Vol. 60, 1909 - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Charlotte Medical Journal
EDITORIAL. 159
"^ent of the sick whid. are evident to every
sensible phj'sician, and yet we hear advo-
Publisbed Monthly. cates for the State registration of nurses
EDWARD C. REGISTER, M. D., EDITOR boldly declare that "the domination of the
CHARLOTTE, N. C.
doctor and the man must cease when he
3^:;^^=^;=====:;===; leaves the sick-room."
THE PMYSIGIANS ^HATlO^AU BOARD OP Nurses all over the country are not slow
REGEINTS. ill catching the spirit of such sentiments,
A conviction has been growing for the and, as a natural result, physicians are
past few years in the minds of many physi- finding it more and more difficult to keep
cians that it would ere long become abso- nurses of the State Registration type from
lutely necessary for the medical profession modifying their treatment or changing it
to exercise its right and privilege of direct- altogether and substituting their own. The
ing and controlling the business of nursing, effect of such a course on the part of the
Recently a movement has been started the few who are seeking equal rights with the
avowed purpose of which is to correct these physician via the State Registration route,
tendencies. The Physicians National Board is felt in the supply of nurses both in private
of Regents, which includes some of the practice and in institutional work,
most prominent physicians of this country, Few physicians can be found who have
is undertaking the execution of such ideas not had unfortunate experiences with the
as it is believed will accomplish the ends meddlesome and prescribing nurse. The
desired. Dr. ICugene Underhill, of Phila- declaration of many physicians that the
delphia, is president of this association and State Registration movement tends to deeditor
of its official organ ' The Guide velop wholesale quackery, and to create a
Book". An expression of Dr. Underhill's class of insubordinate nurses, with a show
views, which likewise embodies the pur- of legal authority to apparently justify their
poses of the Physician's National Board of claim to equal privilege in directing the
Regents, we deem worthy of reproduction, afifairs of the sick-room, is undoubtedly
Everj' physician knows, and every nurse tiue. The State Registration movement
ought to know, that the business of nursing has also tended to place the control of nurswas
created by the medical profession. The ing in the hands of a few dictatorial perphysicians
have opened the door of this sons, whose desire seems to be to limit the
opportunity and put the nurses in the way supply of nurses, whose desire seems to be to
of acquiring the necessary knowledge and limit the supply of nurses to hospitals, and
skill. In view of the origin of the nursing to so manipulate and elevate prices, as to
profession and the overwhelming demand, prevent the poor and the great middle
one would sui>pose that there would never classes, from securing adequate nursing
be any attempt to eliminate the doctor from assistance.
a wise and proper guidance of the profession, It has, therefore, become necessars' for
or to create a monopoly of the business of the medical profession to regulate the businursing
in the interest of a few nurses. Yet ness of nursing. This is done in the interthis
very thing has been attempted. The est of the nurses themselves, in the interest
effort has been tolerated by the medical of the hospitals and training schools, in the
profession for some years. Within the last interest of the general public and in the infive
or six years, there has been a growing terest of the medical profession,
tendency and disposition on the part of a The Physicians' National Board of Refew
nurses, not onl/to ignore the physician, gentspropose to classify the nurses and issue
and the rights of other nursesand the needs a National Commission or other suitable creof
the public, but a disposition to usuriitlie dentials to all nurses who are duly qualified
the prerogatives of the doctor. The direc- and are willing to abide by the instructions
tion in which the few have endeavored to of the attending physician, and who will
lead the many is in the direction of disaster, not attempt to play the role of doctor or
State registration of nurses, which practi- encroach upon the rights of other persons
cally means the creation of two authorities or nurses in their efforts to relieve the sick
in the sick-room, is the weapon which has and suffering. Four classifications will be
been chosen for the creation of a monopoly, made, as follows:
and as a means of restricting the business 1. Commissioned and Official Nurses,
of nursing to a favored few. livery doctor (Those having completed a two years'
knows that the responsibilities of a case rest course or more in a general hospital or trainwith
the attending physician, and that it ing school).
can neither be shifted nor divided. The 2. Approved Nurses. (Those having
doctor must be in supreme command in the completed a two years' course in a special
sick room or he must not be there at all. hospital).
These are principles regarding the treat- 3. Attendant Nurses. (Those engag-