Girls in White (RKO-Pathe, 1948)

Bring_Harmony
Published on Jul 7, 2020
Produced as part of RKO's This is America series (1942-1951), this film uses dramatic reenactment in telling the story of a young woman who becomes a nurse. The film opens with an account of the post-Second World War shortage of nursing staff. This is a preamble to a story of nurse training, exemplified by Betty Burns, one of the 43,000 women who enter nursing school that year. The film follows Betty from her first day at nursing school through her training in chemistry, anatomy, microbiology, nutrition, diet therapy, and pharmacy. Ther viewer sees her progress from the lab and the lecture hall to the hospital ward, operating theater, and outpatient clinic. Eventually Betty finds her true vocation, pediatric nursing. Others in her cohort become office nurses, public health nurses, and army nurses.

Learn more about this film and search its transcript at NLM Digital Collections:
http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/8800031A

Learn more about the National Library of Medicine's historical audiovisuals program at: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/collections/films.html