The Republican

HEALTH NURSES OF STATE
ACTIVE AGAINST DISEASE
Fifty-one Were On Duty in the Counties During the Year 1930
When you catch a glimpse of the public health nurse as she starts out on her day's work, just remember that there are fifty more working in the counties of Maryland, as she is doing, for the prevention of disease and the promotion of health among young and old.
Some idea of the many sided activities of the group whose service uniform has become a familiar sight in every section of the State, may be gathered from a recent report from the State Department of Health showing that fifty-one nurses were on duty in the counties last year.
Every county has one or more. Nine had one each; eight had two; four had three, and two—Allegany and Baltimore—had seven each. Baltimore county started the year with four and added three in the early fall. Included in the total were two colored nurses, who were engaged in work among their own race.
The nursing work in each section is carried on under the direction of the County Health Officer and is adapted to the needs of that particular district. During the year the fifty-one nurses made a total of 56,019 visits, an average of over a thousand visits for each nurse. Their activities took them into 26,786 homes.
They assisted the health officers and examining physicians at clinics or health conferences for persons suffering from, or who had been in contact with tuberculosis; for mothers and young children; for crippled children; for children needing dental care; for mental cases and for venereal diseases.
The nurses also assisted the health officers in diphtheria immunization clinics; in the administration of typhoid vaccine, and in the medical examination of school children and the control of communicable diseases in the schools. The number of children examined was 69,156, and of the total 24,701 were found to have some condition requiring correction. Many of the visits to homes were made by the nurses in connection with this work of the schools. They also gave instruction in the home care of the sick to 129 groups of women and young girls in high schools and at health centers, and aided local communities in arranging celebrations of Child Health Day and of Negro Health Week.