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Overview

The series stars a job-hopping, mystery-solving nurse in the Nancy Drew mold, named Cherry Ames. Cherry (short for Charity) hails from Hilton, Illinois (based on Wells' hometown of Danville, Illinois), and was steered into nursing by Dr. Joseph Fortune, an old family friend. Cherry's training at the Spencer Hospital School of Nursing is chronicled in the first two books. There, she meets the classmates who become lifelong friends. With the third book in the series Army Nurse, Cherry joins the Army Nurse Corps, and, after the war, she moves to Greenwich Village. Whenever Cherry isn't working with the Visiting Nurse Service, Dr. Joe sends her on assignments in various parts of the country. Unlike other nurses of girls' fiction such as Sue Barton, Cherry remains single throughout her career. Occasional boyfriends crop up, such as Dr. "Lex" Upham.

List of titles
01 - Cherry Ames, Student Nurse (1943) For Sale
Cherry begins three years of training at Spencer Hospital.
02 - Cherry Ames, Senior Nurse (1944) For Sale
Cherry completes her final year as a student nurse.
03 - Cherry Ames, Army Nurse (1944) For Sale
Cherry joins the Army Nurse Corps, serving at a base hospital in Panama.
04 - Cherry Ames, Chief Nurse (1944) For Sale
Still an Army Nurse, Cherry is promoted to chief nurse and organizes a hospital on a Pacific island.
05 - Cherry Ames, Flight Nurse (1945) For Sale
Cherry is based in England and flies missions to help evacuate wounded soldiers.
06 - Cherry Ames, Veterans' Nurse (1946) For Sale
During peacetime, Cherry returns home to work at a veterans’ hospital.
07 - Cherry Ames, Private Duty Nurse (1946) For Sale
Cherry takes a private duty case that involves her in fortunetelling and blackmail.
08 - Cherry Ames, Visiting Nurse (1947) For Sale
Cherry moves to New York City to join the Visiting Nurse Service and shares an apartment in Greenwich Village.
09 - Cherry Ames, Cruise Nurse (1948) For Sale
Cherry's working vacation on a cruise ship embroils her in a search for rare jewels. (The first book by Julie Tatham though credited to Wells.)
10 - Cherry Ames At Spencer (1949) For Sale
Cherry returns to work at Spencer Hospital and helps exonerate a man convicted of a robbery. (The first book credited to Julie Tatham.)
11 - Cherry Ames, Night Supervisor (1950) For Sale
Cherry's post at a financially strapped hospital finds her confronting a prominent patient.
12 - Cherry Ames, Mountaineer Nurse (1951) For Sale
Cherry's work in the remote Kentucky mountains involves her in family feuds.
13 - Cherry Ames, Clinic Nurse (1952) For Sale
Cherry is kidnapped, and forced to treat a victim of a gunshot wound.
14 - Cherry Ames, Dude Ranch Nurse (1953) For Sale
Cherry nurses people with asthma at a dude ranch and helps a teenage orphan.
15 - Cherry Ames, Rest Home Nurse (1954) For Sale
Two difficult patients create turmoil for Cherry at a rest home and a man appears to be stalking one of them.
16 - Cherry Ames, Country Doctor's Nurse (1955) For Sale
Cherry's new post as an office nurse involves her in a nasty public issue. (Tatham's last book.)
17 - Cherry Ames, Boarding School Nurse (1955) For Sale
Cherry's assignment as a school nurse leads her into a search for a hidden perfume formula.
18 - Cherry Ames, Department Store Nurse (1956) For Sale
Cherry investigates a series of mysterious thefts at a department store.
19 - Cherry Ames, Camp Nurse: The Clue of the Faceless Criminal (1957) For Sale
Cherry's medical office at a New York department store adjoins the antiques department--where a series of mysterious thefts have cast suspicion on a young widow.
20 - Cherry Ames At Hilton Hospital: The Case of the Forgetful Patient (1959) For Sale
Cherry helps unravel the problems that cause the breakdown of a frightened young man.
21 - Cherry Ames, Island Nurse: Mystery of Rogue's Cave (1960) For Sale
A private duty case takes Cherry to a remote Canadian island, where intrigue surrounds a mining operation.
22 - Cherry Ames, Rural Nurse: The Case of the Dangerous Remedy (1961) For Sale
Cherry, an Iowa public health nurse, suspects an abandoned farmhouse holds a secret.
23 - Cherry Ames, Staff Nurse (1962) For Sale
Cherry investigates a get-rich-quick scheme recommended by am arthritic patient.
24 - Cherry Ames, Companion Nurse (1964) For Sale
Cherry travels to Great Britain but the museums she visits are plagued by aseries of art thefts.
25 - Cherry Ames, Jungle Nurse (1965) For Sale
Cherry uncovers a smuggling operation in an African village.
26 - Cherry Ames, The Mystery in the Doctor's Office (1966) For Sale
Cherry is an office nurse but the medical secretary is behaving suspiciously.
27 - Cherry Ames, Ski Nurse Mystery (1968) For Sale
Cherry takes a temporary assignment at a ski resort in the Swiss Alps.

Boxed Sets
Set 1: Student Nurse; Senior Nurse; Army Nurse; Chief Nurse - For Sale
Set 2: Flight Nurse; Veteran's Nurse; Private Duty Nurse; Visiting Nurse - For Sale
Set 3: Cruise Nurse; Boarding School Nurse; Department Store Nurse; Camp Nurse - For Sale
Set 4: At Hilton Hospital; Island Nurse; Rural Nurse; Staff Nurse - For Sale
Set 5: Companion Nurse; Jungle Nurse; The Mystery in the Doctor's Office; Ski Nurse Mystery - For Sale

Spin-offs

Between 1957 and 1964, the Cherry Ames Girls Annual was printed and distributed in the UK, usually before Christmas. Each annual had two original Cherry Ames short stories by Helen Wells, and additional stories by other authors.

In 1959, Cherry Ames' Book of First Aid and Home Nursing was published by Helen Wells for adolescents as a companion volume to the series.

Also in 1959, Cherry Ames' Nursing Game was published by American board game titan, Parker Brothers|Parker Brothers Inc.. Designed for 2 to 6 players, the game consists of a center-seamed, illustrated game board depicting various rooms in a hospital, 6 colored tokens, 36 colored rings, 20 directional cards, and a spinner. The object of the game is to travel about the board, gather six rings, and then leave the board at the space marked 'graduate.'

Reprints

A new edition of Cherry Ames, Student Nurse was released by the Palm Healthcare Foundation, Inc., through its Palm Publishing LLC subsidiary. Proceeds from the sale of the books were used to support nursing scholarships.

In October 2005, the Cherry Ames books written by Helen Wells were licensed to Springer Publishing Company. The first four books in the series were reprinted in facsimile hardcover editions, and made available individually and as a boxed set. In August 2006, four more Wells titles were republished in the same format, and in June, August, and December 2007, the remaining Wells titles were made available.