276 A Short History of Nursing the directors was definite, and it was clinched by the formation of a society composed of Matrons, directors, physicians, and laymen, in which the former were in the minority. As pressing questions came forward, such as over-long hours of work and imperfect teaching of probationers, this society appeared to exist for the purpose of preventing further improvements from being made. As a result of this an insurgent association of nurses, standing for progress toward better professional training, was formed (1900), with the name Noso- komos (The Nurse). It admitted only nurses to membership and was led successively by E. J. Van Stockum and J.. C. Van Lanschot Hub- recht. Both these women were of extreme unself- ishness and devotion, holding the highest ideals and living for them. They founded a professional journal called Nosokomos, and this, next to the British Journal of Nursing, has been a highly mili- tant publication, pursuing steadily the task of pushing and prodding the powerful, well-organized hospital directors, to recognize nursing as based on thorough progressive education. Their aim was twofold — to stop the economic exploitation of nurses, and to promote a thorough training for pupils by bringing all institutions to an educa- tional basic standard through state regulation.
