Evening star., 1942-10-29
mo. S OF a Series.)
BY PAT JONES.

The matter of bringing inactive
nurses back into active duty as 8
relief to the serious shortage in nurs.
ing service involves certain alice
arrangements which are chiefly the
responsibility of the community anc
its citizens associations, a poll ol
hospital and medical opinion re-
veals.
! An appreciable number of these
former nurses, it is estimated, woulc
return to active service If they coulo
get capable domestic help or if some
care could be provided for their chill
dren while they are away.
1t was with the hope of working
out some method by which these
children might be cared for in the
communities that the Graduate
Nurses Association recently wrote
more than 10 citizens groups ask
ing them to make the hospital sit
uation major activity on their
calendar.
Only a Partial Solution.
Particularly does the responsibility
lie at home in question of pooling
the children among mothers con-
cerned. Some mothers, it is ex-
planned, refuse to leave their young
ones in the care of other parents in
whom they have no trust.
Pooling definitely appears as a
partial solution to the problem. In
a recent public letter calling atten-
ton to the nursing situation, Miss
Olive c. Baldwin, assistant direc-
tor of nurses at Doctors Hospital,
wrote:
| "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 avail
able to the hospitals. This is not an
appeal for voluntary services; the
hospitals are glad to pay even for
an hours service a day."
Day Nurseries Urged.
The special committee appointed
last summer by Commissioner Guy
Mason to study the hospital situa-
ton found that of the 370 nurses in
the District definitely listed as un-
employed at that time, majority
gave home duties and young chill
dren as the first reasons for not
returning to active duty. On a
basis of this information. the conf
mittee recommended that hospitals
desiring to use these women provide
day nursery for their children.
Miss Gertrude Bowling, executive
director of the Instructive Visiting
Nurse Society, also agrees that there
should be nurseries in the vicinity
of hospitals. But she adds on Sec
ond thought that, in the case OF
mothers who must transport their
children by street car for consider.
able distances 1t probably would be
better to have the nurseries in the
communities in which they live
Some persons have suggested that
this be done during the emergency
by setting up neighborhood nurseries
in schools. thus eliminating the
transportation angle.
Refresher Courses Offered.
While authorities feel a sizeable
number of experienced nurses are
on the idle list, there is no way to
arrive at definite figure because OF
the Districts constantly shifting
population. Telephone calls to for.
mer addresses listed by nurses fire.
quently are answered by strangers
and there, unless forwarding ad-
dress us left, all trace stops.
But inactive nurses come in almost
daily in answer to emergency calls
which have been sent out this year
One of these was broadcast last
spring by I. " N. S. and another
last month by the Graduate Nurse
Association. Refresher courses are
offered women who have been out
of active duty for any length OF
time
Some medical and hospital au.
thorities are convinced that the S.
reinstatement fee required by the
Nurses Examining Board is one fac
tor that keeps more members OF the
inactive list from returning to duty
This fee is asked, along with the 81
annual registration fee, OF nurses
who want to come back into the
active field and who are not 'in
good standing" which is this case
means that they have done nursing
since they were dropped from the
active list without bothering to re-
4 register.
Afraid of Blacklisting.
Letters from the board to these
nurses in bad" standing who have
tried to come back state in part
According to our files, you have
been practicing nursing in the Dis
trict Of Columbia without license
A nurse = Is not entitled