U.S. VETERANS’ BUREAU October 19, 1921.
FIELD ORDER NO. 18
Subject: STATUS AND DUTIES OF NURSES WORKING IN THE PHYSICAL RECONSTRUCTION SECTION OF THE MEDICAL DIVISION, U. S. VETERANS’ BUREAU.
The following Field Order is hereby promulgated, effective this date, for observance by all officers and employees in the District Offices of the United States Veterans’ Bureau:
1. Appointment of Nurses.
All appointments will be made by the U. S. Veterans’ Bureau on the recommendation of the District Medical Officer with the approval of the District Manager under the regulations of the U. S. Civil Service Commission. Preference will be given to nurses who have had at least three years’ general nursing experience outside of an institution, particularly to those who have had experience in tuberculosis, neuropsychiatric and Public Health Welfare nursing.
2. Administration.
Nurses on duty in the districts will be carried on the District pay-rolls and will be responsible to the Chief Nurse of the District, who in turn will be responsible to the District Medical Officer under the District Manager. The work of all nurses in the various districts not on duty in hospitals will be directly supervised by the District Medical Officer who will be responsible through the District manager to the Medical Division; U. S. Veterans’ Bureau (Physical Reconstruction Section), to whom communications on matters in connection with their work should be addressed.
3. Chief Nurse.
In each district a Chief Nurse will be appointed by the Central Office of the U. S. Veterans’ Bureau through the Assistant Director in Charge of Medical Division upon the recommendation of the District Medical Officer and with the approval of the District Manager. The duties of the Chief Nurses in the districts will be to superintend the activities of the nurses in their respective districts, to visit the local offices when directed by the District Medical Officer, to inspect the work of the nurses, to co-ordinate the work of the nurses in the districts, sub-districts, and local offices and to check up the nurses’ reports. It will also be the duty of each Chief Nurse, through the District Medical Officer and the District Manager, to keep the Superintendent of Nurses in the Physical Reconstruction Section of the Medical Division, U. S. Veterans’ Bureau, informed of the quality of the work performed by the individual nurses under her direction. Reports of especially good work, or unsatisfactory work, should be sent in detail to the Superintendent of Nurses through the District Medical Officer and the District Manager. The Chief Nurse in each district will instruct nurses under her charge as to the proper form for conducting correspondence and of the channels through which the same will be sent.