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Show REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR 3 The quarters of nurses frequently comprise only a bedroom, with the necessity of sharing bath and toilet facilities with other personnel. In other Federal services, nurses are usually given comfortable living quarters, frequently with sitting-room facilities, modern furniture, sanitary bath and toilet facilities for a group of two or three nurses, if not private bath for individual quarters. A modern tiled bathroom with sanitary plumbbing in the Indian Service is the exception rather than the rule. The activities of the Indian medical service are usually located at points remote from centers of population, where there is no oppor-tunity for the physician and nurse to associate with members of their own profession. As they can not attend meetings of medical or nursing character, their contacts with others of their kind are infrequent or do not occur at all. They are also precluded from joining in any agency sociability because of the demands of their work, and other recreational opportunities are limited. The Indian Service is understaffed with physicians and nurses as well as other personnel. A physician attached to an Indian Service hospital, as a rule, also has a reservation practice to carry out. The distances required in travel over unimproved roads and in all condi-tions of weather run up to many miles. The duties are arduous and call for whole-time service day or night. There are 66 hospitals in the Indian field service having only one graduate nurse each. She is responsible for all the hospital work, except medical, and for that also to a considerable extent when the doctor is absent on reservation work. She serves full duty during the daylight hours and is subject to call at any hour of the night. Even in the hospitals where two or three nurses are on duty the demands are so great that they have no regular hours off duty. In other Federal services there are definite hours of duty, upon the completion of which the physician and the nurse, except in emer-gency, have a definite period during which no calls are made upon them for professional services. These hours can be spent in rest, recreation, social activities, or used for professional advancement. It will be seen from the foregoing that the Indian medical service suffers in competition with other medical branches of the Govern-ment. Competent physicians and nurses who accept employment with the Indian field service are inclined to move along to some other service at the h t opportunity. To correct these conditions increased funds will be required. It will be necessq to modernize existing quarters and to construct additional quarters where they are now lacking. It will also be necessary to employ additional physicians and nurses. If we are to recruit competent and well-trained professional people for these posi-tions we must be able to compete in the market with others hiring |
