ca. 1895]. 8vo, pp. [ii] front paste-down advertisement, iii-xiii, [i] blank, 209; with frontispiece portrait of Nightingale (included in pagination) and numerous illustrations; some light browning marginal soiling; in the original blue cloth backed pictorial glazed boards, head and tail of spine a little bumped, spine a little sunned with some soiling to boards, extremities and corners somewhat bumped and lightly worn; still an appealing copy. Uncommon fourth edition (first seemingly 1892) of this most appealing guide. ‘It must be remembered, in noting the tremendous number of applications refused - reaching nearly two thousand a year at one Hospital - that, so far, would-be nurses have had no book to guide them in making their choice of suitable institutions, and have had to apply, again and again, till they at last hit on some Hospital whose rules did not exclude them on account of age, and whose terms, course, etc., met their wishes’ (preface). Chapters provide advice on the application process, give an alphabetical list of training schools, outline the various branches of nursing from midwifery to asylum attendants, as well as including ‘the lives of some eminent nurses’, and an attractively illustrated chapter on ‘uniforms, medals and certificates’. A bibliography is also found at the rear, with a number of advertisements found on the paste-downs and endpapers. A useful text summarising the state of the profession, and its training regimen, in the late 19th century.
The third edition was published in the same year, and all editions appear scarce.