for good citizenship.\" Now, for the welfare\nof our country, we need people trained to perform all the various and\nvaried duties which go to make up the smooth-running of the machinery\ninvolved. Why, then, force academic education upon a large percentage\nwho have no aptitude for it ? If Ave have a right to enforce \" compulsory\neducation \" from the ages of 6 to 15, have we not also an obligation to\ngive the child the kind of education for Avhich he is fitted, both mentally\nand physically?\nT*he cost of technical schools, of course, Avould be enormous; but\nwould it not be cheaper in the end to give the child the education for\nwhich he is fitted? We, in the schools, knoAv by the time the child is\n8 or 10 years of age whether or not he is fitted for an academic education,\nand is there much use in forcing a child through such an education up\nto the age of 15 Avhen he cannot grasp it?\nAs it is at present, we turn a child out of school at the age of 15\nand he is absolutely unfitted for employment of any sort. If, say, at\nthe age of 10, a child of less than average intelligence were given the\nchance of learning a trade, and could be given special training along\nsuch lines, then at the age of 15 or 17 he could be turned out as a trained\nworker, ready to make an independent living.\nLet us glance at the psychology of our present system and the moral\neffect enforced academic education has upon the backward and disinterested child. He plays truant as often as he can manage it; he acts\nas a disturbing influence in the class-room amongst the more studious;\nhe is a rebel against being forced into something for which he has no\ninclination; and very often, his criminal instincts are well developed\nbefore he reaches the age when he can leave school without having the\ntruant officer sent after him.\nIt is my- opinion that in the long run the Government would be\nmoney in pocket, Ave would develop a better citizenship, and the child\nwould be healthier\u2014mentally, morally, and physically\u2014if given the type\nof education for which he is best fitted.\nThis may not be possible of accomplishment for the present generation, but I think it jvould be a bright goal to look forward to for the\nfuture.\nWinifred E. Seymour, R.N.,\n>^;riw& . ' Fernie.\n38\n WHAT I HAVE LEARNED ABOUT THE HINDU PEOPLE.\nArriving in Youbou, a milling toAvn on Lake Cowichan, about six\nmonth ago, my knowledge of Hindu customs was extremely limited, and\nmy knowledge of their language more so, while their ability to understand me was about on a par.\nOne day, while making visits in our Hindu settlement, finding it very\nbard to get my ideas over to them and almost ready to give up, I asked if\nthere was any one amongst them who could speak English. The Hindu\nman I was talking to said \" yes \" and dashed off. While I Avas wondering if he knew what I was talking about he returned with a young Hindu\nman who had just completed a five-year course at the University of\nBritish Columbia. Need I say he was more than Avelcome, and ever since\nhas been more than helpful when I am in difficulties.\nHe has taken every opportunity and considerable time in enlightening me about Hindu modes, methods, and ideas, including diet and\nreligion, etc., Avhich I thought Avould be interesting to pass on.\nTo begin, the origin of the term \" Hindu.\" A Hindu is one Avho\nprofesses to be an adherent of the ancient religion Hinduism. This Avas\nthe religion of that branch of people known as Aryan, who first migrated\nto India some 4,000 years ago. During the following centuries the\nreligious beliefs of the majority of the survivors of these people, have\nundergone radical changes,, although a large majority of the people of\nIndia still follow the original beliefs, modified perhaps. These are the\nHindus of to-day.\nWe have adopted the Avord \" Hindu\" as meaning any native of\nIndia in our midst, whether he is a Sikh, Hindu, Buddhist, Mohammedan,\nChristian, or Atheist\u2014so long as he Avears a beard and turban. The most\nappropriate name for them is Hindis, which means an inhabitant of Hind\nor India.\nMost of the Hindus in Canada are natives of the Province of Punjab,\nand my friend informs me that they are as much Hindu as Gandhi is an\nEskimo! for they are mostly Sikh by religion. At first they objected to\nbeing called Hindu, but they have gradually become accustomed to it,\nand to all intents and purposes they are, to us, Hindus.\nIn Punjab they were originally farmers, knOAAm popularly in the vernacular as I Jats.\" They OAvned the land they cultivated and are an\ninfluential and esteemed class of people. It is just the odd one or tAvo\nof a whole family who have migrated to this country, leaving the others\nAvith their lives of hard Avork and plenty of freedom, which has made them\nthe acme of physical fitness and robustness characteristic of them.\nI was curious to knoAV why they left their people and land to come\nhere, where the climate is so different, and it appears that there were\nsome Punjab police and army men stationed in various parts of China.\nWhen they received superannuation from the Government, instead of\ngoing back to their native land they set out to try their fortunes in\nCanada. Arriving here, they managed to secure work on railway-\nconstruction gangs and sawmills in this Province.    Being industrious,\n39\n they saved a feAv dollars, which seemed a lot of money to what they had\nmade in China or India. Naturally they told their friends at home about\nthe place Avhere they could make their fortunes, and by 1910 there were\n4,000 of these people among us. Owing to a later immigration policy in\nCanada, very few more have entered the country, AAdiile a lot more went\nback to India, with the result that there are just about 900 in Canada\u2014\n150 women and about twice as many children (?).