Book 2, by Helen Wells
Illustrated by Ralph Crosby Smith
Grosset & Dunlap, 1944
"I still don't know what being a senior is," she thought, "but I never expected it to include rabbits and a pint-size gypsy and that extraordinary young doctor and--and now, adopting people!"
--From Cherry Ames, Senior Nurse, p. 28
Cherry confronts tough decisions about her future responsibilities as a nurse during wartime as she completes her final year of training.
Chapter 1: Senior Year
Cherry oversleeps on her first day as a senior, barely arriving on time for her assigned duty on the Children's Ward with her old friend Ann Evans; the ward's peaceful routine is interrupted by the arrival of an imperious young doctor and the mad dash of a frightened rabbit.
Chapter 2: Dreams and Plans
Cherry finishes moving into her new residence at Crowley and has an imaginary visit with her family as she displays their photos; at dinner, the new seniors draft Cherry to apply to Miss Reamer for their class to "adopt" the incoming probationers.
Chapter 3: Two Strange People
At Miss Reamer's tea party to introduce the seniors and their adoptees, Cherry takes an instant dislike to her probationer, Mildred Burnham. After walking out angrily, Cherry is startled by a wild-looking man--who turns out to be Lex Upham, the imperious doctor she met on the Children's Ward, who wants her to "adopt" him, too.
Chapter 4: Very Small Fry
Transferred to Obstetrics, Cherry initially works with new mothers. She helps Dr. Joe--who is now doing research at Spencer--and is surprised when Lex volunteers to assist in the lab. Cherry scolds Mildred for her behavior on the ward and is disappointed to miss the first senior dance because the hospital is shorthanded.
Unusually, two female doctors appear in Senior Nurse: Dr. Walker, the obstetrician on Cherry's first Delivery Room assignment, and Dr. Mary Vinson, a surgeon. Helen Wells later wrote Doctor Betty, a young adult novel about the problems of a female physician.
Chapter 5: Midge Makes Mischief
Cherry spends a miserable month assigned to the Delivery Room--severe head nurse Miss Sprague dislikes her after a misunderstanding, and visitor Midge causes trouble between Cherry and Lex.
Chapter 6: An Orchid or Gardenias
Cherry is hurt and resentful when Mildred refuses her invitation to celebrate Mildred's capping, but is cheered by Lex's invitation to the doctors' Christmas Eve dance.
Cherry's senior class flower is the gardenia. Coincidentally, she wears gardenias--from Lex--in her hair for the hospital's Christmas Eve dance.
Chapter 7: Double Trouble
Amid Christmas gaiety, Cherry's class is sobered by the hospital's wartime preparations and the shortage of nurses. Cherry's family sends birthday presents (she buys a sophisticated dance dress with a check from her father) and Mildred surprises her with a gift.
Chapter 8: Black Lace
In her chiffon and lace dress, Cherry attends the dance with Lex, who helps make the party a success, but their festive evening is cut short by emergency duty--and Cherry realizes that service and devotion are the real meaning of Christmas.
Explore an in-depth account of Cherry Ames's experiences as a nurse during wartime. Click here to read more!
Chapter 9: Operating Room
Cherry begins operating room work and meets a lovable patient called Mom, who becomes her self-appointed "helper." Learning of Dr. Joe's sensitive penicillin research, Dr. Wylie is concerned about the security of the laboratory and stresses the importance of maintaining secrecy.
Chapter 10: Mom Talks
Cherry is disheartened by Mildred's latest rebuff, hospital gossip about the penicillin, and Lex's prickliness. While under anaesthetic, Mom rambles about Dr. Joe's research, angering Dr. Wylie. Cherry collects money for new clothes for Mom and is surprised when Dr. Wylie contributes.
Chapter 11: Three Letters
Letters from former instructor Miss Mac, now in the Army Nurse Corps; her brother, Charlie, who has enlisted; and her mother, who writes of the wartime changes in Hilton, make Cherry wonder what to do after graduation.
Chapter 12: Madame Zaza Miss Reamer berates Cherry for her failure with Mildred, spurring her to try once more. Cherry drags Mildred along for dinner and a movie away from the hospital, and the two girls begin to like each other. But that same night, part of Dr. Joe's drug formula is stolen from his laboratory.
When Cherry and Mildred enjoy an evening away from Spencer, they attend a movie about army nurses. Two such popular films were released in 1943, the year before Senior Nurse was published: So Proudly We Hail and Cry Havoc.
Chapter 13: Lex Is Proven
Cherry becomes a student head nurse and must work with Lex, who is widely suspected of the theft. Reacting to a disturbance in Dr. Joe's lab one night, Cherry and Mildred pretend to be cleaning women to create a diversion till authorities arrive. Cleared of suspicion, Lex proposes to Cherry, who is not ready for marriage.
Chapter 14: Day of Glory
Cherry's class prepares for graduation by following some Spencer traditions--tossing their black stockings into the lake, and bequeathing gifts to younger students. They attend Miss Reamer's tea, and their adoptees honor them at a special picnic, at which they emotionally sing the school song.
Chapter 15: Cherry Decides
At her graduation, attended by her mother and father, Midge, and Dr. Joe, Cherry hears a moving appeal from an army nurse that inspires her and all her classmates to volunteer for service in the Army Nurse Corps.
Cherry Ames, Senior Nurse
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