Evening star., 1947-08-05
Nurse 'CeiIinqs'
Iokeep101Beds
Idle at Ga||inger
Sweeney Says Cuts by
Congress Blast Hope Of
Opening 2 Wards
By Thomos G. Buchanan

Hope that a recent upswing in
nurse recruitment at Gallinger Hos
pital soon would permit the open.
ing of two wards now closed by the
nurse shortage was blasted today
by a hospital official.
DR.. Alvin r. Sweeney, superin-
tendent. said congressional cuts in
the number of graduate and stu
dent nurses the crowded city hos
pltal is allowed to hire would force
him TO keep 101 beds idle through
out the coming year.
Affected by the lack of sufficient
bedside nurses are a floor contain
ing 81 beds for tuberculosis patients
and another ward with so beds for
surgical cases. The rest of the hos
pital will continue to be under
stated, DR.. Sweeney added.
The legislators economy drive re-
duced the staff allotted to Gallinger
Hospital from 1913 graduate nurses
to 271-a loss of 67. It also cut
the number of student nurses from
200 to 1876.
Nurse Staff Picking Up.
Actually, Gallinger now has less
than the authorized number in
each of these categories, and this
was the main reason for the cut.
But a recent boost in the nurses
basic pay at the city hospital from
81, 100 to $3.50 a year." and a re-
duction in hours from a 48 to 40
a week had given hospital officials
hope their personnel problem was
about to be solved.
The improved working conditions
announced in May, had led to a
large number of applications from
nurses anxious to work at the city
hospital From a staff of 119 grad
uate nurses in all categories on July
l. 1916, the number of nurses had
risen to 1856 the same date this wear.
In July, another 20 were appointed,
and other applications are pending.
At the rate nurses have been ap-
plying for jobs at Gallinger in re-
cent weeks, the hospital could have
filled all the vacancies under last
years authorization within the next
few months, DR.. Sweeney believes.
Had this been done, the superin-
tendent said it would have been
possible to open the tuberculosis and
surgical wards that are now closed.
Owing to the eighr-hour reduction
in the nurses working week, the
workload of the average Gallinger
nurse has not been lightened as
much as the figures on total nurse
employment would indicate
Existing Wards Understaffed.
DR.. Sweeney said the hospital
could not afford to open the addi-
tional wards with the present staff.
I'VE have notice." he declared,
that, when the nurses are spread
too thin in the hospital, they see
such tremendous amount of work
to be done that they get discouraged
and leave"
Even the existing wards are un-
derstaffed, he asserted. Patients re-
ceive an average of 1.6 hours nurs-
ing service a day, whereas three
hours is considered minimum
standard by the American Hospital
Association and various national
nursing organizations, he said.
Added to the shortage of graduate
nurses in the city hospital is a drop
in student nurses to assist them in
their ward duties. Last year there
were 73 Gallinger tudents and 90
others from other hospitals for vary
ing periods of training. Now there
are only SIS from Gallinger and so
from affiliated institutions. DR..
Sweeney places the hospitals needs
at 200, the number formerly author
lied.
Some assistance Is In prospect
from a class of 81 students who will
start their three-year training in
Gallinger next Monday, although
these nurses will not be available
for any ward duty for the first six
months. This falls class is more
than double the IS who reported last
fall.