\nMost of the Hindu men, being unskilled labourers, have remained\nabout lumber-mills; some of them have returned to their farming; some\nof these have become quite successful around the Fraser Valley, Kelowna,\nand Kamloops. The Hindus of this community are very fit, tall, broad-\nshouldered, and well developed, while the Avomen are anaemic, malnourished, and lazy. The children are rickety, thin, and pale. The\nmothers are, howeA^er, anxious to have all defects corrected and are very\ngood about carrying out our advice to the best of their ability, but the\nAvages of their men are inadequate to provide the necessary meals, etc.\nThe diet of the Hindu people has always interested me, and on\nmaking my rounds I have found the Avomen busily cooking queer-looking\npanCake things, the flapping of which is so rapidly done by bare hands\nthat I have often been fascinated. They call these cakes \" rotice,\" the\nrest of the diet being mostly highly seasoned vegetables, green vegetables,\nmilk, butter, and eggs. The average man eats at least half a pound of\nbutter daily, accompanied by a quart of milk. Very little meat is eaten\u2014\nno beef, a little pork or chicken. They drink thickly boiled tea and over-\nproof rum\u2014a habit acquired during the war!\nTheir religion, the Sikh, Avas founded by Nanch during the fifteenth\ncentury and is very simple: Unity and Omnipotence of God; brotherhood\nand equality of man; unselfish service to others; sincerity and purity of\nlife.    What could be better?\nThe fact that nearly all Hindus are named \" Singh \" has often piqued\none's curiosity, so I discovered that the last leader of'Sikhism, oAAdng to\nexisting conditions in India, bound his disciples into a martial brotherhood for purposes of self-preservation as well as to defend the poor\nand defenceless. Anybody could join, and all who joined were duly\ninitiated and give the name of | Singh,\" meaning \" brave and strong.\"\nHe thereby relinquished his caste, class, or creed, and vowed to conform\nto the rules and regulations, one of which was that he would not \" take\noff, cut, or otherwise mutilate even a single hair of his body.\" Hence\nthe beards and heads of long hair! The colour of the turbans is black\nusually, which colour Avas adopted during the Sikh Temple Reform Movement which occurred in 1921, when a number of the volunteers were\nmurdered in cold blood by their priest. This Avas a sign of mourning\nand protest. The Government tried to ban the black turban, but this\nprompted the Hindus or Sikhs to be contrary, and eventually the black\nbecame a symbol of deep religious convictions. Changing customs in\ngeneral over the world has caused the rigidity of even this faith to relax,\nand those who have courage conform to Western ideas, and shave; this\ndoes not alter their standing in any Avay, although, if a trip to India is\n40\nJ\n contemplated, the beards are alloAved to groAv again, more because of the\nadage, \" When in Rome do as the Romans do.\" And in India a cleanshaven Sikh would be as much out of place as a fully bewhiskered and\nturbaned one is here.\nThe social life consists mainly of their religious services held in\ntemples in different parts of the Province. Everybody gathers there to\npray, sing, and eat together, and on the birthdays of their teachers, called\n| Gurns,\" they have special get-togethers of feasting and rejoicing.\nI have enjoyed working amongst the Hindus here in Youbou, because\nthey are very co-operative and appreciative, and some day, perhaps, one's\nteaching will bear fruit and the youngsters here given a chance to become\nthe fine physical specimens their fathers are.\nVelma Miller, R.N., \u2022\nYoubou.\nTHE EFFECTS OF THE DEPRESSION ON\nPUBLIC HEALTH.\nThe past two years have brought a great many changes in the\neconomic world, and we, as Public Health Nurses, have had a great\nnumber of neAV lessons to learn.\nWhen a financial crisis occurs, the trend to reduce every unnecessary\nexpense is inevitable. Therefore it is a time when the Public Health\nNurse must more and more prove her value as a teacher and to show by\nher efforts the great need for the continuance of her Avork.\nThe nurse, however, has many aids to help her in time of depression.\nWelfare societies, social bureaus, and relief organizations have developed\nmore extensively, and consequently she is able to obtain help for many\nfamilies. Even in prosperity a great number of these families are on the\nborder-line, and as people are less charitably minded then, it is often\ndifficult to obtain a much-needed aid. Thus, for instance, extra milk\ncan be obtained for an expectant mother or young children, and extra\nfuel for families who formerly had to suffer from the cold in order to\neconomize.\nAgain, when people are in need and asking for help, the nurse makes\nmany contacts, which she might not have made otherwise. Often, when\nmaking a social-service call or investigation, a neAV prenatal is discovered.\nThis happens in so many cases, for the expectant mother Avill ask for\nhelp in the interests of her unborn child rather than for herself. This\nis probably one of the reasons Avhy the number of new prenatals opened\non the nurse's record increases.\nIn her home visits the Public Health Nurse has excellent opportunities, to teach and establish ideas, the value of Avhich many families have\nnotr had to realize- before. Therefore the necessity of having to accept\nthese ideas makes the Avork much easier for the nurse. She is able to\nexplain the essentials and non-essentials of diet, and that simple, cheaper\n41-\n foods are even better than the more elaborate and expensive ones. Again,\nshe can be most helpful in shoAving Iioav the family budget should be\narranged, and hoAv economy can be practised 'without any harmful but\nrather beneficial effects to health. In fact, Avhen the family income is\nIoav; getting back to a simpler way of living is imperative, and the people\nare in consequence benefited by this knowledge.\nMany conditions, defects, or deviations from health, however, which\nwould be attended to in prosperity are neglected. The Public Health\nNurse here again is the only one who has the interests of the people's\nhealth at heart. She is able, through'the use of public funds, to see that\nthese defects are corrected, and thus the laying of the foundation of\nill-health, invalidism, and a cpnsequent dependence on society is avoided.