The Nurse Betsy Crane comics emphasize Betsy's myriad romantic problems and professional responsibilities in a busy hospital setting. Betsy is a beautiful young nurse dispensing tender loving care at Dale General Hospital. She is, of course, utterly selfless and dedicated to her profession.

Betsy's the kind of person who can make recalcitrant (male) patients and even foolish (male) doctors see the folly of their ways and abandon destructive behavior patterns of a lifetime simply by giving them a good talking-to. And she can ease fears of the fearful simply by her luminous presence. It's small wonder that so many men have the pesky habit of falling in love with her!

When Betsy herself falls in love, her boyfriend conveniently dies, allowing her to return to her nursing: "Some people never know the importance of doing for others ... the happiness of giving help ... Love was taken from her ... but she did what she had to do ... and she always will ... Nurse Betsy Crane!"

Nurse Betsy initially appeared in the Charlton romance comic book Teen Secret Diary (June 1961); the name of the comic was changed to Nurse Betsy Crane with the next issue.

The comics also generally included some non-Betsy stories--tales of young love and broken hearts, and other standard romantic fare, generally cautionary tales from which young readers could glean a lesson about relationships.

Reprints of some Betsy stories appeared in the one-issue comic from Charlton entitled Registered Nurse (Summer 1963), along with stories from Cynthia Doyle, Nurse in Love. Betsy made a reappearance from July 1982 until March 1983, when Charlton reissued some of the Betsy Crane stories in five issues of Soap Opera Romances.

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