Evening star., 1947-07-23
Willing Hands of 500 Volunteers Ease Life
OF Goilinqer Patients in Nurse Shortage
FulItime Director
Co-ordinotes Work in
Pioneering System
By Thoros g.. Buchonon

Gallinger Hospital has an unpaid
staff of 500 trouble shooters" who
help the overworked regular staff
all the gaps in patient care caused
by the nursing shortage.
So important has the work of
these volunteers become that they
now have . full time director to CO.
ordinate their efforts. Gallinger
is the first hospital in the District
and one of the first in the country
to follow this course.
Any one who has been in a hospi-
tai recently knows you can't get Q
quick response every time you press
the bedside buzzer. A nurse who is
trying to do the work of two must
confine her services to emergency
duties, and hasn't time to run er-
rands. ---
Make Life Easier.
Yet It's the little favors that make
the difference between q satisfied
patient and one whose complaints
demoralize the entire ward, and
bring relatives storming into the
superintendent's office.
Is the young Government stenog-
rapher. in Gallinger's surgery ward
homesick for mail from her family
in Kansas? A Red Cross Gray Lady
will not only bring in her mail, but
If asked to do 50, will 60 shopping
for her, bringing back writing ma
terials, toilet articles and other small
items to make her hospital stay
more pleasant.
Does the little polio victim in the
crippled children's wing need some
one to feed him and help him bathe?
There's a Girl Scout there who gave
up her Saturday afternoons through
out the school year to do this work.
Now that school Is over, she comes
to the hospital several days a week.
Red Cross Helps, Too.
Relieving the burden of bedside
nursing, SO that the patient who
needs attendance doesn't have to
wait so long to get it, Is the valuable
contribution of the Red Cross
nurses aides. During recent months.
from IS to 81 of these young women
have contributed a total of about
l ESQ nursing hours each month.
In addition to the Gray Ladies
and nurses aides, the Red Cross
supplies free clerical work by its
volunteer staff assistants. They help
relieve the hospitals administrative
load.
A chief hospital headache once
was the daily visiting period. Some
times q dozen friends or relatives
would crowd around the bedside Of
a sick man.
At the hospitals request, the Coun-
Gil of Church Women offered its
services to solve this problem. Rep
resentatives of churches throughout
the city now take turns III visitor
control" work, registering those who
come to see sick friends and limiting
each patient to two visitors at =
time.
Gifts Distributed.
The church woansa. also, snstheir
spare time at home, make gaily dec
Grated cloth bags for toilet articles,
and each Gallinger patient gets one
to hang at the foot of the bed.
Church groups tour the wards, dis
tributing the kits, crossword puzzles
and other gifts. Many churches have
adopted" their own wards.
Bandages' are made up by the
American Women's Volunteer Serv-
ice, and even by some of the Gal
linger patients themselves. who
want to put their idle hours to
constructive use.
Many of Gallinger's most valu-
able volunteers are not members
of any organization, but individuals
who come to the volunteer direc-
tor, Mrs. j. L. G. Parsons, and
offer their services wherever they
are needed-as oflice workers, bed
side nurses, laboratory assistants or
inter department messengers.
Waitress Volunteers Help.
Typical of these is young Mrs.
Alberta Lewis of 1859 Eighteenth
street NE, a waitress in the Gal
anger nurses residence. After her
full time job is through, Mrs. Lewis,
who Is colored, comes over to the
hospital several days week to give
the nurses a hand In caring for
their patients.
Mrs. Lewis began her volunteer
work during the war, as did many
women who now are giving their
time to Gallinger Hospital.
Numerous others who found salts
faction in volunteer work for serv-
icemen. the Gallinger staff hopes,
will see in the municipal hospital
an opportunity for further valuable
service to the community.
S sHsFnst Pay;