\nAbove all things, one of the nurse's duties is to help the people to\nhelp themselves. The morale and feelings of independence are bound to\nsuffer Avhen aid is easily obtained. Therefore the nurse can prove most\nvaluable in this work of keeping the people hopeful and cheerful. One\nlast thing, the nurse has a duty to herself at this time. Even if some\nof her routine public-health Avork has to be neglected to help the more\nunfortunate through this crisis, she must keep an optimistic view-point\nand look forward to the future.\nMyrtle Hara'ey, R.N.,\nSaanich Health Centre.\ni FIRST IMPRESSIONS.\"\nOh! for the ability to express oneself easily and clearly! When the\nrequest came to furnish an article for the Bulletin, I said inwardly;\n\" What in the world can I find to write about, seeing I have only spent\na month in this district ? \" So if this article is very boring you will\nhave to excuse me on the grounds of being \" a newcomer.\" A newcomer\nto Vancouver Island, but not to the Province of British Columbia, having\npreviously spent several years in this part of Canada, which I regard as\n\" God's country.\"\nA nurse's life is certainly one of varied experiences and changes;\nperhaps therein lies its fascination. In our profession we have great\nopportunities for meeting all classes, colours, creeds, and races of\npeople.\nA year and a half ago I left British Columbia for Northern Ontario\nto accept the post of Travelling Nurse in the Department of Indian\nAffairs. Six months later I received a permanent appointment, and as\nI Avas keenly interested in the Avork I expected to spend many years\nAvorking among my Indian friends. Alas, like in a great many other\ndepartments, the work was discontinued as a measure of economy!\nHoAvever, every cloud has a silver lining, and soon after my term of\nservice expired Avith the Indian Department I received the. offer of my\npresent  appointment,  much to my delight,  as  I  dearly love  British-\n42\n Columbia. It is quite a change to go from the extremely cold winter of\nNorthern Ontario to the mild climate of Vancouver Island; still more of\na change to live close to a. beautiful city like Victoria after spending\none's days on an Indian reserve 50 or 60 miles from -railway, telephone,\nor telegraph communication; to exchange travel by canoe and dog-team\nfor my present comfortable mode of travelling in a new Ford!\nI felt very sad about giving up my Indian work, but I expect to be\nvery happy in this new field of activity. After all, it doesn't really matter\nwhere one lives so long as one has congenial occupation and kind friends.\nThe Esquimalt Rural Nursing Association comprises six districts at\npresent\u2014namely, Langford, Goldstream, Shirley, Sooke, Happy Valley,\nand Luxton. At the present time Sooke and Shirley have applied solely\nfor the school service of the nurse. The other four districts have the\ngeneralized service. There are five schools to be visited monthly or\noftener, as required, with folloAv-up Avork in the homes.\nThe Esquimalt Rural Nursing Association has achieved a fine piece\nof work\u2014namely, the dental service for school-children. Dental clinics\nare held continuously throughout the.year for the purpose of keeping the\nteeth in good condition, examinations being made in all the schools in\nthe health district once a year. If the parents desire the necessary work\nto be done by the Association's clinic dentist, special rates are provided\u2014\nnamely, at half the cost to the parents of an ordinary visit to a dentist,\nand no charge is made for transportation to and from the dentist's office.\nIn addition to the school service, educational Avork is carried on in\nthe homes, child-welfare, prenatal and postnatal services, social service,\nand bedside-nursing care as required. At the present time a \" home-\nnursing class \" is being held twice monthly at Langford for the girls of\nthe Junior W.A. who are qualifying for their \" nursing badge.\"\nThe nurse in this district is fortunate in having the use of a car in\ngood running-order.    Just lately there Avas a phone call: \" Nurse, come\nquickly, there has been an accident at X School.\"    I can't tell you\nAAdiat a comfort it Avas to have a car capable of answering \"A hurry-up\ncall\" promptly. And so I am looking forAvard to a pleasant and interesting year with the Esquimalt Rural Nursing Association.\nIn closing, I wish to express my appreciation to the Nursing Association Committee, to the Provincial Board of Health, to the Medical\nHealth Officers, to the teachers and all others Avho have given their\nassistance  and  co-operation  Avith  the  nursing  service  in  this  health\ndistrict.\nOllve Ings, R.N.,\n'Langford.\n\"OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF BABES\nTelling stories to children is something that has had the poAver to\nstrike terror into my heart, stupid as it sounds. With, I suppose, a\ncharacteristic fear of the unknoAvn, a child's wide-eyed stare baffled me\nand I was afraid to appear ridiculous before it.    Starting out in public\n43\n health with a great deal of optimism and a feeling that there Avas a\nmessage for childhood in the eight health rules, if it were just put over\nstrongly enough, I thought all I had to do was make the rules sound\ninteresting and plausible, and a perfect new generation would be the\nresult!\nThen it was that I began to run against snags. I found first that,\nlike many other nurses, I had no teaching experience; that I hadn't any\nconception of children's mental capacity; and that I didn't knoAv whether\nI was talking up or down to them. My fear of ridicule made me inclined\nto be overcautious, and consequently I didn't make much progress.