^Si, ^. Y^^^^.. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 us 2.2 HdUU u 1.4 1.6 V] '^# \ Photographic Sciences Corporation S: ^^ .^\ V ;\ .^^ \ ^. 12X 16X / 20X 24X 28X 32X Tha copy filmed hare has bean reproduced thanks to the generosity of: Medical Library McGill University Montreal The images appaerlng here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in keeping with the filming contract specificationa. Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illuatrated Imprea- sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, end ending on the iaat page with a printed or illustrated impression. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol —^(meaning "CON- TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever appiiaa. Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one expoi^-jre are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many framea aa required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: L'exemplaire film* fut reproduit grAce A la g^n^rositA da: Medical Library McGill University Montreal Les imagea suivantea o.it 4t6 reproduites avec ie plus grand soln. compte tenu de la condition et de la nettet* de l'exemplaire film*, et en conformity avec las conditiona du contrat de fllmage. Les exemplairea originaux dont la couverture en papier est imprimis sont filmte en commen^ant par la premier plat et en terminant soit par la darnlAre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par Ic second plat, seion ie cms. Tous les autres exemplairea originaux sont fiimia en commen^ant par la premiere page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernlAre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un dea symboles suivants apparaltra sur la derniAre image de cheque microfiche, seion ie cas: Ie symboSe — »> signifie "A SUIVRE", ie symbols y signifie "FIN". Les cartea, planchea, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre filmte A dee taux de rMuctlon diffirents. Lorsque Ie document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul ciichi, 11 est film* d partir de i'angle supirieur gauche, de gauche d drolte, et de haut en baa, en prenant Ie nombre d'images nicessaire. Les diagrammes suivants iliustrent la mithode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 0^ C i^ ' 7 THE QUEEN'S DIAMOND JUBILEE. THE VICTORIAN ORDER OF NURSES, PUBLIC MEETING AT MONTREAL, APRIL 21st, 1897. Address By DR. CRAIK, DEAN OF FACULTY OF MEDICINE, McGILL UNIVERSITY. Your Excellenciep, Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen: — In endeavoring to asgist in my humble way in the objects of this meeting, I would desire it to be understood that what I have to say will be chiefly from a professional or medical point of view, and although I cannot by any means claim to speak as the official mouthpiece of the Profession, yet, as one of its oldest members I may fairly claim to speak with some knowledge of its wants, and also with some knowledge of its views with reference to the proper treatment and the proper tending of the sick. The time was^ not so very long ago, and within the memory of many of us, when the attendance and advice of the doctor with the kindly but unskilled assistance of friends and neighbors, were all, or nearly all, that sick persons had to rely upon for their com- fort or cure; or if nurses, so called, were to be had, they were at best self -taught, and without scientific training of any kind. Even the doctors' ideas about the nature of disease were often misty and indefinite, and the science of Medicine had but little claim to be ranked among the exact sciences. But, thanks to the great progress and discoveries of modern science, all these things have been greatly changed for the better. The causes of disease have become so much better known and its processes and effects so much better understood, that most diseases are now much more manageable and the resulting mortality has been greatly reduced. In short. Medicine- including, of course. Surgery— is rapidly es- tablishing its claim to be ranked among the Exact Sciences. And how have these changes been bronghb about ? By substituting accurate scientific methods of observation and practice for the crude and indefinite methods of the past. But the doctors themselves would have been powerless in carrying out these changes bub for the able and valuable assistance of the 2 \ modern trained nurae; aud for the introduc- tion of this Bj^Btem of ekillfal, trained nurs- ing, with all its untold benetitB, the Profeeeion of Medicine and the world at large must 'or- ever remain under a load of obli(;ation to the great founder of the syatem, IViiss Florence Nightingale. The trained nurse has become almost as necessary in the treatment of the sick as the doctor himself, and if in serious or prolonged illness the two go not hand in- hand, much unnecessary Buffdrins; and many preventible deaths must be the inevitable oon8e({uences. But though our larger hospitUs and cer- tain olisses of the community in this country are bding well served by our present system of trained nursing, we can soaroely be said to be much beyond the threshold of our necessities or of our possibilities in this matter. As matters now stand, by far the most numerous classea of our people are quite out of reach of help from our trained nurses, and until this want is supplied they must continue to Buffer and to die, much as if no system of trained nursing existed in the country. I say this without imputing blame to any one. It is probably nobody's fault, but it is a national misfortune, and one which should not, and indeed must rot, be beyond the reach of remedy. The hospitals have been doing their utmost in training