Evening star., 1945-02-09
Nurses Group
Says Volunteers
Can Meet Needs
Coils for Recruiting
By Federal Authority
With Funds for Job
BY CARTER BROOKE JONES.

The American Nurses Association,
representing more than $4,000 pro-
fessional nurses, believes the short
age OF nurses in the armed forces
can be met by some Federal agency
adequately implemented with
funds, personnel and authority" on
a voluntary basis, Miss Katharine ].
Densford, president of the organiza-
ton, told the House Military Affairs
Committee today.
If the committee, however, does
not agree that such a plan could
be placed in immediate effect, Miss
Densford added, then the only sug-
gested alternative is a draft. She
said the association would accept
draft of nurses as a first step,
but only as first step, in Sc
lective Service Act for all women"
Miss Densford emphasized that
she felt any legislation drafting
nurses should be supplemented by a
general service act for women so
that "our drastically reduced civilian
nursing service may be augmented
by help from other groups of
women"
Calls for Recruiting.
Miss Densford urged in lieu Of a
draft recruiting program financed
by the Federal Government. Such
a program. she said. should be at
least comparable in scope to the
campaigns used to enlist WACS and
WAVES.
THE War Manpower Commits
sion," Miss Densford told the COM
mittee, has in the past, together
with the Red Cross nursing service,
provided an effective mechanism for
the selection of nurses for the armed
forces on voluntary basis and for
the Stabillzatlon of civilian nursing
services, and We think it can do so
in the future if properly strength
ened"
If the committee does recommend
draft legislation, she added, it should
provide for commissioning of all
nurses detailed to the armed forces,
with adequate protection for vet
erans' hospitals; safeguards for
nursing standards, prohibition
against discrimination with respect
to race, color, creed or sex, and
proper credit to the States for volun-
tary enllstments.
Ijams Points to Crowding.
Earlier, Col. George E. Ijams,
deputy veterans administrator, said
the vot oropc, hoc,,ifolc ,ror,JoJ -,
creaSingly with disabled men from
the present war, are desperately"
in need of additional nurses and
face a critical situation.
Col. Ijams said that in the absence
OF Brig. Gen. Frank T. Hines, vet
erans' administrator, he was not
authorized to take any official posi-
tion on the pending proposal to
draft nurses for the armed forces,
but personally he felt that volun-
tary methods had failed completely
to staff the veterans hospitals. He
said that although he would be glad
to see any voluntary system that
would provide the nurses. he doubted
whether any plan except a draft
would work.
At present, Col. Ijams estimated,
the veterans hospitals are short
900 nurses. He added that they
are losing nurses to the Army and
Navy every month and are failing
to replace them with enough new
nurses to meet the needs.
Increase in Patients.
He pointed out that the veterans
hospitals at the beginning of this
year had 65,560 patients, of whom
1888, were from the last war, and
15,772 from the present war. Last
month alone, he added, 1887
patients came direct from Army
and Navy hospitals for further
treatment. He foresaw an increas-
ingly heavy load for the veterans
hospitals as the war draws to a |
close, and in the years to follow.
He said the Veterans Administra-
ton had made three requests of
Secretary of War Stimson that vet
erans' nurses be commissioned on
the same basis as Army nurses.
Two of these requests had been
dened, he told the committee, and
the third was under consideration.
He said he thought this could be
done without legislation, just as
physicians at veterans hospitals had
been commissioned by directive of
the War Department.
Col. IjamS said the veterans hos
pitfalls had approximately 4,164