\nI have discovered since that self-confidence is of first importance, and\nthat children, like every one else, take you at your oAvn valuation. They\nare nearly always on the alert to learn, and anything new appeals to\nthem. Now that I am a little beyond my original optimism I realize\nthat they have known of the health rules since they began school, and\nthat I have to search for new ways of presenting them to make them\nattractive. Children haATe so many interests at school, in games and at\nhome, with very Arariable training and background, leaving gaps of different sizes to be filled. The thing to do, then, is to choose between effects\nthat can be made en masse and those that are better made individually.\nUsually one reaches the latter through the first.\nStories have a universal appeal for beginners, avIio think them wonderful, and for Grade VIII. people, who can be enthusiastic in spite of\nthemselves. After my first spasmodic efforts I told a story that 1 Avent\nover \" well and lent itself to embellishment and improvement. My first\nsuccess made me more confident, so I experimented. The story was about\na little girl whose age made her one Avith the 6-year-olds. With a blackboard always near it was easy to sketch figures that were nothing more\nthan a dot for head and lines to complete them ; but they were concrete,\nand followed with breathless interest. Three insects, who made speeches,\nall allowed for voice variations hugely appreciated. Who wouldn't be\nrewarded by seeing a roly-poly Japanese boy positively hugging himself\nwith joy because a grasshopper could talk! Even the bigger people who\nhad considered themselves much too old for a \" baby's story \" ended by\nlaughing, which proved that they had listened. The feAV sketches left on\nthe board were easy to copy, and the resulting draAvings made a good link\nfor the next visit.\nEvery one has, I suppose, their oavu \" typical story,\" whose success\nis an incentive to trying others.    The popularity of this one has given\nme confidence, and now there are friendly smiles in place of baffling stares,.\nand I feel that because of the difference I may be making a definite\nimpression on the \" rising generation.\"\nFyvie Young, R.N.,\nDuncan.\n44\n THE PUBLIC-HEALTH ATTITUDE.\nBefore making the final decision between public health and administrative nursing in my last year at University I hesitated a long time.\nHaving finished my hospital training, I kneAv what administrative nursing meant, but public health was only a name, and I think I was doubtful\nof the unknown. Since making that decision, the University course and\neight months at Saanich Health Centre have been teaching me the meaning of public health.\nIf only the word \" nurse \" had not such a deep-rooted connection\nwith the care of the sick, I think the nurse in the district would have a\nmuch easier time in accomplishing her purpose. Every day the different\nessentials of a hospital and Public Health Nurse become a little more\napparent, and the need of a completely different attitude of mind toward\nthe work is evident. I think, now, that the most important characteristics of a Public Health Nurse are an ability to meet people and gain\ntheir faith and co-operation in carrying out your advice.\nIn order to get results in preventive work the nurse must make\nherself a friend of the family, and the time for this is her first visit in\nthe home. Once the friendly feeling is established, one may become the\nhealth teacher and adviser.\nPublic-health nursing has been established for years in Saanich, thus\npaving the new nurse's way into many of the homes, and eliminating the\nneed of explaining the work and gaining the complete co-operation of\nthe family. Also the generalized programme that each nurse carries\non provides numerous opportunities of entry into the family. Often a\nhome-school visit ends in a child-welfare or prenatal, and one leaves the\nfamily with the satisfied feeling of having accomplished much more than\none hoped to. The work is increasingly interesting, for each successive\nvisit to a family brings out new angles and new opportunities for instruction that Avere missed before.\nH. Hillas, R.N.,\nSaanich Health Centre.\nA DAY SPENT IN THE MENNONITE SETTLEMENT\nAT YARROW.\nLeaving Chilliwack for Yarrow, we drive through Sardis, across the\nbeautiful picturesque Vedder River, and ascend the Vedder Mountain.\nThe mountain road is a scenic, although it is a very dangerous one in\nspots. After following the mountain road for about 8 miles, we come\nto a lookout spot on the highway ^ where we see beloAV some one hundred\nof the queerest-looking huts and sheds clustered around in a sort of\nsettlement. This is our first glimpse of the Mennonite Settlement at\nYarrow. Descending from the mountain road, we dip down into the\nsettlement.    There is a splendid main thoroughfare winding through it.\nOn the road we meet some of the Mennonite folk\u2014the women wearing quaint shawls over their heads and long pinafores covering their\n45\n frocks;   the men are mostly whiskered and are distinctly Russian in\ntheir features.\nWe press on, looking for the school for our centre of approach to\nthese people. Oh, there it is\u2014a two-room school right in the heart of\nthe settlement.\nWe introduce ourselves to the principal and take our first glimpse\nof the pupils. The first thing that impresses us is the seriousness of the\ncountenances of these little folk. They are quaint, respectful, little\npeople, and watch us with sober grey eyes and Avith never a smile.\nInspection of these two classes follows. The little girls are very\nneat. They wear plain little dresses covered with white pinafores. Their\nhair is parted in the middle and plaited in two braids. The majority\nof the boys are garbed like our OAvn boys; a few, however, wear long\ntunics and short trousers (Russian). These lads seem to wear scads\nmore underthings than we do, most of them being sewed into these.\nIn regard to their physical make-up, we are amazed to see:\u2014\n(1.)  Such wonderful white teeth, so healthy-looking, too.\n(2.) Such huge tonsils, Avhich with a cold infection I am sure would\nclose the throat-passage.