Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1935-09-12
.GALL|NGER REPORT
ASKS ADDITIONAL
WARD Be ERECTED
0verCroWding Feared by
DR.. Bocock in Bid
for Building.
ENLARGED STAFF HELD
NEEDED TO DO WORK
Nurses on 12-Hour Shift Instead
of Standard Eight, Lower
ing Efficiency.

Construction Of an additional ward
building at Gallinger Municipal Hos
pital to correct present overcrowdins
and to permit better grade Of serv-
ice was strongly recommended to the
Commissioners today by DR.. Edgar A.
Bocock, superintendent.
He pleaded also for an enlargement
Of his staff, terming the staff now in
adequate to meet demands, and said
nurses are compelled to work 12-
hour shift, instead of the standard
of eight, and sickness among nurses
is on the increase due to lack of
proper hours and rest.
Establishment of an adequate So
cial service department, he sale.
would prove to be an economy on
account of assisting with the place
ment Of homeless individuals who do
not require institutional attention"
Asks Research Laboratory.
Other recommendations were for
organization of research laboratory,
limited in extent at the start. to pro-
mote investigation of obscure profess
sional problems, and for development
of an outpatient department for am
bulatory cases not longer needing in
Stitutional care
The new building is needed to halt
c-owding of the medical wards of the
hospital, Dr. Bocock said in his an
nual report 1t would be used to house
medical patients, X-ray laboratories.
administrative offices, the teaching
ampitheaters, rest rooms and locker
rooms. The present quarters then
could be used mainly for surgical pa
tents.
The daily average number Of pa
tients during the past fiscal year was
TAI. as compared with 69l in the pre-
ceding year, and with an average of
but 222 in the 1884 fiscal year. Dur
ing the last half of the past fiscal
year the daily average of we'll over
| 800 patients was reached on three
successive months. he said. He pre-
dicted a definite increase for the COM
ing Winter months.
New Ward Is Limited.
A new ward building has just been
completed, but this is for contagious
disease patients, it was explained. DR..
Bocock recommended that the Dis
trict seek funds for the proposed new
building either through regular appro-
priation channels or through applica-
ton for a grant from the Public
Works Administration.
Protesting against the 12-hour shift
now required for his staff of nurses,
DR.. Bocock declared adoption Of the
8-hour day for nurses now is prac-
tically universally accepted through
out the hospitals of the country.
1T is generally conceded that for
a general hospital there should be
one salaried employe for each patient
under treatment, but here the pre-
vailing proportion at practically all
times has been two patients to each
employe, and at the peak loads the
diSproportion has been even more
striking.
"A satisfactory grade of work. ade-
quate treatment and suitable care
cannot possibly be rendered to the
city's public patients with the amount
OF help now available"
Corridors Sometimes Used.
To illustrate overcrowding, DR.. b.
cock said at peak periods patients
have had to be placed in corridors.
examination rooms and wherever a
bed could be located, because the
wards were crowded.
If the Gallinger School of Nurses is
to be continued, he declared, more
drastic efforts must be made to en-
ploy graduate nurses on general duty
to allow student nurses more time for
study, rest and sleep. He protested
that the students now must do day
duty and attend classes at night and
that the resulting time lost through
illness creates an economic loss.