Here's one way to relieve summer shortage of nurses

              TOMORROW'S   DOCTORS   are   today's
nurses.
That sounds curious, but it's true. It concerns a summer project under way at Touro Infirmary. Here 23 vacationing medical students from Tulane, Louisiana State and Boston universities and the Universities of Virginia and St. Louis are working as summertime nursing assistants.
The students are being used by Touro to overcome a nursing shortage which plagues hospitals and medical institutions throughout the United States. The project also gives these students a chance to become familiar with the problems of patients, something not in the textbooks. These students are introduced, too, to problems facing hospital administrators and staff nurses.
The pressing shortage of nurses brought about this summertime program which was started in 1956. Prior to that students had been hired by Touro for a variety of hospital-associated jobs. Then Dr. John Mackenzie, Touro's director, thought the knowledge of these students could be utilized in helping ease the nursing shortage, which runs locally Into the hundreds.
At present there are 3128 licensed registered nurses in Orleans and Jefferson parishes. Of these 1000 work in hospitals and other medical institutions and 300 are registered for private duty. Most of the remaining either are working in doctors' offices or in industry. Some are married and not working, but keep their licenses active for future use.
Ken Jamron, an assistant director at Touro, says hot enough girls are going into the profession. "Apparently many girls feel it's easier to go to business school for six months and get office work than to go through nursing training for three years. When they work in an office, they usually have week ends free. On staff duty they have to work alternate week ends."
He continues: "Another factor is that more and more girls who would have entered nursing are now going to college, majoring in other fields. One of the selling points of the nursing profession is that tuition to nursing school is low. Well, it's also low at state colleges.
"The high standard required of nursing trainees also is a factor. Also, many
by Le« Delaune
girls marry while in training. They have to drop out."
Adding to the local shortage, Jamron says, is the unusual mobility of nurses. "They can find work anywhere in the country, so many travel a lot," he says.
"There are 82 staff positions for graduate nurses at Touro. Unfortunately, there are never enough nurses available to fill them.
"During fall and winter most of the positions are filled. This is especially true during Carnival season, when we are able to nearly complete our staff. During Lent the number of available nurses begins to drop* Many single nurses go to cooler climates/' he says.
"During July and August/' Jamron says, "nurses are scarcest. At one time last July we had 47 staff vacancies."
It is to help overcome this pronounced summer shortage that medical students are employed as nursing attendants.
"Their job is to assist graduate staff nurses," Jamron explains. "They do small chores—feed patients, apply compresses, answer call lights, make beds and bathe male patients.
"By freeing staff nurses of these routine duties, medical students permit graduate nurses to spend more time with the more acutely ill. The nurses' time is better utilized."
Their job roughly corresponds to work done by student nurses. "A major difference is that the more advanced student nurses have more responsible duties," Jamron says. "For instance, student nurses give injections; medical students do not."
The summer program is working out well for both students and hospital, Jamron says, and both are benefiting.
"Of course, since most of these medical students have only one or two years of med school behind them, there is quite, a bit about doctoring and nursing they do hot know. Patients, seeing their white uniforms, often mistake them for interns and ask complicated questions."
Jamron continues, "The questions are over their heads, and our medical students have to explain their jobs.
"One thing about it—they love being mistaken for doctors, and being asked those questions, I guess they're thinking of the day when they'll be able to give the right answers."