\n(3.)  So much defective vision.\nWe are not surprised, however, to find that there is a carelessness\namongst some of the children in regard to cleanliness. This is due,\nlargely, to inadequate bathing facilities in the homes.\nThus Ave gather from this first inspection that there is a great field\nfor correction of defects and preventive work. Having finished our first\nroutine inspection, with a health talk to each class, we are invited by\nthe primary teacher to listen to a song from her class. The Mennonite\nchildren love singing and are overjoyed to display their talent. Truly,\nthey have beautiful voices, so expressive and so full of rhythm.\nWe are about to leave the school Avhen the principal rushes out to\ninform us that there is another class to be inspected. The OA^ercrowded\ncondition of the school, apparently, warranted the formation of another\nclass, housed in the church about half a mile farther down the road.\nWe find this class to have the same type of child. There are the\nsame serious grey eyes watching curiously our every move. The teacher\ninforms us that it is her first experience Avith these children, and that\nshe is amazed to find them such keenly interested students.\nI note .with regret that the children do not get enough relaxation:\nThey attend school five days of the week. Saturday they haAre German\nschool the whole day. Sunday they have Church and Sunday-school.\nThe after-school hours are not leisure ones for these busy little folk, for\nthey are employed in doing many chores.\nHaving seen the school-children, now we are interested to see some\nof the homes. We find the leader of the settlement living in the largest\nhouse, and it is painted (there being only a few painted houses in the\nsettlement\u2014paint denoting riches or rank, AAre think).    The leader is a\nHe informs\n46-\nwell-educated man, who talks with a slight German accent\n us where to find the babies and the cases he thinks that we should become\nacquainted with immediately.\nNow, most of the Mennonite women do not speak English very well.\nBy the time a few visits have been made we find ourselves speaking broken\nEnglish. The houses are mostly one- and two-room sheds with chicken-\ncoops attached. They are usually surrounded by mud caused by climatic\nconditions. There is a lack of furniture and comforts, but, in spite of\nthis, the floors are scrubbed clean and the furniture, although crude, is\nspotless. The mothers are very interested in their children and listen\nto our advice with the help of the child-interpreter.\nIt is remarkable to find that this little settlement, situated amongst\nCanadians, still remains distinctly Russian in customs and manners,\nand would continue to do so for years if outside influence did not interfere. For example, in making home-school visits at YarroAV, not one\ndoor Avas opened for us by the occupants of the home\u2014our knocks on the\ndoors were greeted with a loud \" Come in.\"\nMarion Torrence Cardwell, R.N.,\nMunicipality of Chilliwack.\nTHE OLD SULPHUR CANDLE.\nThe early discoveries in bacteriology lead us to believe in the survival\nof disease-germs on places and things which had been in contact with the\npatient. The attempt to disinfect \" fomites \" has been one of the chief\noccupations and main avenues of expenditure of public-health authorities\nall, over the world.\nWith the progress made in bacteriology and epidemiology, we have\nlearned that it is persons, not things, that are dangerous. It is the\npatient, the mild and missed cases, the convalescent, and the' healthy\ncarrier who constitute the source of the disease. It is they and their\nattendants who control or spread disease by their careful or careless\ntechnique.\nIn view of the facts, first, that disease-producing micro-organisms\nare disseminated by the body-discharges, and, second, that most disease-\nproducing bacteria are of a parasitic nature\u2014they die quickly once\noutside the body of their host for lack of food, warmth, moisture, and\ndarkness\u2014terminal disinfection with no adequate care of the infective\nmaterial or recently infected articles during, the course of the disease\nis a fine example of locking the stable door after the horse has gone.\nBy the time the Sanitary Inspector arrives with his sulphur and formalin,\netc., the damage has already been done. Other persons have become ill\nand are known sources of infection, while still others may have become\ncarriers who are unknown sources of infection\u2014constant sources of\nworry to those trying to control disease.\nWith regard to the germ-killing power of disinfectants, it has been\nproved by experiments that to render harmless the sputum of tuberculosis\n47\n patients by means of a 5-per-cent. carbolic solution requires at least\ntwenty-four hours. A 10-per-cent. formalin solution must be in contact\nwith sputum for one hour. How, then, is the casual swipe of a cloth\nwrung out of a lysol solution or some equally smelly household standby\ngoing to kill the germs of disease?\nFltigge, working experimentally, placed cultures of disease-producing\ngerms on walls and floors. These surfaces Avere then rubbed with breadcrumbs and washed with a carbolic-acid solution. After Ibis process,\nwhich was far more drastic than ordinary measures, many of the germs\nwere found to have survived.\nAn experiment Avhich proved the inefficacy of formalin fumigation\nwas performed by William Waleot. He placed diphtheria bacilli, streptococci and staphylococci, on walls of a room, introduced a large quantity\nof formalin vapour, and then hermetically sealed it up. Culture-tubes\ninoculated from the walls after ibis procedure were found to be positive,\nProfessor C. Chogas, Director-General of Public Hygiene in Brazil,\nwho has written a monograph on \" The Practice of Terminal Disinfection,\" believes that terminal disinfection as practised by most countries\n\"is a procedure erroneously founded, almost always useless, and whose\npractical results bear no adequate relation to the labour and cost involved.