Evening star., 1947-12-05
Council Qualities Full
School Duty Plan for
Public Health Nurses


health nurses assigned to school
duty devote their full time to that
work caused sharp division that
resulted in compromise yesterday
at meeting of the Washington
Metropolitan Health Council in the
Lee Sheraton Hotel.
The debate was touched off when
a committee report on school health
was submitted for approval Of the
councils co-ordinating board and
delegate body.
The committee recommended that
school nurses should be assigned
on full-time basis to school health
duties" except in rural areas.
This proposal was attacked on
the ground that generally accepted
public health standards today call
for enlarging the scope Of the pub
lie health nurses work, instead of
limiting her activities to a special
lied field.
Spread of System Seen.
"If the school authorities get
nurses specially assigned to them, y
said Dr. Paul A. Cornely, Howard
University public health professor,
there is no reason why people in
tuberculosis, mental hygiene and all
other services should not also ask
for specialized, full-time public
health nurses"
DR.. John Byers, Prince Georges
County health officer. and DR.. v. L.
Ellicott, health officer of Montgom-
cry County, offered several amend
ments designed to set standard
of one school nurse to 1000 pupils,
without restricting health authori-
ties to assigning nurses to full time
school duty.
Birch Bayh, director of physical
education and safety in the District
public schools, said the shortage of
public health nurses has been felt
most acutely by the school health
services, and asked that school
nurses be assigned to full time duty
4Byers Amendment Adopted.
II wonder II we want to 60 on
record as approving specialization
rather than generalization in COM
,, munity nursing, observed Miss
Gertrude Bowling, executive direc-
tor of the Instructive Visiting
Nurses Society.
, An amendment offered by DR.
Byers finally was adopted, qualify
ing the committees Endorsement o1
full-time school nurses with the
phrase that they be used "at the dis
; cretion of the Health Department
whenever there is no impairment OF
; the generalized nursing program"
The committees school health re-
: port was adopted with only one
other alteration, which clarified a
reference to mental troubles OF
teachers. The report charged that
to per cent of the teachers neeo
mental care. The amendment
pointed out the figures cited re-
ferred to the national situation
we're not based on any study of the
local schools and do not apply tc
teachers more than to other pro-
feSSionS.
Reorganization Supported.
The Health Council unanimously
adopted a recommendation provid-
, ing for its reorganization on a
metropolitan basis. to be financed
. by the area wide Community Chest
Federation.
Vice Admiral Ross I. Mc1ntire
council chairman, said he woulo
. appoint a committee of eight in
Guiding three members from the
! District and one from each nearby
county, to implement this recon-
mendation.
The Committee on Proceedings
and Administration will be in
structed, he said, to appear before
the Council of Social Agencies ano
the Community Chest to effect the
change.
DR.. Herbert P. Ramsey, Survey
Committee chairman and former
Health Council head. said the next
step would be "the securing, sooner
or later, of budgetary support fol
an adequate staff to do good jot
- At.ss