Evening star., 1946-08-25
Quality Of Nurses
Held VituI Factor
Warns Against Treating Shortage
in Terms of Numbers Only
By Virginia Dunbar


By Virginia Dunbar
Dean Of the Cornell university.New York Hos
ptal School Of Nursdns in and Director & 9f the
Today the public is vastly concerned
over the current nurse shortage. How
ever, there is danger that, in consid-
ering the need for nurses, emphasis is
not placed sufficiently on the quality as
well as on the quantity of nurses being
trained today.
There is a growing interest on the
part of the public in industrial health
services. public health agencies, hos
pitalization, community health plans
State and national health programs.
Yet. UNDERSTANDABLE, the interest Of
the public Is focused on the nursing
services 1t will receive, rather than on
the education of the nurses serving in
and administering such services. The
public wants health plans well distri-
buted throughout the country. 1t wants
low costs to itself. It wants better and
more facilities for health programs. 1t
does not, however, stop to wonder what
kind of training produces nurses cap
able Of handling these plans.
While occasionally one finds born
nurse" it is hardly advisable to depend
on such rare discoveries to maintain
the nursing system in this country. A
nurse, like a doctor, an architect or an
engineer, is the product Of specialized
training and background. The duties Of
a nurse today are infinitely more COM
plex that they were at the beginning of
the century. or, for that matter, even
few years ago. Rapid, almost unbeliev-
able strides in the fields of medicine and
science, as well as the broader COM
munity need for nurses. have been re-
sponsible for this added complexity.
Therefore, coincidental with the
growing Importance of health plans,
there must also be growing interest
in the education of the nurses who
make these plans possible. This can be
done through public encouragement
and support Of university nursing
schools. These schools, requiring mini
mum of two years Of college training
for entrance, will produce nurse whose
interests and background are suflcient-
ly varied to cope with the changing
| health picture. Such nurse will be
equipped to understand social and eco
nomic factors effecting national health
and welfare. She will have a greater
technical knowledge. Her entire hori-
zon will be broadened by virtue of her
wider experience, whether her inter-
ests are in staff, private, teaching or
administrative work.
There is a fallacy of thought preva-
lent today. That is misapprehension
that university nursing schools will give
too much attention to purely academic
training and too little to bedside care
of the sick Overlooked is the fact that
extensive training in bedside care of
patients is an integral and essential
part of the training of any nurse. Yet,
if the training of a nurse IS placed
jointly in the hands of a hospital and
university, the end product will be
young woman who has received both
the academic and the practical type of
education now needed in all branches
of her profession.
Facts do not bear out the contention
OF many persons that university nurses"
balk at bedside work. To the contrary,
many who are happiest in that capacity
are kept from it because Of the crying
need for well-trained individuals who
can take over teaching and admin
istrative nursing. Nevertheless, we'll
rounded nursing preparation, health
teaching and community work must
rank equally with bedside care.
While at the present time there are
not enough schools equipped to give this
all-around professional preparation for
nursing, public interest in good institu
tions will of necessity raise the standards
of the profession as whole. For the
welfare of the entire Nation, it is i'm
portant to train nurses in the good
schools now available which are equipped
to handle college students.
In those schools Is tremendous
opportunity for the young women who
today are unable to re-enter college
! because of overcrowded enrollments.
While schools and universities all over
the country are reporting record enroll
ments, nursing schools show the smallest
classes in their histories.
Many of the young women who left
college to enter one of the armed services
or war work during the emergency, like
many who recently completed junior
college training, are unable to complete
their education at the colleges and the
universities of their choice. They are
also, in many cases, unable to find real
career openings, as the job potentiaity
for women in industry has sharply
declined since VI day. This crisis can
we'll be turned into an opportunity, as
there are excellent nursing schools which
are equipped to consider more applicants
and permit them to qualify for lasting
professional work. Today nursing plays
an important role in civic and COM
munity life and presents a greater chal-
lenge than ever before.
Since the first nursing schools were
established in this country nearly IS
years ago incredible strides have been
made in the profession. However, there
is still long way to 60. For instance.
there is one State which has So nursing
schools, only three of which produced
| nurses who could meet even the
minimum standards set down by the
| Army Nurse Corps. This is only one