Mary Ellis Stebbins had been looking forward a long time to entering the Jefferson School of Nursing in New York's Harlem, where her home was. But suddenly she and her new friend Julia Saunders are invited to enroll at Woodycrest, a private nursing school in upstate New York, which wants to integrate its student body. It's a big decision for Mary Ellis and Julia, but the accept the challenge. The experiences of these two lively young women as they face a dozen problems a day in their nurse's training and in their personal lives makes this a most unusual novel.

Mary Ellis, the young Negro heroine of “A Cap for Mary Ellis,” is now in her second year of nursing school. The work is harder and more time consuming than Mary Ellis or her classmates could have imagined. But despite their fierce schedule the second-year students have time to come to know their little sisters, to solve the minor dormitory mystery, and to grow and mature in many ways. Mary Ellis learns much about herself through her work at the hospital. She faces several crises with varying degrees of success, is influential in arranging an operation and an adoption, and makes many new friends. Hope Newell is well qualified to write about the field of nursing. Added to her factual knowledge is a deep perception and sensitivity to youth and humanity in general. “Mary Ellis, Student Nurse” is the story of a young girl working with love and dedication at her chosen career, and gaining insight and understanding of herself and the world.