\"\nFortunately, institutions teaching health and organizations promoting health programmes on the North American Continent have realized\nthe futility of the time-honoured method of terminal disinfection. To-day,\nmost public-health measures for the control of communicable disease are\nconcentrated on the care and isolation (concurrent disinfection) of the\npatient and carrier.\nInexpensive, simple, effective, and easily practised methods are\nadopted by modern'public-health authorities in their campaign against\nthe spread of communicable disease. After carefully explaining to the\nparent or nurse the necessary procedure to protect the rest of the family\nand the community at large, Ave often find on a subsequent visit that\nmany of the details have been forgotten. To offset this, we are now\npreparing, in the North Vancouver Health Unit, pamphlets outlining the\nsimple methods of technique necessary to confine the disease to the\npatient. These Avill be left in the patient's home by the Public Health\nNurse after she has carefully explained the principles of isolation.\nNorah E. Armstrong, R.N.,\nNorth Vancouver.\nSOME EXPERIENCES IN THE UNIVERSITY\nHEALTH SERVICE.\nThe recent outbreak of smallpox in Vancouver has caused an influx\nof inquiries at the University Health Service from the population of the\nUniversity and EndoAvnient Lands regarding vaccination.\nThe inquirers were many and varied, as were their reasons for seeing\nus\u2014for, let it be Avhispered, these people were not by any means all\n48\n clamouring round our doors in order to be vaccinated. Indeed, we were\ndeeply touched by the sense of duty Avhich animated not a few of these\nvisitors who had called for the express purpose of telling us what we\nought to know, and did not, about vaccination and smallpox. Notwithstanding this seeming set-back to our plans, there are at the time of\nwriting 1,050 persons at the University and in the Adcinity who have\nbeen vaccinated since February 4th. The total vaccinations to date\nstand at 1,150; students never previously vaccinated numbered 160, and\nwe are still vaccinating. About eighty of these vaccinations were performed by the family physicians.\nAt the University Health Service the puncture method is used on\nthe underside of the left arm (except in the case of left-handed persons,\nwhen the right arm is used) ; three punctures are inserted, one being\nused as a .Control. The vaccinated are generally required to report back\non the second, fourth, sixth, and ninth days, and are advised to avoid\nall dressings and shields. Of six students who Avere vaccinated three\ntimes with an interval of ten days between each vaccination, four failed\nto show any reaction. The reason for such failure has not yet, so far\nas I know, been scientifically determined; there was no history of either\na previous vaccination Or smallpox in the cases mentioned.\nFor convenience I shall divide our clients into groups of fiATe, thus:\u2014\n(1.)  Those never previously vaccinated.\n(2.) Those previously vaccinated unsuccessfully and since become\nI conscientious objectors.\"\n(3.)  Those successfully vaccinated at some time.\n(4.)  I Conscientious objectors.\"\n(5.)  Christian Scientists.\nThe group referred to in a previous contribution to the Bulletin,\nthose Avho passed through their school-years without being vaccinated,\nnotwithstanding the fact of their parents not being objectors, but merely\nindifferent, were not in evidence this year.\nThe first group, those never previously vaccinated, whose parents\nhad been in a sense objectors, but who were now anxiously seeking advice,\nwere given literature supplied by the Provincial Board of Health to study\nand discuss with their parents and instructed to report back. The\nresponse was very gratifying.\nThe second group, those previously unsuccessfully vaccinated, were\na little difficult; the idea being fairly general that, as they had not\nI taken \" the vaccination, they must be immune. This belief was very\nhard to obliterate, particularly so in those students whose parents had\nhad a similar experience before marriage; thus, they contended, immunity has been inherited from my mother, Avho had never had a \" take \"\nnor an attack of smallpox. Whether or not an immune reaction had\noccurred when they were vaccinated Avas difficult to determine, since\nthe scratch method, without a control, had almost invariably been used.\nThe third group, Avhich included those who had not been revacci-\nnated Avithin the last seven years, Avere quickly and comfortably vaccinated and dismissed Avith the usual\" instructions.\n49.\n The fourth group of conscientious objectors may be divided into the\n\"articulate\" and the \"inarticulate.\" The former, whose spontaneous\nand uninvited volubility regarding the ills produced by vaccination rather\ntook us by surprise, failed to move us to response. This attitude on our\npart, although at first unpremeditated, was adopted because we noticed\nit generally had the effect of reducing the orator to silence in a very\nshort time. This was important, as time was at a premium with us,\nsince we were vaccinating at this period about 100 persons daily; and\nour office is very small, somewhat stuffy, and quite an unsuitable place\nin which to hold debates. However, the moment our adviser became\nsilent we inquired the Avhy of his presence at the office at such a busy\ntime,. and if we could be of service in any way\u2014to which, the answer\nforthcoming was in effect that he or she wanted us to know that he or\nshe absolutely and unconditionally refused to be vaccinated. At this\npoint we sympathetically acquiesced and requested the name of the person\nor persons at the Health Sendee Office among our staff of \" two | who\nhad made such an erroneous suggestion. At this juncture we were\ngenerally being asked for advice, which was given with particular care;\nand, curiously enough, the advice Avas sometimes followed and certain\nof these students were vaccinated. I never can bear the silent reproach\nof their young eyes about the ninth day, and often wish that any one\nbut me were the vaccinator; hoAA^ever, I console myself with the assurance that such a one Avill never contract smallpox.