The Washington herald., 1921-01-31

washington hoSpltalS need over
300 nurses.
officials of seven out of nine hos
pitfalls questioned by The Herald last
night admitted their quotas of pa
tients are being cared for by fewer
nurses than they would prefer tC
employ.
Faced with an epidemic the hos
! pitfalls would be helpless unless resi-
dent graduate nurses and such as.
sistancC as the Red Cross could gIv5
were forthcoming.
The original announcement by au-
tnorities of the George Washington
| Hospital to the effect that the un-
| fortunate mistake made by one oi
its nurses in administering bichlo.
ride of mercury instead of sulphats
/ of magnesia had followed weary.
| ing twelve hour stretch of duty, was
accompanied by the statement that
| the hospital was experiencing Z
| shortage of nurses. This was later
denied with the statement that six.
| ty-fiVe nurses were available fol
1.-THE eighty-five patients.
Among Washington's leading ply.
! sicians and surgeons also the weight
! of opinion Is that the City's hospitals
are laboring under the handicap OF
nurse shortage. Questioned BY
/ The Herald last night. they corro.
| borated generally information al.
ready obtained from the hospitals
| themselves. Some of them pointed
to a more serious laCx Of nurse.
than was revealed ~ institution
heads.
Other Hospitals Undermanned.
But other hospitals throughout
the city are without the nursing aid
they would gladly accept were il
available. Casualty Hospital has
eight nurses, three of whom are in
training, for forty-five patients
homeopathic has fifteen and could
use twenty. Children's Hospita,
wants ten more. Sibley Hospital is
! fifteen to twenty students short OF
the normal complement in a train.
ing class about to start
Miss NJ c. Wolford, who is act
ing superintendent at Sibley Me
mortal Hospital, North Capito,
and l. streets, said when ques
toned: When we tell doctors who
seek to enter patients that we car
, care for no more at the present
they refuse to believe US. They dc.
mand entrance for more than We
can handle. We have sufficient
purses to do the work but are con-
stantly needing more. At present
VIC can cal in specials or grad
uate nurses # necessary. Tine en-
! rollment of the class we s.art in a
few days is fifteen less than nor
NAL"
~ Miss Lillian L.. Rinkas, SHpcrin-
tendent of Casualty Hospital, said:
we need eighteen more nurses.
For forty-five patients we have
eight nurses. three Of them in train
ing. Attractive positions in offices
have caused a shortage which l
know is felt throughout the city.
We expect a measure of relief when
girl clerks now in government en-
ploy are released and turn to hos
pitfalls for employment rather than
leave the city We would be help
less in case of an epidemic, even il
we were to have our full quota on
duty. A nurse should be able to
stand twelve hours of duty. ] have
often been on eighteen hours 1T a
stretch: it's firing. OF course. but a
nurse should be able to stand it"
Providence Could Use zoo.
The superintendent of nurses at
Providence Hospital said: We
would be glad to have as many az
200 more nurses. There has been
dearth of nurses, but we are in
little better position than for
merly.' Sister Raphael, night su-
perintendent, said the shortage was
felt, but that with forty to fifty
specials present the hospital staff
was not hampered in it's work
Providence Hospital in the past has
had waiting lists of nurses seeking
employment, but is not now in such
a fortunate position.
At Homeopathic Hospital, where
only private cases are handled, the
superintendent said only fifteen
nurses were available. though the
hospital needed twenty. I'VE are
especially anxious to get nurses"
she said. "The shortage can be
blamed on the fact that the profes-
sion has lost some of the romance
of war days and office work is more
attractive. with larger salries.
Miss Matte NJ. Gibson. superin-
tendent at Children's Hospital, said
~ W "S hON an uuuSudi lnlng Tor as
many as twenty children, who US
ually need more care than adult pa
tients, to be ared for by three nurses
at night.
I'VE would like to have ten more
nurses" she said. The lack of in
terest in nursing work has seemed
to increase since the war. The
higher standard which requires an
applicant to have at least two years
of high school education also is un-
doubtedly a factor in the decrease
of training class enrollments."
Twelve Hours Work Monotonous.
At Garfield Hospital one of the
trained nurses offered the informa-
tion that three nurses are regularly
called upon to attend seven to ten