Aspirus--C&H Hospital--[group of nurses working]--ca. 1905 A School for NursesContext:Doctors and nurses were trained in medicine, but if they worked for a company, they also needed to consider the business as part of their job. Their goals had to benefit the company’s bottom line. Calumet and Hecla's School for Nurses letter, page 1
Millicent B. Northway to James MacNaughton, May 16, 1914, Calumet and Hecla Mining Companies Collection, MS-002, box 47, folder 520, Michigan Tech Archives & Copper Country Historical Collections, Houghton, MI. C. & H. Hospital
Calumet, Mich. May 16th / 14 Mr. J. M. MacNaughton Calumet Mich., Dear Sir; In view of the fact that a Nurses Home is greatly needed in connection with the Training School of the C.&H. Hospital I beg to submit the following plan. That the house at 31 Mine St., be devoted to such purpose, being conveniently situated to the hospital and having enough room for the present needs. That board room, and laundry be given to the pupil nurses of the hospital, and in addition the[y] receive the usual remuneration offered in Training Schools, viz— $5.00 per month for the first year, $6.00 per month for the second year, & $8.00 per month for the third year. There are several excellent reasons that present themselves for having a Nurses Home— 1st— Better service for the Doctors, in an emergency when more nurses are desired on duty they can be quickly called instead of as it now is having to wait until they return from their homes, and few of them have phones. 2nd— We can procure a larger and better class of pupil nurses now only those residing in and about Calumet can take training with us as the money paid them will not allow of paying board and room unless they reside at home. This fact does not give us a large class to chose from, and as you probably know the State is setting a standard for Nurses Trainging Schools as it has done for Medical Colleges. Many desirable applicants have gone elsewhere where they can obtain a home at the time of receiving training. Calumet and Hecla's School for Nurses letter, page 2
Millicent B. Northway to James MacNaughton, May 16, 1914, Calumet and Hecla Mining Companies Collection, MS-002, box 47, folder 520, Michigan Tech Archives & Copper Country Historical Collections, Houghton, MI. 3rd— That they be under the immediate supervision of the Head Nurse, as they would be under the Dean of any School or College fitting young women for a profession. I believe we should be better able to conserve the health of our pupil nurses and that as you know is a very important thing. We could overlook the way in which they spent their time off duty, in the matter of rest and recreation. Living at home their hours off duty are very often spent in the performance of household tasks, which with the arduous work expected of them at the hospital proves too much for their strength. There are also the lectures and classes to be considered, now when the nurses go home at five in the afternoon they are often too tired to return for lecture or class at seven. And we have no place in which they could wait for the lecture or class as the case may be.
I would also suggest that the pupil nurses and working staff of the Home be governed by rules and regulations set forth by the Head Nurse, such rules of course having the approval of your Chief of Staff. I do not know of another Hospital in the country without its Nurses Home attached, and as far as I have seen there has been no more trouble connected with feeding and housing the nurses than the patients. I am hoping to make this Training School the best in the upper Peninsular. Already I have had nurses from the other schools who wished to give up their work there and enter here. I enclose slip showing present cost of Training School, and as it would be under my plan. Thanking you for your courtesy I am sincerely Millicent B. Northway, Rn. [handwritten below the letter] If you consider the plan favorable, could you arrange for me to have the house by September 1st of this year? Calumet and Hecla's School for Nurses letter, page 3
Millicent B. Northway to James MacNaughton, May 16, 1914, Calumet and Hecla Mining Companies Collection, MS-002, box 47, folder 520, Michigan Tech Archives & Copper Country Historical Collections, Houghton, MI. Present rate of paying nurses— per month
3 @ $33 = $99 6 @ $27 = $162 2.@ $22 = $44 2 @ $11 = $11 (total) 347 Board for Head and Surgical nurse @ 20 $40 (total) 40 New plan for paying nurses— per month 3 @ $8.00 = $24 6 @ $6.00 = $36 2 @ $4.00 = $8 (total) 68 Cost of raw material per month for person eighteen persons @ $10 = $180 Wages for cook = $30 “ “ maid = $25 “ “ laundress = $25 (total) 260 Janitor services not necessary to be continuous = $10 Incidentals = $10 Present plan actual cash paid out = $387 Proposed plan actual cash paid out = $348 Of course I have said nothing of the repairs to the house which would be necessary, and the necessary furnishings, however our balance of $468 should take care of that with economy. Stop and Reflect:
Petermann.Glass Plates.484.C & H Hospital.ca. 1915 Historian's Perspective:This letter is a great example of how medical staff adapted to the business mindset. Northway knew that if she was going to take more control of the training program and make improvements, the company had to benefit in some way.Her main arguments were about cost and efficiency, as Calumet and Hecla would get better work out of student nurses if they did not spend energy on chores or travel. She did research ahead of time, selecting a house and laying out calculations that claimed her new plan would save the company $40 per month. To justify gaining more power over students as head nurse, she used the paternalistic argument: If Northway had control over how students acted outside of the hospital, she would make sure they were healthier, better rested, and able to give all their effort to the company. This was one of the reasons Calumet and Hecla offered medical care to employees—healthy people were more productive workers. She ended with an appeal to Calumet and Hecla’s pride by pointing out that “many desirable applicants” had gone to other hospitals in the United States that offered living spaces, but she also knew students who were willing to leave their current schools for Calumet and Hecla. All they had to do was make a few changes to meet modern standards. Northway clearly understood how to make arguments that would get the managers’ attention. Set 2Proceed to the next set of documents in the Doctors in Business group. |
Last updated: March 13, 2025