moving equipment into the new Eye Center this week in preparation for its opening
Tuesday. Dr. Joseph A. C. Wadsworth, chairman of ophthalmology, said the operating
rooms and all patient care and outpatient facilities will open Tuesday. There will be no
formal dedication ceremonies for the $3.7 million structure until November. The
department closed down its eye clinic in the Davison Building Thursday and will see
only emergency patients until the new facilities open next week. The three-story
structure contains a 43-bed inpatient unit and has been under construction for two
years. It is the first center of its kind in the Southeast north of Miami. (Photos by Dale
Moses)
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VOLUME 20, NUMBER 31
AUGUST 3,1973
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA
New Clean-up System Explained
Some changes in the medical center's
Environmental Services program
constitute the subject of the article below
by Richard L. Jackson, the university's
assistant vice president for personnel:
"A step forward is being taken in
Duke's continuing program to improve
patient care and enhance the
attractiveness and cleanliness of our
Medical Center.
"Environmental Services personnel
assigned to the cleaning and housekeeping
of patient's rooms and other areas will
become individually responsible for the
overall cleanliness and appearance of an
assigned number of rooms. This changers
designed to, benefit both hospital
personnel and patients.
"Under the best circumstances, the
cleaning and housekeeping of a patient's
room is disruptive to the patient because
of the dusting, emptying of trash,
cleaning and floor care that must be
done. The new procedure will reduce the
disturbance to the patient.
"Prior procedure involved two people
and two interruptions for the patient.
Under the old system, both a male and
female housekeepers were assigned to the
patient's room. After the female
housekeeper had finished with the room,
the male housekeeper would sanitize the
floor with an antibacterial solution. This
procedure was inefficient, and disruptive
to the patient.
"Under the new system, the female
housekeeper assigned to the patient's
room will be responsible for the complete
procedure including sanitizing the floor
using a special light-weight mop and
household-size bucket.
"Since the new procedure will require
additional time spent in each room, the
total number of rooms or responsible area
assigned to an individual will be reduced
considerably to offset that added time.
Total work load for most individuals will
be reduced slightly and no one will have
work load increased.
"With this new procedure, Duke
Hospital is following the examples of
other hospitals — including Watts and the
VA hospitals in Durham and N.C.
HOMEMADE FAREWELL
PARTY—Peqqs/ Hoffman, nursing
supervisor in the Emergency Department,
was all smiles recently when she was
given a surprise farewell party by her
friends on the ER, clerical and nursing
staffs. Many of the people who attended
the party brought homemade delicacies
from their kitchens, and as a going away
present, Ms. Hoffman received a set of
beautiful lemon glasses. A native of
Binghamton, N.Y., Ms. Hoffman will be
moving to' Charlotte where her husband is
working in advertising management for
the Charlotte Observer. According to Ms.
Hoffman, her work at Duke has been a
rewarding, educational and growing
experience and she hopes to continue her
nursing responsibilities in Charlotte.
(Photo by Dale Moses)
Memorial in Chapel Hill — which have
used this procedure for a number of
years.
"The new procedure apparently was
not clearly understood when it was
scheduled to be implemented several
weeks ago. At that time a number of
Environmental Services personnel left
their jobs because some believed the
female personnel would be required to
handle heavy mops, increase their work
load and perform floor scrubbing.
Since that time, employees involved
have been met with in groups for a
detailed explanation and discussion of the
new procedure. Points discussed have
included:
*"The task of applying a sanitizing
solution with a small mop is an essential
final step toward making a patient's room
as bacteria-free as possible, and by
assigning this duty to one rather than two
persons, the patient is not disturbed
needlessly.
*"Work loads will not be increased
because total areas of responsibility are
being reduced. The mop-applicator used
is a special light-weight one and not
burdensome.
*"Heavy work such as cleaning
corridors and stairwells, transporting
trash, wall washing, refinishing floors and
scrub cleaning will be as previously
assigned and will not be assigned to
personnel cleaning patient rooms.
"It is recognized that some personnel
object to using a mop. Some feel, in spite
of the mop's small size, that they may
not be physically able to do this work.
Others have strong feelings against using
mops for personal reasons.
"For those who feel unable or
unwilling to assume responsibility for
total room care under the new procedure,
Duke University will make every
attempt to find employment elsewhere in
the University. This will be done at the
employee's request through our
Russian Scientists
To Visit D.M.C.
A delegation of five Russian scientists
will visit the medical center next week to
look over the hyperbaric facilities of the
F. G. Hall Laboratory for Environmental
Research.
The Russian Hyperbaric Oxygen
Group will visit Duke next Wednesday
through Friday as part of a two-week
tour of hyperbaric facilities in the United
States.
The visit is being sponsored by the
Individual Scientist Exchange Program
operated by the U.S. Department of
Health, Education and Welfare and the
Russian Ministry of Health.
Host for the visiting scientists will be
Dr. Herbert A. Saltzman, director of the
Hyperbaric Unit.
The visitors will be Leonid A.
Bokeriya, chief of the Laboratory of
Hyperbaric Oxygen, Institute of
Cardiovascular Surgery, Bakulev
Academy of Medical Science, Moscow;
Dr. Ivan A. Sapov, professor. Department
of Military Medicine, Kirov Academy,
Leningrad; Rustam E. Utyamishev,
director of All-Union Scientific Research
and Experimental Institute of Medical
Technology, Ministry of Health, Moscow;
Vladimir V. Rodionov, senior scientific
associate in the Department of Hyperbaric
Oxygen, Ministry of Health, Moscow; and
Sergei N. Yefuni, head of the Department
of Hyperbaric Oxygen, Ministry of
Health, Moscow.
After visiting Duke, the delegation will
visit hyperbaric facilities in Livingston,
N.J.; Buffalo, N.Y.; and Philadelphia, Pa.
Employment Office.
"A number of other steps aimed at
making hospital areas cleaner and more
attractive are being developed. These
include painting, the installation of
drapes and, on a trial basis, the use of
carpeting in some patient's rooms and in
some of the more heavily traveled
corridors in the medical center.