Exchiiiige nurses Ross, Van de Haar, Donchak, ami Visser
FROM HOLLAND . . .
Four new exchange iiurses—two from Holland and two from
Australia—have arrived on the scene at Duke. Participants in the
ANA Exchange Visitor Nurse Program, they will be here through
the summer months.
It is probably recalled that the predecessors of these exchange
nurses were confronted with a slight language barrier. And it
seems that this is going to be a recurring jiroblem. For, when asked
if there had been any language })roblems, Nelly Visser, Dutch ex
change nurse with a delight accent, replied quite tactfully: “Veil,
ven dey speak a little more slowly, it is better to understand.”
Nelly is a nurse on Howland.
“Der people here don speak English like ve know it,” explained
Maria Van de Haar, another Dutch exchange nurse, “dey speak
American English.” Maria is a nurse on Sims and Prevost.
Although they have encountered a slight linguistic barrier here
in the States, Maria and Nelly certainly “know their English”
and have had more linguistic training than most Americans. Both
are trilingual and in addition to English speak French and Ger
man, for these three languages are recjuired subjects in all Dutch
schools.
Maria (nicknamed “Ria”) and Nelly completed four years of
nursing training in Holland—Maria in Meppel (Northern Hol
land) and Nelly in Dordrecht (S\V Holland). Storks are engraved
on the silver crosses on their pins, indicating that both have com
pleted postgraduate training in obstetrics.
All nurses in Holland are R.N.'s. There are no L.P.N.’s and no
ma.jor distinctions are made between registered nurses. However,
the j)ins worn by all R.N.’s in Holland indicate if the nurses have
completed any postgraduate training. Postgraduate specialized
training is offered in obstetrics, pediatrics, public health, and psy
chiatry.
It is interesting to note that nurses in Holland are trained “on-
tlie-job. ” They work all day in hospitals and are considered mem
bers of the hospital staff'. They are j)aid for their work, and there
is no charge for the training which they receive.
Nelly and J\Iaria were working in hospitals in Amsterdam prior
to coming to America.
. . . AND FROM AUSTRALIA
From Australia we welcome visiting nurses Anna Donchak and
Patricia Ross, who will be working in the Operating Room.
Patricia received her general nursing certificate in 1962 from
Fremantle Hospital in Perth (Western Australia). Since that
time, she has been on a “working trip around the world.”
During the past four years, Patricia has worked in England,
Norway and France and has toured the continent as far east as
Greece. One of her most exciting jobs was a position as assistant
to the medical advisor on the set of the film Heroes of Telemark,
which was filmed in the mountains near Oslo, Norway.
Anna received her general nursing certificate and completed lier
midwifery certificate at the Brisbane General Hospital in Brisbane,
and worked on the staff until 1963. In 1963, she went to Vellore,
India, and worked in a large American mission hospital which was
started by Dr. Ida B. Scudder. Prior to coming to America, Anna
was on the staff at the Prince Henry Hospital in Sydney, Aus
tralia.
The three exchange nurses introduced in the October Intercom,
Berlie Swan and Margaret Thomas of Australia, and Hanora By
grove of Ireland, are now working in a Galveston, Texas, hospital
as exchange nurses.
oucn
• WELCOME . . .
The Medical Center Library welcomes four new staff' members:
Richard Harris, acquisition librarian; Mrs. Ellen Roberts, secre
tary for acquisitions; Ronald Jones, circulation assistant; Mrs. El-
lenor Gaillard, nursing librarian. Debbra Ray is a new technician
trainee in Microbiology and Wesley Taylor is working as a dark
room specialist in Medical Arts and Illustration. John McGowan
is now head of the Anesthesia Laboratory and Kent Denton is a
new member of the Inhalation Therapy staff. New ENT staff mem
bers are Mrs. Cynthia Sikes, secretary, and Mrs. Sharon Gattis,
typist. Mrs. Marlene Williams is a new secretary in the Bell Build
ing, Peggy Dickson is a new secretary in Davison and John Brown
and Andrew Bangham are new technicians in Physiology and
Pharmacology.
Tom Adkinson has joined CRU as a research technician and
Brenda Reed, R.N., has joined the inirsing staff of CRU. Mrs. Anne
Leermakers has transferred from Medicine to the office of Dr.
Bingham Dai and Mrs. Hilda Parker is working for Dr. Ilohman
and Dr. Silver. Sammye Henderson from Winston-Salem has re
cently joined the staff' of the Lane Laboratory as a technician in
Dr. Laszlo’s laboratory. OR has two new employees; Susan Pirtle,
R.N., from Baptist Hospital in Atlanta and James F. Payne, score
board operator. Susan Michele Shaw has joined the Private Medical
Lab as a technician and Patricia S. Clayton has also joined the lab
as secretary. Mary Beth Wilson Carroll and Tamara Fatma Batca
are newcomers to Medical Records in the filing department and
Harry Miles has replaced Lee Cobbs, Jr., as orderly for the Depart
ment of Ophthalmology. Mrs. Rebecca Bland is a new aide in the
Ob-Gyn OPC and James Clayton and Willie Carlton are new or
derlies in OR.
Mrs. Betty J. Crabtree of Mebane is a new employee in the
Compensation and Liability Office and Mrs. Edna Vise has re
turned as a nurse’s aide in SPDC. Mrs. Daisy Walker Jacobs of
Whiteville is a new lab technician in SPDC and Pathology’ has
three new people: Anne Settlemyre in the Cytology lab and Eliza
beth Hizer and Fadine Higgs as research technicians. Sheryl Ken
nedy has joined OPC as billing clerk and Mrs. Barbara Fasser has
joined the Department of Psj-chiatiy as secretary, replacing Mrs.
Gail Wiley who has transferred to the Department of Medicine as
secretary to Mr. James Man. Juanita Jacobs is a new maid on In-
service Nursing Education and Pat Emory is now secretary on
Holmes. Joyce Trout is a new secretary in Dr. Saltzman’s office and
Beth Smith has transferred from welfare billing in OPC to inter
viewer in that clinic. New employees in the Department of Dietetics
are Edward Monroe, James Williams, Alvis Pettiford and Ozell
Holloway.
(Continued, page 8)
INTERCOM - 7
MARCH 1966