European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - December 25, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 the stars and stripes monday tuesday december 25/26.1989 nurse has suggestions for staff shortages As a professional nurse employed in Germany i am compelled to respond to your recent article on the nursing shortage. Stateside hospitals have been experiencing recurring nursing shortages for the past three decades. Usa eur is finally feeling the Impact. When i arrived in 1987 with my military spouse i was unable to find employment due to a Federal hiring freeze. However i was told Why Don t you Volunteer As an in it will help you get a Job As a professional i was insulted by such a request. Why should i provide free labor thus Mak ing your institution and employees appear More of Arm Landers in i9ss, the year Ann Landers began writing this column she i wrote an essay for Christmas \ Day. Reader response was extremely rewarding and she has reprinted the column annually with topical Modi cations. This is Ann s Christmas Mes Sage for 1989. Dear readers today is Christmas. All about us we hear talk of peace on Earth Good will toward men. Yet we know in Many parts of the world there is no peace and in the hearts of Many men therein not enough Good will. Our youth insist that civilization is out of joint. They resent living in a world they never made. But what generation Ever made the world it had to live in we claim to be the most humanitarian most progressive nation in the world. But is it progressive or humane to spend More than a trillion dollars on bomb Sand missiles that can kill everyone in the world 14 times Over this is the age of the big rip off the uncommitted and the undressed. The blurring of the sexes. Some fear that we Are heading toward social decay going the Way of the romans and babylonians. Others applaud the new morality and stare Down with eyes like hypodermic Needles those people they consider Square. They said the sexual revolution was symptomatic of a maturing society that it would produce emotionally healthier adults if we let it All hang but it appears that we have overloaded the circuits and promoted guilt and anxiety in those who arc unable to handle so much Freedom and so Many choices. One of the most encouraging signs of the times is that our campuses arc once again becoming places of higher learning. The hostility and anger of the late 1960s arc gone. Students have settled Down to serious business. That is the Good news. The bad news is that an awesome amount of alcoholic being consumed on most College campuses. Marijuana and stronger mind altering substances arc common place in Junior and senior High schools. And the most depressing news of All is that we arc losing the War against drugs. Recently a 17-Ycar-old boy was shot. He had j17,000 in his pocket. Why go to school and get an education when you can get Rich dealing drugs this is the message Loo Many Young people Are getting. Suicide is the second most frequent cause of death among teen agers in this country. The first is Acci dents every 90 minutes a teen Ager in America will kill himself. More bad news is that venereal disease is epidemic and now Ali arc is aids for which there is no vaccine and no cure. Every Day we All must make decisions that deter mine the direction in which our lives will move. No one. No matter How Wise can make the right decision every time. To err is no disgrace. The disgrace lies in not learning from our mistakes not picking ourselves up. Dusting ourselves off and trying again. Because this is an advice column i spend the greater part of every Day with grief and trouble. Does it de press me no it does not. After 34 years i still find writing this column immensely rewarding. I realize that Many people who write to me Don t want advice. They just need some one who will listen to them. My column has provided me with an Opportunity to Shine a spotlight on ignorance and fear to Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. I am Well aware that mine is an enormous responsibility and 1 shall try never to let you Down. You my readers arc my friends. You invite me int your Homes and often we have breakfast together. I want to be there for you always. If you feel the need to unload or blow your top Register a Gripe or Tell me off i m As close As your Mailbox. God bless and have Thebes year Ever. Ann Landers Focient free labor is. Of course much easier than doing a schedule x or contacting congressional Liaison officials at the Pentagon. In the summer of 198s, i finally found a Job in Frankfurt. Since i had no previous experience with the Federal government my salary was pushed Back to what it was in i979. Furthermore As a family member hire benefits and employee Protection rights arc almost nonexistent. If the army is really concerned about the Impact of the nursing shortage on patient care it should take lessons from stateside hospitals. Better salaries educational benefits opportunities for advancement and better working conditions will attract More nurses. Please Don give us the poor excuse that Congress and pm determine wages. Other Federal institutions have successfully petitioned Congress for higher wage Scales in order to compete with private sector hospitals. Also army hospitals could Benefit by hiring nurse recruiters instead of dealing with the bureaucratic inefficiency of co. I am tired of having my College transcripts and nursing credentials re viewed by someone who docs not know the differ ence Between a Foley and a Swan Ganz Catheter. Nurses frequently Contact head nurses and Hospi Tal officials directly in order to inform them of their availability. I be heard army Hospital officials frequently complain about How Long it takes to obtain a referral list. They also complain that the referral lists contain names of nurses no longer available for employment. Unlike paperwork patient care cannot he pushed aside. Quality care cannot be maintained when head nurses have several vacancies. Unless the above issues arc addressed the army can expect to continue having difficulty recruiting and keeping experienced professional nurses. Name and location withheld editor s note col. Gall Cray