Patient Care Assistants !Mary Ruth Tilley, Ruby Griffis, Anita Westbrook,
and Andra Gilion were taught during their training program to make out their
own work sheets from the patients’ Kardex (information taken from ijatieiits’
charts and put on cards for more convenient referral).
Patient Care Is Their Concern
Dietetics Honors
Employees
Valentines Day was a very
special, red-letter-sort-of-day in
the Department of Dietetics.
On that day a tea was given
by that department honoring
nine employees who were nom
inated as recipients of the
Dietetics Employee of the Year
awards.
An important occasion for
the Dietetics Department, the
tea was “on the drawing
board” for months, and over
one hundred man hol^rs went
into the preparations.
A nominating committee of
ten persons, including a cook, a
payroll clerk, a food service
worker, four supervisors and
three servers met from Septem
ber through January deciding
on the selection of the nominees.
The nominating committee
carefully considered the follow’-
ing in selecting the nominees;
attitude, judgment, knowledge,
experience, physical character
istics (health and appearance),
personality, integrity, leader
ship, vision and creativity (self-
development, insight, imagina
tion, ideals, etc.), communal
and professional responsibility
(professional growth and re
sponsibility in dietetics).
Out of the 210 employees con
sidered by the committee, nine
were nominated for the awards;
Vira Barefoot, Lillian Crabtree,
Mildred Rigsbee, Evelyn Up
church, David Currie, Christine
Ilines, Frances Rogers, Lugenia
Stubbs, and Ruth Suitt. They
were selected from two cate
gories: “employees” and “su-
pervisory-ofifice personnel. ’ ’
On February 1 each of the
full-time employees of the de
partment had an opportunity
to vote for one nominee in each
category.
The outcome of the voting
was not announced until the
tea, at which time the winners
were presented cups engraved
with their names and “Duke
University Medical Center
Dietetics Department, Em
ployee of the Year, 1966.”
The winners of the 1966
awards were David Currie and
gram; and Mrs. Barbara El-
Vira Barefoot.
The department w^rote short
(Continued, page 10)
The Patient Care Assistant
Program, created here at Duke
to help meet existing needs at
Duke, is the first such program
of its kind in the eountrj', and
olfers invaluable training and
experience toward furthering a
career in the health field.
The program was i)lanned by
Miss Jane Bailej", Director of
Inservice Education and coor
dinator of the training pro
gram, and is designed to so
train assistants that they will be
qualified to assist the profes
sional nursing staff in provid
ing care and treatment for pa
tients. The title, “Patient Care
Assistant,” M’as chosen after
careful deliberation and in it
self is a description of the posi
tion.
The training program in
cludes a concentrated course of
instruction and on-the-job train
ing.
At the present time, the four
wards used in the clinical train
ing of the assistants are: Ran
kin, the Clinical Research Unit;
Long, a medical ward; Reed, a
surgical ward; and McDowell,
also a surgical ward. The
supervision of the assistants’
clinical experience is the re
sponsibility of Miss Eleanor
Kay, Head Xurse on Rankin;
Mrs. Inez James, Instructor in
the Postgraduate L.P.N. Pro^
well, Instructor in Inservice
Education.
Blue and white uniforms
with special sleeve insignias are
worn by the Patient Care As
sistants during their training
period and after graduation.
The trainee, however, nnist also
wear a ‘ ‘ Trainee ’ ’ badge under
neath the sleeve insignia. The
women wear blue pinafore
dresses and white blouses, and
the men wear white trousers
and blue shirts.
When they begin their
twelve-week course, the Patient
Care Assistant trainees are con
sidered employees of Duke Hos
pital and are paid a monthly
stipend of $180.00. Medical cen
ter employees whose present
salary is higher than $180.00
per month will be authorized to
work up to sixteen hours per
week on their present job to
supplement this training period
stipend.
If they satisfactorily com
plete the training program, the
assistants are assured full-time
employment at Duke Hospital
at a starting salary of $235.00
per month.
Qualified applicants within
the medical center will be ac
cepted for training, as well as
(}ualified applicants outside the
medical center. To be accepted
for the training program, appli
cants must meet the following
qualifications:
Be between 18 and 55 years
of age
High school graduate (if un
der 35 years of age)
Completion of two years of
LONG
(Continued from page 3)
the tumor was shown him. He
gave no evidence of suffering
during the operation, and as
sured me after it was over that
he did not experience the slight
est degree of pain from its per
formance. This operation was
performed on March 30, 1842.”
Dr. Long continued his studj^
of ether anesthesia and is re
ported to have used it “in at
least five operations before it
was so used by anyone else.”
Although he had made a
major discovery, Dr. Long’s
work with ether anesthesia w^as
not well known for several
years. In fact, it was not until
after a Boston dentist, William
Morton, made spectacular dem
onstrations of ether anesthesia
in 1846 that the Georgia sur
geon’s work became generally
known. And it became known
at that time when a heated con
troversy arose over who de-
sei’ved the laurels for the “dis
covery of anesthesia.” In 1849
Dr. Long reported his opera
tions in the Southern Medical
and Surgical Journal.
Finally, in 1877, Dr. J. Mar
ion Sims, who was convinced
of the merit of Dr. Long’s
claims, demanded recognition
of them by the medical profes
sion, Dr. Long especially desir
ing the endorsement of the
American Medical Association.
high school (if over 35 years of
age)
Satisfactory evaliiation in
present position
Recommendation of immedi
ate supervisor or department
head
Acceptable aptitude test
scores and interviews.
There were thirteen Patient
Care Assistants graduated from
the first training program,
which began in January and
ended April 1. The trainees,
twelve of whom were women,
ranged in age from 18 to 49
years.
The next training program
will begin in the late spring.
All persons interested in apply
ing for the program or obtain
ing further information about
it, should contact Mrs. Lee
Fritz in the Medical Center
Personnel Office as soon as pos
sible.
INTERCOM - 9
MARCH 1966