Summer Trainees
(Continued from page 1}
Pons, Meyer; and Rachel Shepard, Meyer.
UNIVERSITY OF IOWA, Iowa City, Ibwa -
Jane Lundvall, Minot and Janette Puentes,
Minot.
UNIVERSITY OF WEST VIRGINIA,
Morgantown, W. Va. — Mary Elise Kelley,
Hanes.
VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY, Nashville,
Tenn. — Holly Sutherland, Osier.
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA,
Charlotte — Susan Josey, Prevost; Janet
Niblock, Strudwick; Joan McCauley, Cabell B;
Edna Daniel, IRU; and Donna Weisner, NSU.
UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE, Newark,
Del. — Karen Latimer, 3 East.
This year's professional medication
■ assistants and their ward assignments are:
Rickey Bess, Cabell A; John Bischoff,
Cardiology; Vickie Blackburn, Cardiology;
Patricia Claytor, C.C.U.; Danny Clinard, Cabell
B; Debra Ellis, C.C.U.; Annette Simpson, Cabell
B; Thomas West, Cabell A; Rebecca Bost, Sims;
Esther Williams, Sims; Gregory West, Prevost;
and Danny Cress, McDowell.
Nancy Gilliam, Halsted; Diane January,
Reed; Rebecca Morelock, Cushing; William
Pickard, Cushing; Robert Ricks, Halsted;
Frances Whaley, McDowell; Peter Champion,
Minot; Joni Ingram, Hanes; Wing-Sang Lee,
Hanes; David Morrison, Osier; Diane Sinhel,
Osier; Jeffrey Smith, Minot; and Hunt Taylor,
Long.
Donald Thrower, Hanes; Lulu Williams,
■ Osier; Randolph Wright, Minot; Thomas
Shoffner, Long; Wylus James, Long; Bruce
Dunham, Strudwick; James Griffin, Strudwick;
Richard Mercer, Holmes; Keith McGinnis,
Holmes; Michael Teague, Welch; Carle Winge,
Welch; James Brannon, Meyer; and Gary
Dunham. 3 West.
Sidney Higbee, 3 East; Celeste Lindley,
Meyer; Ray McLemore, 3 East; Richard
McKinney, NSU; James Tyndall, NSU; and
Belinda Riddle, I.R.U.
Test Your Knowledge
Health Care Costs Quiz
Everyone knows that health care costs are
rising, but are you aware of just how
much these figures are increasing? Take
this quiz to test your knowledge.
1. In 1972, the average hospital bill* in
North Carolina was about:
(a) $350
(b) $450
(c)$515
2. The average length of stay in a North
Carolina hospital* today is about:
(a) 4.7 days
(b) 5.5 days
(c) 6.6 days
3. The number of people who go to the
hospital each year* is about:
(a) 1 out of 2
(b) 1 out of 5
|c) 1 out of 10
4. The average daily charge for care in
North Carolina hospitals in 1972,
including room and ancillary cost*,
was about:
(a) $57
(b) $67
(0 $77
5. The average semiprivate room
charge* in North Carolina hospitals is
about:
(a) $27
(b) $35
(c) $39
6. The biggest item of expense in
operating a hospital is:
(a) payroll
(b) equipment and supplies
(c) building maintenance
7. Payroll costs make up what
percentage of a hospital's operating
expense:
(a) 30-40 per cent
(b) 40-50 per cent
(c) 60-70 per cent
8. The number of employees needed to
operate the average 100-bed hospital
is about:
(a) 100
(b) 175
(c) 250
9. Over the past five years, average
hospital charges* in North Carolina
have risen about:
|a) 40 per cent
(b) 70 per cent
(c) 90 per cent
10. Over the past 10 years, average
doctors' fees nationally have risen
about:
(a) 55 per cent
(b) 70 per cent
(c) 80 per cent
11. How much does it cost to have a
baby in North Carolina (including
the hospital and doctor charges
related to maternity care)*:
(a) $650
(b) $800
(c) $900
*Based on BCBSNC experience
Answer
Key
1.
(c)
2.
(c)
3.
(b)
4.
(0
5.
(c)
6.
(a)
7.
(0
8.
(0
9.
lb)
10.
(a)
11.
