d be a permanent worker among us
when they see how much their children have been benefited by
a little medical help.

"Besides examining the children, the nurse has been a great
factor in bringing about a general education for better
health. In our county to-day you are behind the times if you
do not know what adenoids are and the havoc bad tonsils can
bring; why eye strain is so prevalent and how to prevent it;
why teeth should be taken care of; why we should drink
plenty of water and eat the proper kind of food; what kind
of clothing is best to wear, and why we should not wear too
heavy and too much clothing while indoors (we have induced
some little boys to remove one coat and three sweaters while
in school); why we need to be clean, etc.

"Another great service the nurse rendered us was to bring
about a veritable epidemic of school-house improvement. She
proved that the physical condition of the school-house was
reflected in the physical condition of the children. For
example, a poorly lighted and badly ventilated school-house
always housed children with eye strain and nervous disorder,
and in a school-house having ill-fitting desks were children
of poor posture.

"During the summer of that first year the nurse was with us,
we conducted so-called 'baby clinics' in the county, one in
every township and one in each village. We urged the mothers
to bring their children below school age to the clinics, and
much the same kind of examination was given them as was
given the children of school age. We found that 60 percent
of the children of pre-school age were defective."

This is but a sample of the work and experience of hundreds of rural
nurses and shows how the nurse is a health teacher in the most effective
manner, for she gets into the homes and gives personal help in bringing
about better health. She uses the demonstration method in health work
just as the home demonstration agent does with food, clothing, and home
management. Furthermore, when the nurse is devoted to her work--and most
nurses are or they would not stick to so hard a job--she becomes
endeared to the people just as does the family doctor, for the help she
gives in cases of sickness, accident, and childbirth, when she is of
invaluable service to isolated homes who can secure no oth