187 WOMAN'S WORK fullest information applicable to her case. In the reply she will be told the lowest age at which she may enter, and other informa- tion which will enable her to place her foot upon the bottom rung of the ladder that leads to the noblest of all human service. Cottas:e Nurses As Every Woman's Encyclopaedia is read not only in towns, but also in villages and country places far removed from any centre containing a big , general hospital, _«^ I it will be advan- tageous, before considering the conditions of ser- vice in the general hospitals, to refer to the Cottage Benefit Nursing Association. This associa- tion (head office, Denison House, Vauxhall Bridge Road, London, S.W.) trains young women for appointment as nurses to visit the sick in the homes of labourers, artisans, small farmers, trades- people, and others. An important considera- tion for young women living outside of towns is the fact that the association prefers country women to town women. On applying to the secretary at the above address, the candidate will be asked to fill in an application form containing questions as to age, education, eyesight, hearing, health, and character. Details will have to be given as to previous employment, and the names of two ladies must be added as references, to- gether with the name and address of a doctor who is acquainted with the applicant. If accepted as a probationer cottage nurse, she will be expected to take whatever course of training is considered necessary to fit her for her work. This training being given free by the nursing association, she must sign an agreement to serve the Association for three and a half or four years, according to the period of training received. No wages are given during training, but probationers are placed in a situation as soon as the training is completed, when they receive w^ages as follows : ^i6 a year for the first year, ^i8 a year for the second year, and an addition of £7. a year for each year of ser- vice until /30 a year is paid. In addition, a bonus is given when the engagement is satis- factorily completed. A legal contract is signed before traming begins, and a probationer discharged for inefficiency or misconduct is liable to repay to the association a sum of money varying from /12 to ;^24, according to the cost and length of training she has received. The Cottage Nursing Association prefers country women because the work lies in A view along one of the wards of the London Hospital cottage homes, and, in addition to a high degree of skilled nursing, the cottage nurse must be prepared to perform any domestic duty necessary whilst in charge of her patient. The Qeneral Hospital The age of entry in a large general hospital is from twenty-two or twenty-three years of age up to thirty or thirty-five, and candi- dates of the required physical fitness may enter either as paying or non- pa y i n g proba- tioners. Those who enter as pay- ing probationers usually do so for a term of three months, paying
- ^i3 13s. in ad-
vance, the period of training being renewable at the same fee from time to time until the probationer has completed her studies. A non - paying probationer, on the other hand, usually enters for a month on trial, and if at the end of that time, in addition to being approved of by the matron, she is still desirous of entering the profession, a definite agreement is entered into for a term of service varying from two to four years. The conditions vary slightly at different institutions. Applicants desirous of entering the London Hospital, for instance, are required to fill in a form — which will be for- warded to them on applying by letter to the Matron, the London Hospital, White- chapel, London, E.) — giving information very similar to that asked of applicants to the Cottage Nursing Association. If approved, the probationer enters a hospital, wnich has over 900 beds and a nursing staff of upwards of 600, to spend seven weeks at a preliminary A delightfully restful comer in the nurse's sitting-room, London Hospital, where many a quiet half hour off duty is spent
