Nursing is Still a Great Option at WMCC
Katharine Eneguess, President of White Mountains Community CollegeWhen Florence Nightingale published her book "Notes on Nursing: What it is and What it is not" in 1859, the germ theory as applied to medicine was still in its infancy. Only 12 years before, in 1847, Ignaz Semmelweis, an obstetrician at Vienna's Allgemeines Krankenhaus, made the connection between the high incidence of maternal death at the hospital and the poor hygiene practiced by the doctors and medical students who attended births. The rate of puerperal fever among the mothers giving birth at the hospital was much higher than those woman who gave birth at home, attended by midwives.
Semmelweis noticed that the doctors and medical students would come directly from conducting autopsies to the maternity ward, where they would aid in deliveries WITHOUT SO MUCH AS WASHING THEIR HANDS. Semmelweis then set a policy to require doctors to wash their hands in lime water before examining pregnant women. It comes as no surprise to us now that the maternal death rate at the Vienna hospital dropped to less than two percent.
Though many in the Viennese medical establishment still attacked his theories, he had truth on his side. Perhaps many of those maternal deaths could have been avoided if the doctors had simply observed the practices of the midwives, who it seems, were more careful not to introduce germs into the bodies of their clients.
A British citizen, Florence Nightingale made her reputation from her work in nursing during the Crimean War, where she saw firsthand the effect of unsanitary conditions on the soldiers. Several years after her return to England she began the Nightingale Training School at St. Thomas' Hospital in London, which she established with the help of public donations. This nursing training, included proper hygiene for both the patient and the nurse, elevated the role of those providing services to the sick and wounded by setting standards for care.
Nightingale's influence reached across the sea. In 1873 Linda Richards became the first woman to graduate from the nurse training school at Boston's New England Hospital for Women and Children. After practicing her profession for several years, she upgraded her skills by training with Nightingale in England. She went on to establish nursing schools throughout the U.S., and in Japan.
At White Mountains Community College we proudly carry on the work of Florence Nightingale and Linda Richards, offering our Associate Degree Nursing program. A two-year program, students have the option to take the National Council for Licensing Examination for practical Nurses (NCLEX-PN) after successful completion of Level one. After completing Level two, students may take the National Council for Licensing Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN). Nursing graduates can opt to further their education and transfer their credits to the University of New Hampshire and other Bachelor of Science Nursing programs.
While at WMCC, nursing students are taught in small learning groups by experienced and respected faculty, benefiting from multiple clinical learning opportunities in a variety of settings.
The field of medicine has evolved over the last hundred-plus years, and the opportunities in the nursing profession have grown enormously. If you are interesting in a career in nursing, give us a call at 752-1113, or check out the program's homepage.
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