Sue Barton, Student Nurse by Helen Dore Boylston: B

From the inside flap:
This is the story of Sue Barton’s first year of training as a probationer and then as a student nurse. Sue, with her red hair and eager spirit, is a very likable person, direct, outspoken, capable of mistakes, capable also of warm attachments and a courageous devotion.

With her pals, Kit and Connie, she submits to the discipline and rigorous training which are required of every good hospital nurse. Her love of humor gets her in and out of several scrapes. Her warm heart and eager enthusiasm make friends for her among the patients. Her femininity has more than a casual effect upon Dr. Barry, the ablest of the young interns.

Any girl who ever thought of becoming a nurse will enjoy this book and will find in it a true picture of the training school of a great hospital.

Review:
If there’s anything this book isn’t, it’s a true picture. Instead, it’s a very sugar-coated tale where fundamentally everyone is pleasant and nobody has any truly serious problems.

It was interesting that nursing at the time was one of the few professions “open to women” and girls seemed to enroll in training without having any clear notion what nursing would really be all about. All of the nurses were unmarried women and all of the doctors were men, of course. Nobody ever challenged these presupposed gender roles, but then, in a book of this age and type, I didn’t really expect that.

I don’t really have specific things to laud, but generally found the book to be an enjoyable and quick read. I’ll continue on with the series if given the opportunity.