NURSING SERVICES tant step toward making this helpful knowl¬edge available to many more Americans. This expansion of home nursing was spurred by the medical profession's assertion that many illnesses are more easily cared for and that patients recover more speedily when they are in the friendly, familiar atmosphere of the home. With non-nurses teaching home nursing, small communities and rural areas where nurse shortages exist now may offer classes in home-care skills. School teachers and other civic and educational leaders have been among the first to be trained as in¬structors. During the 1948-49 fiscal year: Men, women, and young people receiving home nursing certificates totaled 126,894; 1,572 additional nurses served in 72 Red Cross disaster relief operations in 32 states, during which they gave 12,667 days of nursing service. Food and Nutrition Service Food and Nutrition Service interprets in everyday language scientific information on the relation of an adequate diet to health; promotes sound practices in buying, prepar¬ing, and serving food; and assists those Red Cross Services whose programs involve food and nutrition, such as Disaster and Volun¬teer Services. Last year, 170,807 persons attended Red Cross nutrition meetings; 6,121 chapter workers were given in-service training in nutrition; 108,410 other persons were given individual consultation and assistance; and 27,655 persons were approved for certificates. 20 College Activities Through Red Cross College Activities college students find their place as young adult volunteers in the local Red Cross chapter. As future leaders, they learn Red Cross by doing Red Cross work in the community and on the campus. College students did an outstanding job in the National Blood Program this past year. Besides being enthusiastic donors, they arranged for bloodmobile visits to the campus, served food in the blood center canteen, and helped with clerical work. They also brightened the long gray days of convalescence for thousands of hospital¬ized veterans. Through Red Cross Enter¬tainment and Instruction Service, students provided programs, parties, and dances. Others assisted the educational therapy de¬partment by teaching patients shorthand, typing, and other subjects. Art students taught painting, sketching, and handcrafts. Qualified students taught swimming and lifesaving at school and community pools. Red Cross-trained college men and women operated first aid stations at football games. Their special training makes them particu¬larly valuable when disaster strikes. Students are engaged in Red Cross activi¬ties on approximately half the campuses in the country. They were is¬sued 79,315 certificates for Red Cross training courses in health and safety. In VA hospitals alone a monthly average of 986 students served 33,000 hours last year. 21