Cherry Ames, Student Nurse, by Helen Wells (1943?)

If you're of a certain age and grew up in the US (and maybe Canada?) you probably read at least one of a series of books aimed at girls age 8 and up. Sue Barton, nurse. Cherry Ames, nurse. Trixie Belden, high school detective. Of course, Nancy Drew was roughly in this category. There was one about a stewardess as well, Vickie Barr. Pity, but I don't remember one about a librarian or a teacher. The Cherry Ames books were aimed at getting young girls interested in a nursing career, especially during WWII and Korea.

They were traditional stories, often with a mystery, with a strong patriotic tone, and always what seemed to me as a child to be the oddest combination of men in charge but women smarter.

I still have my two Cherry Ames books, red tweed hardbacks, no jacket. I can't recall if there ever were dustjackets. The only store I had access to had only Student Nurse and Senior Nurse, so that was that for old Cherry. As I recall, they were 50 cents each.

Oh, how I loved those books! Did they influence my decision to be a nurse? Who knows? Probably the Vietnam War had more to do with that than anything else, that and a desire to be useful. We didn't have a lot of choices in those days: secretary, nurse, teacher. I haven't read them since I was perhaps eight years old, when I moved on to other types of reading. The sentiment is strong, though, and when I pick the books up to dust them and make sure no critters have set up residence, I find myself trying to summon up that other self, that girl and young woman I barely remember.

I was delighted to see them released for Kindle and at a decent price, too. How could I not buy at least the first volume, containing the first four books (= two I haven't read!)? I checked them for formatting and then couldn't help reading Student Nurse last night.

The first thing that struck me was how similar my education was (although we had two years of straight college first, 12 hours chemistry, 8 hours biology, 8 hours anatomy and physiology, 8 hours psychology, 4 hours sociology, minimum, along with limited clinical exposure) and no capping ceremony. There wasn't much difference in the nursing part of nursing education early 1940s vs. early 1960s. I remember, weary from a double shift and trying to get my charting done so I could grab an hour of sleep before classes, wobbling while trying to stand when a doctor entered the room, and being reprimanded for the wobble. All that paternalistic BS. Using your roommate as a guinea pig for learning procedures - fortunately they drew the line at enemas.

The next thing was how very much wartime propaganda these books were. USA! USA! Overt and on every page. I mean, overt, people. 

Still, it was fun to spend 45 minutes remembering the time when I could lie on my stomach on the bed and peel and eat an orange and read all at the same time without getting a crick in my neck or having my hands go numb. Tiny little hopes and dreams, carefully hidden, quietly nurtured.

I got a serious charge out of all the instructions on dignity. My Lord, nurses now can't be told from garbage collectors with their hair all witchy-how and their long underwear showing under their scrubs and wearing their duty shoes in the grocery store. I found myself quite charmed to remember my pride (my cap), my dignity (my spotless white uniform -- that actually looked more like a Pollock painting after two shifts in ER on a holiday weekend) and my shield (my pin).

There were three more books in the Kindle offering but I doubt I'll read them. This was enough. It was a walk down memory lane, fun but also sad. We've come so far. We've lost so much. To be honest, it made me feel old.

[ETA the whole next paragraph:] Oh, the book? In this book, 18-year-old Cherry Ames goes off to nursing school for a three-year program that will result in her being eligible to sit for the exam to be a registered nurse. She's a sweet little thing, has a problem with punctuality, and if the truth be told, with being ordered around, but her heart is good and she's willing. The book describes nurse training as it was in the 1940s when they were trying to convince every healthy young woman to be an Army nurse. There's also a Nancy Drew-type mystery involving a secret patient; Cherry stumbles upon his room and gets involved in his care, and nearly gets thrown out of school (A huge, huge disgrace that would have been at that time. Just listen to doors slamming shut.) There are some young doctors to provide just a hint of love interest, not even kisses, just young person dreaminess and giggling. See Cherry's ingenuity and forthrightness save the day for the secret patient and aid the War Effort. Full of period detail. 

Kindle formatting fine, grammar and spelling perfect, of course. Characterization narrow, plot thin (see Nancy Drew). Now I wonder why Cherry couldn't seem to hold a job for very long. I won't grade it, it's purely nostalgia. I see they have Nancy Drew, too, but I won't bite. I've had enough. Good times, good times.