1 68 A Short History of Nursing tional purposes; and by the Nurses' Relief Fund which helps nurses who are ill and who need help. In 1912 when the Associated Alumnas reorgan- ized as the American Nurses' Association, the par- ent nursing organization (the Society The National j. • League of Superintendents of Training Schools Nursing for Nurses) also modified its constitu- Education tion somewhat, changed its name to the National League of Nursing Education, and affili- ated itself with the American Nurses' Association, still maintaining, however, its own independent organization and membership. The membership was extended to include not only superintendents of nursing schools but assistants, instructors and supervisors, head nurses, members of state boards of nurse examiners, and directors of other branches of nursing education. There are now (1920) over 800 individual mem- bers of the National League as compared with the 1 8 original founders of the Superintendents' Society in 1893. State Leagues have also been formed in twenty-five states and there are many city and county Leagues with membership in the state, and through the state with representation in the national organization. The closest possible co-operation has been maintained between the Leagues of Nursing