10
June Safety Scoreboard
Total Employee Accidents 118
Total Number of Days Lost 90
Accidents Causing Lost Time 11
Total Number of Needle Punctures 16
Despite the strenous efforts of the medical center's safety committee to
eliminate them, needle puncture accidents are on the rise. Some people still forget
to dispose of used needles in the proper receptacles which have been placed in all
clinic and ward areas. These receptacles, which are clearly marked, are either glass
bottles, red cardboard boxes or special containers with clips for separating needles
from syringes. Since needles can carry infectious diseases such as hepatitis, they
should never be discarded in waste paper baskets which are emptied by
environmental services personnel.
CONFERENCE IN
THE ER-Dr. Farell
Collins, a resident in
medicine, and RN
Margaret Messick
discuss a patient in
the Emergency
Room. Mrs. Messick,
who has worked at
Duke continuously
since 1961 and
periodically before
that, has recently
been named nursing
supervisor of the
area. She is a
graduate of the
Nazareth School of
Nursing in
Lexington, Ky. and,
before coming to the
medical center,
served as staff nurse
at several hospitals
in Kentucky,
Tennessee and North
Carolina. She is the
mother of four
grown sons and she
said she enjoys ER
work because, "It's
unpred i etable."
(Photo by David
Williamson)
Duke Transplant Doctors
Seek Black Blood Donors
Black kidney transplant patients run a
greater risk than white patients of having
their new organs rejected by their bodies'
defense mechanisms, says a local
researcher who's trying to reduce that
risk.
Dr. Frances Ward, associate professor
of immunology at the medical center, has
found that one out of every four kidneys
transplanted into blacks at Duke and the
Veterans Administration Hospital here
during the past two years was later
rejected.
One out of five was lost in whites, she
said.
The doctor's figures show that 66
transplants have been done since July,
1972—45 going to whites and 21 to
blacks. Five of the blacks' new kidneys
were then overwhelmed when their
bodies refused to accept them. Nine of
the whites' organs suffered the same fate.
One reason the black rejection rate is
higher, said Dr. Ward, is that transplant
specialists don't know enough about
black people's blood.
To fill in the gaps, the professor and
her colleagues are recruiting black
Want To Be Liked?
We could get along with other people
better if we really wanted to—and tried.
All it takes is a willingness to be less
critical—to criticize others less
impulsively. That story of the wise oW
Indian who counseled his people they
shouldn't judge others until they walked
a mile in their moccasins applies to us,
too.
Before we jump to conclusions about
the things people say and do, we ought to
try to look at the situation the way we
probably wouk) look at it if we were in
their place. If we had their background,
their associates, their problems, their
doubts, their hurts, their thwarted
ambitions—wouW our behavior be nrKich
different?
The secret of getting along with others
lies in being fair—and as patient with
them as we wouki like them to be with
us-if our moccasins were switched. Not
only does a consistent attitude like this
make it easier for us to like other people,
it makes it easier for other people to like
usi
families willing to donate a small amount
of blood to their research. Each family
member would be asked to give less than
two tablespoons, Dr. Ward said.
"We'd prefer families with both
parents and two or more children," she
added. With samples from families, the
Duke-VA team can learn how blood
make-up is inherited, she explained.
The researchers will be looking for
blood "antigens"—substances that trigger
the body's normal defenses against
disease and infection.
"Everyone has his own antigens," Dr.
Ward said. These aren't considered
"foreign" by the body and don't cause
any trouble.
"But the body tends to reject anything
not identical to itself, including
transplanted organs," she noted.
So to keep a transplanted kidney
working, the body's defenses have to be
tricked. Dr. Ward explained. The best
way to do that is to use a kidney that has
the same antigens as the person receiving
it.
"If the patient and the kidney are well
matched," she said, "the chance of that
transplant being successful is very high."
it's only in one black patient out of
four, however, that all the important
antigens can ever be identified, she added.
For whites, it's three out of five.
"If we had more blood samples from
blacks, we'd be able to learn more about
these antigens," the professor said. "Then
we could make better matches and reduce
the proportion of rejections."
Dr. Ward stressed that only blood
samples-not kidneys—are needed for the
study. Interested donors can reach Or.
Ward at the Durham VA Hospital.
286-0411, Ext. 6546.
Project
(Continued from page 1)
women who are screened and thus nfiany
women are screened who do not normally
have an annual examination of the breast.
The examinations are performed at the
project facilities at 3040 Erwin Aoad,
Durham.