Philadelphia Osteopathic Hospital School of Nursing - Cranium Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

Page 14 text:

FACULTY ADVISER MISS SUE E. SMOKER, R.N. t ' The staff is indeed grateful to Miss Smoker for her part in the editing of this book. Without the giving of her time, suggestions in the literary field, and encouragement to work onward we could not have hoped for success. THE EDITOR. 10

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SUPERINTENDENT ' S MESSAGE A wide appreciation of the importance of proper nurse training and of the close correlation of medi- cal and nursing practice has developed in recent years. A sound educa- tional plan for nurses is an essential contribution that our Osteopathic Hos- pitals can make. No one can dispute the exploita- tion of nurses in the past as a means of cheap labor for hospitals and the failure of hospitals to de- velop a real education training for the profession. Today, however, the picture has changed ma- terially. The complexities of the new elaborate scientific medicine and osteopathy have forced higher standards for nurses ' training of which the require- ment of high school and preference for college credits as pre- liminary are but a natural development. The degree of edu- cation now required of the nurses merits an income compar- able to that in other avenues open to educated young women and they should not continue to perform duties requiring little thought or skill. Someone has said that when viewed in the light of its proportion of the total hospital expense the nursing department pay-roll is a real gloom producer but when broken down to the individual nurse ' s pay it is more comparable to the janitor ' s pay. A recent authority on the subject calculated that 55% of work done by nurses is non-professional in char- acter and thus suggests that the use of ward helpers to re- lieve nurses of non-professional routine duties results in both economy and better service. Another issue confronting osteopathic hospitals in com- mon with medical hospitals throughout the country is that concerning the eight-hour schedule for nurses. In June 1929 the eight-hour schedule for nurses was inaugurated in Los Angeles, California, and in September 1936 it had been adopted for private duty nurses in 729 hospitals. It is claimed that under the eight-hour plan patients are better satisfied, better care is given, and the cost to patient is no greater. There are, of course, things to be said for and against it. In the present state of flux, hospital trustees and admin- istrators are beginning to realize their responsibilities and op- portunities for contributing substantially to the health program through the training and support of nursing. All teaching institutions should have staff education programs fitted to improvement of nurses ' techniques and personal relationships between the nurse and her patients as well as her co-workers and superiors. EDGAR O. HOLDEN.

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SUPERVISORS HELEN M. STERRETT, R.N. Educational Director MAE C. BRESLIN, R.N.A. Anaesthetist S. FRANCES BOND, R.N. Supt. of Out-Patient Dept. HELEN MORRISSON, R.N. Night Supervisor ISABELLE M. O ' DONNELL, R.N Operating Room Supervisor 11