nurses up to the full measure of their capacity and the means at their disposal, but the process is a slow one, and, so far at least as the nurses themselves are concerned, is attended with considerable expenditure of time, anxiety and money before they find themselves in a position to earn a bare livelihood. Moreover, their duties are arduous and ex- acting, and their necessary expenses con- stant and considerable, while their einolu - ments are tluotuating and ^incertain; and to make ends meet their scale of fees must be euoh as to place their services beyond the reach of all but persona of ample means, to whom the additional expenditure uf a few dollars a day during a lengthened illness, causes little or no inconvenience. "" But these people of ample means form but a small minority of our whole popula- tion, and what is to become of those much more numerous classes, the people with limited incomes, both in the cities and outlying districts, and the poor in their own homes, whose nseda in the matter of nura* ing help are quite aa urgent, but whose means are quite Inadequate to supply them under existing conditions ? Are they to be left to aicken and to die with- out help, or to look longingly and enviously, or with thoughts that are apt to grow dan- gerous, upon their more proaperous neigh> bora ? God forbid ! It is tu supply the needs of auch aa theae that Her Excellency proposes to establish the Victorian Order of Nurses, whose duty and whose privilege it shall be, under skilled direction, and sup- ported as it will be by a generous public when its needs are made known, to extend to every class of the community throughout the length and breadth of our land, those valuable and health giving services which should be tbe perquisite of the poor as well as of the rioh. And this is no impossibility. What has been done elsewhere can be done here. Ten years ago the situation in Gre>it Britain was almost e.:actly the same as it is here today. The great hospitals and the well-to-do classes had their trained nurses, while the great middle class, with moderate means, and the poor in their homes, were fain to struggle and to suffer, as they had always done, without them. The Jubilee Order of Queen's Nurses, established by Her Majesty in 1887, has supplied this great want, and there are today upwards of six hundred of these nurses doing valuable work in every part of the United Kingdom, and their number is constantly increasing. So let it be, with necessary modifications^ in this country. Let not the reproach be cast upon us that we continue to train nurses only for the rich, and that those who are not rich must not hope to be helped in that way even in their direst need. That reproach must not, shall not, rest upon this country. It must be wiped away be* fore it becomes a stain upon our fair Escut- cheon, and every dweller in the land, whether in the palaces of che rich or In the humblest hovel in the wilderness, must be made to feel that he is within reach of that skilled help in his sore need, which should be the birth- right of every citizen of our great Empire. It is not for me, nor is this the occasion, to enter upon the de- tails of this great scheme. It is in safe hands and the work connected with it ' T . .» . "^qpi m^jm^^^^ u. K. m*MKmm^. «.i a.pvt^^f^-^ 8 will be well and faithfully doue, but this muoh I must needs say ; that the aim shall be to make it aooeptabie to all who t%ke part in it, to the nurses who are to do most of the work, to the doctors aneas, and lastly, to our beloved Queen, whoselarge and sympathe- tic heart first sufiigested the direction which such Jubilee offerings should most fitly take. It is difficult to imagine any more worthy object for Jubilee gifts, great or small, than this Victorian Order of Nurses, for skilled nursing, even in its ])reeent restricted appli- cation, is every day, and perhaps every hour, relieving human pain and saving human lite: and bearing in mind the Glassic Dictum that "what you do through others you do also yourselves," it becomes possible for every one to help in this great work, and puts practically no limit to the good that may be done and the valuable lives that may be saved. But in contemplating the great benefits to our people by the establishment among us of the Victorian Order of Nurses, let us not forget to whom we are indebted for the initiation of this great enterprise. To Her Excellency the Countess of Aberdeen must always belong the merit of having been the first to discern this great need among the masses of our people, and to her, ilso, we owe the quick perception of the fitting mo- ment at which their wants could be best supplied. It was a happy inspiration, and may Her Excellency live to see the fruits of her benevolent purpose grow and multiply, fif tv and even a hundredfold. If more were needed to pret the impor- tance of this good work upon the people of this Christian Country, I could point to an obligation more solemn than all that have gone before. Did not the Divine Author of Christianity say to His followeia, " Go ye, heal the siok, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devil-), freely ye have received, freely give?" This is His command. Shall it not be obeyed? But He gEive also a Promise, in these words, *' And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones, a cup of cold water only, in the name of a disciple" (and whot disciple more worthy than our beloved Queen), "verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose bis reward." Ladies and Gentlemen, Citizens throughout' jhip broad Dominion, this pro- mise will be durely kept. See to it, that,ye fail not to secure a goodly share in this Saored Promise. r-