\nThe inarticulate group were ready to give us evidence in black and\nwhite of the personal history of a relative or relatives who had been\nstricken down with smallpox, although they had been vaccinated or\nbecause of vaccination. One letter, which a student's mother, who lives\nin Kaslo, had requested her to place before us, reads in part: \" My\nyoungest sister died after it and your Aunt Edith was an invalid for\nmany years; she Avas a nurse. I kneAv such a pretty little chap of 6\nyears who was stone-deaf\u2014vaccinated as an infant; abcesses came out\nall over and- in his head with that result, and his Dad used to spend\nhis time taking him to every expert for advice. I Avas vaccinated during\na. smallpox outbreak in England. What Avas put into me I don't know!\nI swelled up all down one side; the odour was terrific. I could not\nget a strong enough disinfectant to make my vicinity pleasing. I had\na running sore for months afterAvards\u2014a strange experience for me who\nalways heal so swiftly. I think you Avill be safe if you keep a well-\nnourished and exercised body, and a mind intent upon doing your duty,\nhappy and fearless.\"\nIt is easy to understand the fear which is implanted in the hearts\nof these young people\u2014even those who are over age and take matters\ninto their own hands, requesting vaccination, are terrified during the\nmoment of being vaccinated, and often faint, wdth fear. The lady whose\nletter we have quoted is a Christian Scientist; it has not, however, been\nour experience that all Christian Scientists are necessarily anti-vaccina-\ntionists, and the reverse is probably true.\n50\n The fifth group included a number of Christian Scientists who were\nfound to be non-combatant and really interested in knowing something\nof the scientific facts, albeit they were not particularly keen upon being\nvaccinated if there was a Avay out. We found good reasoning ability\namong these students, and it seemed to us that our efforts, not centred\non persuading them to be vaccinated, but rather on the elucidation and\ninterpretation for them, of the latest scientific findings on smallpox and\nvaccination as we understand them, and as given out by the best scientific\nbrains of our time, were more than rewarded by.the results achieved.\nSome of this group Avere vaccinated, because they grasped the facts covering the general procedure folloAved by specific communicable diseases.\nSummary.\u2014Public Health Nurses, I think, have an enormous responsibility in the elimination of unnecessary fear of vaccination by educational methods. We should seize e\\Tery opportunity and use every known\nmeans of giving the scientific explanation. Such confusion exists about\nvaccines generally that we should, when giving lectures or health talks,\nadd something of vaccines and their uses, explaining the different diseases\nfor which they are employed, with emphasis on the specificity of each.\nThe difference between vaccination against smallpox Avhich we advocate\nand the old method of inoculation with. smallpox virus directly from\nperson to person (noAv illegal) is well worth going into thoroughly:\nIf it were only possible to enlighten teachers, our task would be comparatively easy. There are too many unvaccinated teachers in the schools\nand something should be done about it.\nThe importance of seeing the vaccinated person at intervals after\nthe date of vaccination cannot be overestimated; the follow-up shows the\ntype of reaction, if any, and dressings when found should be removed.\nIf it is a I take,\" advice should be given to the vaccinated not to use the\narm unduly between the ninth and twelfth days; the importance of\nprocuring a certificate bearing the date of vaccination and its reaction\nshould be stressed. This Avill be more than ever important now, since\nthe old scar (which has in the past been so large and lasting as to enable\nus to decide about a vaccination in cases when clients have not knoAvn\nwhether or not they have been vaccinated against smallpox) will disappear with the use of the puncture method. The difference should be\nclearly explained, particularly to the previously vaccinated, between a\nvaccination which takes and that which fails to show any reaction;\nwe advise such people, if tried three times unsuccessfully, that they are\nquite as liable to come doAvn Avith smallpox if they are in contact with\nit as if no vaccination had been performed. The revaccination of those\npreviously successfully vaccinated ought to show an immune reaction,\nand failure to get this reaction indicates that another trial should be\nmade to see if the former vaccination is still protecting the body.\nIn all probability the people who claim they have contracted smallpox, although vaccinated within the time-limit of seven years, are those\nwho did not react to the vaccination. Our OAvn experience among students\nAvho at any time give a history of smallpox is that not a single case has\n51\n come under our notice of one Avho had ever been vaccinated, either successfully or unsuccessfully, against smallpox.\nBe this as it may, the fact of 160 primary vaccinations leaves us\nwith a feeling that all is well with the world.\nCelia A. Lucas, R.N.\nFRENCH CREEK AND DISTRICT.\nReading last year's Bulletin, I find that a complete resume\" of the\nwork in French Creek and District has been given, and as it has been\nCarried on in much the same way this year I will not repeat it. I might\nsay that, Avith the extension of the work and the entrance of Qualicum\nBeach into the district, it became necessary to have another nurse, so\nwith tAvo nurses instead of one a much more intensive visiting programme\nhas been made possible.