On January 1, 1964, national, state, and local public health agencies and local boards of education employed 35,209 nurses on a full-time basis and 2,214 part time for public health nursing duties. State and local agencies also employed 699 registered nurses and 569 licensed practical nurses to supplement the work of public health nurses in clinics and in patients' homes. These data are contained in the latest report on nurses in public health, which will soon be available (1). Since 1937, the state directors of public health nursing and the U.S. Public Health Service have collected and compiled information from all