nursing consultant he 7th medical come replies your letter outlines valid concerns. Senior level civilian and government officials share the grassroots awareness of the serious nature of the nursing Short age. In december 1987, the Secretary for health and human services established a commission on Nurs ing to study the Issue. The commission recommended a number of proposals designed to Correct problems which contribute to the shortage. One proposal As for the introduction of legislative action to improve compensation Levels for department of defense civil Ian registered nurses. Other initiatives included forming a task Force to explore the development of a classification Standard for All civilian rns identifying ways to improve civil Ian nurse career ladders and having dedicated nones for civilian in recruitment and retention. These initiatives have the potential to resolve major problems associated with the nursing shortage. The Federal hiring freeze in 1987 did not extend to nurses who would provide hands on patient care. Civilian rns who qualified for a vacant position were eligible to be considered for employment As registered nurse. It is True that a registered none Volunteer option is available through an established service organization within the military Community. Nurses who do not have the requisite experience to qualify for a salaried position Are made aware of that option. Volunteer rns Are a highly professional and valuable patient care resource. However volunteers Are never recruited As substitutes for salaried nursing staff. Within 7th medical come civilian rns Are employed in one of three categories As a department of the army civilian Daca is. Family member usum or local National in. A usum May be employed in either a Dac or in position. The pay scale cannot exceed the pay Grade listed for the Posi Tion on the manpower document. The civilian person Nel office determines the pay Grade for which a Poten tial employee is eligible. Professional nursing experience gained outside the Federal sector receives the same credit As that gained within the Federal system. You Are Correct in staling that Dac employees receive greater benefits than us fms. The us fms Are not covered by the general schedule regulations that apply to Days. The nursing shortage will not go away overnight. But the problems that generated the shortage Are get Ting the attention necessary to produce a permanent solution. Nurse laments Lack of work in his mos i really Don t know How to Start this letter without sounding like another whiner but i feel compelled to do so. I read with dismay in various newspapers about the shortage of nurses not Only in the military but civilian world As Well. Yet being a graduate of the 91c course practical nurse am not used As a nurse. I am in a so called Field unit doing everything outworking in my military occupational specially. T feel this is a big injustice to myself and to the Many other practical nurses in my unit. Some of us got big bonuses to become a nurse in a we were told shortage yet i Haven t done any nursing in almost 18 months. This is taxpayers Money being wasted. I also have to maintain a License. I m supposed to do1,000 hours of nursing a year to keep it. What i Don t understand is How rating leaves painting sweeping mopping More raking leaves Etc., has anything to do with my mos. It s certainly nothing to keep up my nursing skills which is what you need to do if you Are to be Good in that mos especially nursing. Also we never have training other than for the Basic skills every Soldier should know. Why does the army train people and then not allow them to use their skills i Don t think any patient in any Hospital would want an inexperienced nurse to perform a crucial task . Putting in an i.v., Etc. Also How am 1 to be rated As an no in memos when i m not doing it i guess the army did t need nurses or maybe they Don t consider 91 is know on my License it says practical nurse. I know i cannot or will not re enlist again As it seems already made that mistake. I still feel like a Good Soldier but my Lack of motivation is getting the Best of me. It even says on my contract that i have to maintain the skills to keep my mos. Just when. I wonder can i be All that i can be name and location withheld editor s note col. Gall Croy nursing consultant he 7th medical come replies army 91c practical nurses Are definitely considered to be nurses. Their presence in both Field and fixed medical facility units is essential to the successful accomplishment of the readiness and peacetime health care Mission in Usa eur fortunately the nursing shortage does not include practical nurses. There Are sufficient numbers of 91clin Europe to meet army requirements. Your concern Over maintaining your clinical skills i understandable. However there is a mechanism Wathla the army system to provide clinical refresher training for Soldier medics not assigned to medical treatment facilities. Paraprofessional nursing personnel in Fiel units can request temporary duty toy for medical proficiency training met in a fixed Hospital the training consists of both classroom instruction and hands on patient can. It is designed to provide Soldier with the Opportunity to renew their patient care skills. For further information on met Contact the 7lhmedical come senior clinical no at ets 370 2714/2705. Sergeant extends thanks for support i work at an no Academy. First of All i believe i selfless service Mission welfare of the soldiers and Devotion to duty. Which comes first becomes an ethical dilemma. Always do Mission then selfless service then welfare of the Soldier then i ensure i have Devotion to duty. Iwon t violate my ethics for anyone not even my spouse. As you have guessed by now 1 Don t work in the orderly room. I am a full time sergeant Day or night. Week Day or weekend. Support what is it and Why do we really need it?1 need it to accomplish my Mission otherwise i la die in combat i just want to wish everyone in the sup Portfield a merry Christmas and Happy new year. Thank you orderly room Stop feeling sorry for yourself and support your sup port. Please do your Job and take care of your soldiers. Staff sgt. Saenz Baum older West Germany
