Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1946-08-21
Letters to The Star
Shortage of Nurses Discussed

To the Editor of The Star;
In the August 10 issue of The Star
you again discuss the shortage of nurses
in the local hospitals. This is nothing
new. Time and time again such items
appear in the newspapers. There were
too few nurses during the war and now,
year after hostilities have ceased,
the shortage of nursing personnel still
remains as acute as ever.
The question of why this should be
persistently the case demands an an
sWer. To many of us in the nursing
profession, this answer is obvious al
though we have not been sufficiently
articulate about it. The main reason
why nursing does not attract SUFFICIENT
recruits but even loses trained people
all the time is the poor pay that is
being offered for a highly skilled job.
Most nurses have the equivalent of a
college education and yet the salaries
offered by the hospitals remain con-
sfderably below those of ordinary skilled
labor. Chances for advancement and
raises beyond this compensation are
limited. Who nowadays would want to
take tough job for so little pay?
The second cause is the generally
unattractive working conditions. The
40-hour week is myth in most hospital
general duty positions. Girls are not
attracted by the prospect of Saturday,
Sunday, holiday and night work Office
and shop girls have come to expect
such time off as normal.
Only generous revisions in emolu-
ments for such work will induce a
satisfactory flow of new blood into the
nursing profession. Nurses who are
overworked and tired will perform only
poorly; and this state of affairs. If
continued through prolonged periods,
will produce physical and mental break
downs to thin the ranks even further.
The work of nurse is exacting and
physically exhausting. Added to this is
the poor management prevalent in
great many hospitals. The time sched-
ules, division of labor, physical arrange
ments, availability of ward aides fire.
quently are unsatisfactory. Miles and
miles OF unnecessary walking exhaust
the nursing staff. Inadequate use of
modern mechanical aids, lack of CO.
ordination and Anticipated regulations
often cause inefficient use of skilled
nursing personnel. Moreover. nurses
living on hospital grounds have to put
up with an unattractive environment
Most college dormitories for girls pro-
vide pleasant, comfortable and attrac-
tive rooms while in nurses quarters
old-style asceticism in furniture and
appointments prevails. No wonder that
nurses rather would accept glamorized
jobs as airline hostesses with we'll
regulated working hours and high pay
Than to stick to Job, the biggest COM
pensation Of which is moral satisfac-
ton.
Remedies for the situation are OBJ
vious. They are three fold: /. Better
pay and regular raises after specified
intervals. 2. Strict observance of work.
ing hours with sufficient additional
lnducement for night and holiday work.
3. Analysis Of hospital operations and
procedures by efficiency and manage
ment experts.
The stock answer TO such proposals
always has been "lack OF funds" But
part Of the increased costs could be
onset by more eficient hospital pro-
cedures and better management. The
other costs ought to be absorbed nv
the patients, health insurance and the
public at large. Until these conditions
are fulfilled the deplorable situation
Will continue or even deteriorate more
A. F. G.