Evening star., 1942-09-06
Veteran Nurse Calls
On Sisters 10 Help
Meet Ward SHORTAGE
Doctors Hospital Assistant
Believes Non-Workers Are
Unaware of Dire Need

1Din, assistant director OF nurses
at Doctors Hospital The letter
is printed because, as the tDriter
explained, "the subject is so i'm
portant to hospitals during the
present emergency"
BY OLIVE C. BALDWIN, r. N.
I am a nurse-have been one for
30 years-and have lived through
eight wars, more or less. The ex-
periences which filled those years
convince me that definite steps must
now be taken if we nurses are to
survive, as profession, when the
present war ends.
The shortage of nurses is becom-
ing more and more acute all the
time, and will continue to grow even
worse as the war progresses. The
time has surely come for nurses to
do some serious thinking about the
situation, and rise to meet it before
it becomes necessary for the Gov
ernment to take us over in order to
obtain from us the services which we
should already be giving to our
country.
1t is obvious that the cream OF
the profession should stand behind
the armed forces. 1t is likewise OBJ
vious that the morale at the front
can be no stronger than the morale
at home. And it is of the civilian
emergency that I wish to speak.
To nurse the civilian population
there remain, after those nurses who
are able to join the armed forces
have gone, only those of us who
are too old to serve at the front,
those who are married and have
home responsibilities and those who
for reasons of health are unable to
serve at the 'front.' 1t appears to
me that an active program should
be organized, through which an
efficient, capable and enthusiastic
army of civilian nurses can come
to the rescue of the home front.
Suggests Pooling" Babies.
One way of accomplishing unity
and coordination of effort is for
the married nurses with young chill
dren and household responsibilities
to arrange to pool their babies for
certain hours during certain days
a week, and make their services
available to the hospitals. This is
not an appeal for voluntary serv-
ices; the hospitals are glad to pay
even for an hours service day.
1t has been my privilege to live
and work and travel in many lands.
l have met nurses and doctors of
many countries. In no country out
side of our own does the trained
nurse enjoy so many privileges. This
country is now in dire need of the
services of every available nurse.
Let us one and all not fail our coun-
try in this crucial hour.
This is total war, and if we are
to win it we shall have to do SO
along totalitarian lines. This means
long hours of hard work for every
man and woman in these United
States.
Let us, then, as nurses do our
part-and our part in this struggle
Is a large part-so that when this
| is over We can once more enjoy
our privileges, and not be told from
Berlin that We will work IA to 16
hours in place of to II.
1t behooves us nurses, then. to
return to 12-hour duty for the dura-
ton, and for all of us who are not
in active duty now, to return even
Tor short hours, to the desperately
needy hospitals. Private nurses
should be available only for the
critically i'll, and upon the advice
of doctor.
1 can hear the protest that many
OF you will raise, and I can sympa-
thize with it. have struggled, with
you, over long period of years
for an 8-hour system, and in normal
times it is just and right that we
should gain our point. But these
are not normal times; this is a grave
emergency. Our men and boys at
the front know nothing of 8-hour
shifts, nor did our nurses on Bataan.
Nor did we, in 1917 to 1919, when
we worked day and night on the
wards in France That, you will
say, is an emergency, and my an
swer is: $50 is this"
Should Be Compensated.
I do not deny that nurses should
be compensated for their services tc
an extent that they may live in de-
cency and comfort. But after all
nursing Is profession, and every
nurse was aware and proud of this
fact when she went into training
Nursing as professional cannot be
commercial. The basic spirit Of
nursing, as exhibited during the
critical war period of 1917-l8 need
even greater expression during tht
present emergency.
There is feeling among a Ger.
tain group of nurses that to re.
linquish what they have gained thu!
far in working hours and remunera.
ton would be to lose 1t forever, witt
the effort to regain such status at 6
future date too difficult to contem.
plate. A tragic reaction is Imminent
If in the struggle of nurses to at.