Milford chronicle., 1932-07-15
NURSING LEADERS SEEK
ADVICE OF LOCAL HOSPITALS

Calling on the trustees of local
hospitals for advice, national nurs-
ing leaders today issued a letter eX-
pressing their concern over the fu-
ture nursing care of the sick of this
community, unless steps are soon
taken to correct the peculiar unem-
ployment situation in their profess
sion.
Already the better qualified young
women are beginning to shun this
overcrOwded field, the nurses con-
tend, and unless each community
recognizes the situation and reme-
dies it, in few years Mr.. and Mrs.
Public and little Public, when sick
ness comes, will be in the hands of
nurses incapable of giving skilled
and sympathetic care.
Hospitals are blindly pouring out
an increasing stream of graduate
nurses in spite of the fact that
thousands of registered nurses are
already unemployed, the letter
states. 1t quotes census figures to
show that the number of trained
nurses has increase 9720 per cent in
the last ten years, while the general
population of the country mas in
creased only 1879 per cent. The 1910
census reports one graduate nurse
to every 416 people, "an obvious
absurdity."
ITO avoid further sacrifice of
quality among nursing students, the
old system of supplying students to
nurse hospital patients will have to
be modified considerably within the
next few years." according to the
communication received by the
presidents of local hospital boards.
"Ways must be found to reduce the
number of student nurses by staff
ing the hospital with a larger per-
centage of graduate nurses and
other workers for floor duty.
"a few hospitals have already
closed their schools, for the Duke
proved conclusively that
the very small hospital can operate |
more economically without a nurs- |
ing school. Some hospital schools of |
nursing but not enough, have omit |
ted or limited the size of classes"
That hospitals all over the coun-
try are under a nacute financial |
strain and that their administrators
are analyzing their problems more
than ever before are
facts generally admitted in hospital
circles. To employ graduate nurses
70 replace students in training will |
be more expensive, but the patients
will be pleased with the care of
more experienced nurses and the
doctors will like the continuity of
service of graduate nurses whose
time on duty is not interrupted by
attendance at classes. These are ar
guments advanced by the nursing
leaders of which be-
ieve that the only solution to their
unemployment problem lies in the
lbolishment of a large number of
training schools and the use
# more graduates in the hospitals.
Five ways of balancing the extra
cost involved to the hospital in en-
)loying larger numbers of gradu-
ties are listed in the letter sent to
he presidents of the local hospital
boards.
The communication is signed by
llnora e. Thomson, of Portland,
oregon, president of the American
Iurses' Association; Efie ]. Taylor
# New Haven, Conn, president of
he National League of Nursing Ed
uction; Sophie C. Nelson of Boston,
resident of the National Organiza
ion of Public Health Nursing, and
lmilie G.. Sargent, of Detroit, chair
nan of the committee on the distri- l
ution of nursing service of the
-merican Nurses Association.
Until the present nurses have
ept their distressing unemploy- !
lent problems to themselves" says !
Iiss Claribel A. Wheeler, executive
ecretary, National League of MUIR {
ing Education, New York, in COM
lenting on the letter to the hospital
'ustees. "But now that the situa- .
on threatens to affect the sick pa
ent in his own home or in his To-
al hospital, it is time the nurses
egan to discuss the subject open
:. To remedy conditions it will be
ecessary for hospitals, doctors, Il
urses and the informed public to
in forces"