\nWe are endeavouring to develop each branch of the work as far as\npossible and already we have made great progress. Prenatal and obstetrical work has responded particularly Avell, but Ave have not yet decided\nwhether it is due to the fact that the staff has increased to two or\nwhether it is just another result of the widespread depression.\nFor the assistance and co-operation that has come to us from the\nProvincial Board of Health and our committee Ave give our sincere\nthanks, for we realize that without it the progress of the work would be\nat a standstill.\nDorothy E. MacKenzie.\nHEALTH INSURANCE AND PUBLIC HEALTH.\n11 can't get the doctor, because I haven't any money and I already\nowe him a bill.\" How many times are we, as Public Health Nurses, confronted with this story in our daily round? In nine cases out of ten\nthis is the reason given by the average person for not getting medical\nadvice at the appearance of the first symptoms of illness or physical\ndefects. Thus it is the cause of the many difficulties which arise to\nprevent the carrying-out of a successful preventive campaign.\nIn a critical period such as Ave are going through at present, where\nthe byword is depression and practically every one is poverty-stricken,\nthe Public Health Nurse finds herself helpless in a great many cases.\nInstead of being able to refer her cases to doctors, dentists, hospitals,\nor. clinics, she can only give her advice and leave it to the people themselves, and as most of these people have a certain sense of independence\nthey will try to forget their symptoms rather than feel that they are\nimposing on the doctor, dentist, or hospital, as the case may be. The\nresult is that these slight symptoms of disease or physical abnormalities\nsoon develop into serious afflictions AAdiich not only risk lives, but have\npermanent defects.\n52'\n To the Public Health Nurses, and particularly to those in the country\ndistricts, health insurance is the one great salvation. For example, they\ngo to the schools, inspect the children, and what do they find ? Enlarged\ntonsils, decayed teeth, defective vision, etc. Next they visit the parents\nin hopes that these defects can be remedied, but instead they get the\nsame old story of hard times and no money. The result is not only that\nthe resistance of these children is loAvered, but they take the chance of\ndeveloping diseases which Avill affect them permanently. What future\nhave these children if they groAv up without good health?\nThis is the great problem that each Public Health Nurse has to\nbattle Avith until we haAre some form of health insurance. Until that time\nAve cannot begin to show the great possibilities of our work, but we carry\non in the hopes that it Avill soon be a realization.\nDorothy E. MacKenzie.\nPERSONALS.\nWe regret that Miss Margaret Griffin is not able to contribute this\nyear owing to a severe attack of \" flu,\" which has laid her up for a couple\nof months. Miss Griffin has been a constant contributor to the Bulletin\nand has always given us something really worth while. '\nMiss Winifred Green and Miss Hilda Peters resigned from their\npositions in Chilliwack last June. The Avork is noAV being ably directed\nby Miss Marion Cardwell and Miss Geraldine Homfray.\nMiss HedAvig Hillas and Miss Margaret Sutherland were appointed\nto the staff of the Saanich Health Centre.\nMiss Velma Miller has opened a new district in connection with the\nCoAvichan Health Centre at Youbou. Miss Ledwina Servos resigned\nfrom the service in Duncan to assume an institutional position in her\nown training-school. Miss Heather Kilpatrick and Miss Fyvie Young-\nwere appointed to the staff at this centre.\nAn increase in the size of the French Creek District by the extension\nto Parksville and Qualicum necessitated the appointment of another\nnurse.    Miss Dorothy MacKenzie Avas made assistant to Miss Griffin.\nThe vacancy left at Oliver when Miss G. M. Kitteringham was married has been filled by Miss Isabella Craig.\nTwo new nurses were appointed to carry on the work in the Peace\nRiver District following the marriage of Miss A. M. Roberts. Miss M.\nClaxton, formerly supervisor of the Cowichan Health Centre, has charge\nof the district on the north side of the river, while Miss Nancy Dunn is\non the south side.\nMiss Hettie Fawcett, Avho inaugurated the services in Mission and\nPort Haney, was married last December. Miss Mary E. Grierson transferred from Port Alberni, her position there being taken by Miss Helen\nKelly, formerly of the Esquimalt District.    Miss Olive Ings, avIio left\n53\n Westbank to join the Indian service a year ago, has been appointed to the\nLangford service.\nMiss Emily G. Allen has replaced Miss Audrey Payne at Ladysmith.\nMiss Dorothea McDermott resigned from her position as School\nNurse in Nanaimo to become Superintendent of the new Preventorium\nin Vancouver. Miss Eileen Carruthers is carrying on the work in\nNanaimo now.\nVICTORIA,  B.C. :\nPrinted by Charles F. Banfield,  Printer to the King's Most Excellent Majesty.\n1932.\n450-332-8594\n54\n ","@language":"en"}],"Genre":[{"@value":"Periodicals","@language":"en"}],"Identifier":[{"@value":"W1.PU2378","@language":"en"},{"@value":"WI_PU2378_V01_09","@language":"en"}],"IsShownAt":[{"@value":"10.14288\/1.0383419","@language":"en"}],"Language":[{"@value":"English","@language":"en"}],"Provider":[{"@value":"Vancouver: University of British Columbia Library","@language":"en"}],"Publisher":[{"@value":"Victoria, B.C. : King's Printer","@language":"en"}],"Rights":[{"@value":"Images provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy, or otherwise use these images must be obtained from the University of British Columbia Library.","@language":"en"}],"SortDate":[{"@value":"1932-03-31 AD","@language":"en"},{"@value":"1932-03-31 AD","@language":"en"}],"Source":[{"@value":"University of British Columbia. Library. Woodward Library. Storage. W1 .PU2378","@language":"en"}],"Subject":[{"@value":"Nursing","@language":"en"}],"Title":[{"@value":"Public health nurses' bulletin, vol.1, no.9","@language":"en"}],"Type":[{"@value":"Text","@language":"en"}],"Translation":[{"@value":"","@language":"en"}],"@id":"doi:10.14288\/1.0383419"}