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Duke University Medical Center, InterGom
maceutieal Association, and the North
Carolina Physical Therapy Associa
tion, and on a June 29, 1962, news
release by the State Hospitals Board
of Control. Here the estimated need
reached the appalling' figure of more
than 2,000 professional nurses and
almost 3,000 persons in other health
professions.
A third related tabulation summa
rized the schools in operation in the
114 reportiii" hospitals. Twelve types
of schools for para-medical and medi
cal personnel (excluding medical
schools) were listed with a capacity
for 2,959 students. Actual students,
however, totaled only 2,462 with 497
opportiinities for training goin'r be»-
giiiR-
This fact brings to the fore what
must be regarded as a prime factor
in the per.sonnel shortage: recruit
ment. While the number of persons
entering the health professions has
remained more or less static, demand
for their services has increased many-
fold. The increased demand can be
attributed to a number of factors. i\s
the life span lengthens, more people
need care. There are more hospitals
with more beds. Because various
forms of hospital insurance have be
come more common, more people use
hospitals. The rapid advances in
medical science in the last quarter
century have made medical practice
infinitely more complex and more spe
cialized. This complexity and spe
cialization has demanded an answer
ing specialization in allied fields. The
health professions have left the ‘ ‘ fam
ily doctor” era and emerged as “spe
cialists,” also. \Ye have the medical
technologist who works in the labora
tory, the medical technologist who
works with the patient, the eytologist,
the hyperbaric nurse, the pediatric
nurse, the supervisory nurse, the
X-ray technician, the occuDational
therapist, the registered dietitian, and
on and on. Each of these persons
must have in addition to sound basic
education some special training which
may add months or years to the time
spent in formal study.
How, then, do we go about meeting
these needs? At Duke Medical Cen
ter, for examj)le, there are openings
for 35 registered nurses on the gen
eral staff and a further need for su
pervisory personnel. At present there
are openings for three dietitians in
the Medical Center, and there is a
constant need for trained technicians
in both research and patient care
areas. To help fill such places, Duke
is reinstating a program in medical
technology leading to ASCP (Ameri
can Society of Clinical Pathologists)
registration as well as a baccalaureate
degree. Duke currently has recog
nized training programs in physical
therapy, dietetics. X-ray technology
and hospital administration. Tn co
operation with Lees-McRae College,
future medical secretaries intern for
one yeai' at Duke. The Practical
Xurse training j)rogram at Duke is
one of the largest and oldest in North
Carolina.
At Duke and at most hospitals ef
forts have been made to determine
what components of a job can be
done by untrained personnel, either
[)aid or volunteer. There is, however,
a law of diminishing returns in such
an answer; and it is essentially an
emergency solution. The only satis
factory effort must be a sustained
program of recruitment and training
which will gradually narrow the gap
between supply and demand.
At the federal government level
Mrs. Frances P. Bolton, Republican
Member of Congress from Ohio, in
troduced in Congress The Nurse
Training Act of 1964 which has as
one of its goals a 75 per cent increase
in annual output of graduate nurses
—from 30,000 to 53,000. It would do
this by construction grants for teach
ing facilities; traineeships, scholar-
shi{)s and loans; and various grants
designed to develop and improve
nursing education.
In the state of North Carolina The
North Carolina Medical (’are Com
mission has seven scholarship and
loan programs: (1) Medicine, Dentis
try, Pharmacy; (2) Nursing; (3)
Graduate Nurses; (4) Professional
Practice in State-Operated Mental
Facilities; (5) Nursing Instructors;
(6) Nurse Anesthetists; (7) Medical
Technicians. In general these pro
grams are aimed at alleviating specific
shortages within the state, and stipu
late that the recipient, on completion
of training, will work within the state
for some specified period.
Helpful as such programs of assist^^
ance are, they will fail of their pur^^
pose unless students can be recruited
for the health ])rofessions at the high
school level as they begin to formulate
career plans.
North Carolina is unicjue among the
50 states in having already estab
lished a state-wide recruiting organi
zation. Begun in western North
Carolina (District I of the N. C. Hos
pital Association), a recruiting and
counseling program aimed at high
school students was so successful that
within two years the number entering
health careers in the area had dou
bled. Its effectiveness demonstrated,
the program was picked up at the
state level and became Health Ca
reers for North Carolina. Structured
in six districts corresponding to the
six districts of the state Hospital As
sociation, it is a program of the North
Carolina Hospital Education aiul Re
search Foundation, Inc. The latter
is supported by 120 hospitals (includ
ing Duke Hospital), 26 hospital auxil
iaries (among them the Duke Hospital
Auxiliary), The Duke Endowment^^
R. -I. Reynolds Tobacco Company,
Smith Reynolds Foundation, Liggett
& Myers Tobacco Comj)any, North
(’arolina League for Nursing, Medical
Society of the State of North Caro
lina, North Carolina Mutual Life In
surance Company, Hospital Care
Association, and Hospital Saving As
sociation. Now entering its second
year, the venture was programmed
for three years and will undoubtedly
contiinie beyond that time. Each dis
trict has an office and a Health (Career
Coordinator. (Durham is in District
IV; its Coordinator, Mrs. E. C. Peele,
P. 0. Box 42, Odd Fellows Building,
Raleigh.) The Coordinators attenij)t
to work through the high schools and
high school counselors and to estab
lish such continuing projects as
“Health Career Clubs,” which will
guarantee sustained interest instead
of one-shot enthusiasm. It is still too
early to say what the program is ac
complishing state-wide.
North Carolina is receiving in-
(jniries from other states about Health^^
(Continued on page 6)