350 A Short History of Nursing sit complacently back with the feeling that every- thing worth while has been accomplished. As a matter of fact the forward movement has only just begun, and we need a whole army of energetic and courageous nurses with the spirit of the old pioneers, but with a better preparation than theirs, to open up new fields and to challenge the difficult and complicated problems of our own day. Most of these problems have been outlined in previous chapters. In spite of the rapid multipli- cation of hospitals and the remarkable improve- ments which have been made in the nursing care of sick patients both in hospitals and homes, we are amazed to find that this care extends to a very small proportion of the total population of our country. The sick in many homes today, are just about as poorly nursed as they were fifty years ago. In rural communities especially, there is a shocking lack of skilled nursing care. Even in hospitals the reformation so well begun, has not been completed. Modern standards of nursing have not yet penetrated deeply into many hospitals and institutions for the sick, especially into those for mental, tubercular, and chronic patients, where large numbers of sick people are still cared for largely by unskilled attendants. Besides there is the whole big field of public health
