My Career as a Hospital Nurse: The Downside of the Hospital Industry

By Lorraine Hauser

Hospital administration needs to be more involved solving the problem of retention, for the returning older nurse as well as for the newly hired registered nurse. There should be some sort of assessment for the newly hired registered nurse to pass to administration, detailing her satisfaction with her orientation, the attitude shown by the person who oriented her, how safe she feels performing her duties after orientation, getting answers to her questions answered in a way that is encouraging and not demeaning. Registered nurses who are responsible for orientation should be held accountable after a certain number of negative assessments.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 3, 2009
• ISBN: 9781462836079

Lorraine Hauser

Author has visited Zurich, Switzerland and viewed the beauty of the Swiss Alps; The house of the Virgin Mary and the Basilica of St. John in Ephesus, Turkey; Florence, Italy resonated with the historical impact of it’s contribution to the cultural and political development of Europe; Sorrento, Italy with such attractions as the Duomo, the Basilica of San Antonio and the baroque church of St. Francis; Mykonos, Greece, a labyrinth of winding streets which were designed to confuse pirates and invaders, and the Taj Mahal in Agra, India, one of the seven wonders of the world. Author resides in Atlanta.

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Copyright © 2009 by Lorraine Hauser, RN CLNC.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

The names of the characters have been changed to protect their privacy as well as of the author’s.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

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Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

References

This book is dedicated to my mother whose love, support, and encouragement motivated me to obtain my RN degree. My mother has been my sole support system throughout my life. She was a true visionary. Without her utmost display of confidence in me, this book could not have been written.

My RN degree has been an investment in my future, and continues to pay huge dividends throughout my retirement.

Chapter 1

When I was twelve years old I visited my father, who was hospitalized at Saint Philip hospital. He was operated on for an abdominal hernia, caused by a defect in the wall of his abdominal cavity. Saint Philip was the segregated section of the Medical College of Virginia for the care of colored people. That is what we were called during the period of segregation in Virginia.

I was in awe of the nurses rushing around performing their duties, wearing spotless white uniforms. It was then that I knew that I wanted to become a nurse.

It was not that I was unfamiliar with nurses. When I was in elementary school, our school nurse wore the same cap I was to wear decades later. She mainly treated kids who had ringworm infestation. No one in our neighborhood was ever affected with this chronic and contagious skin disease.

There were also two sisters in our neighborhood who were licensed practical nurses. Daily, they would pass our house walking to work. Very few people I knew had automobiles in the late 40s and 50s.

After graduating from Maggie L. Walker in June of 1956, I attended Virginia Union University on scholarship for one year. It was obvious to me that studying at a liberal arts college, would not get me into the nursing program at the Medical College of Virginia’s Saint Philip School of nursing. During the era of racial segregation, the Medical College of Virginia established the Saint Philip School of nursing for African American women. It operated from 1920 until September 1962 when the last class graduated. I graduated in September of 1961.

This time around I had no scholarship to rely on. Therefore, I worked as a dietary maid at the Medical College of Virginia for the entire summer after leaving Virginia Union University. It was at this time that I applied for admission to the nursing program at Saint Philip School of Nursing. I knew that my parents would not be in a position to pay my tuition. Therefore, it was up to me to finance my nursing education.

My mother was a staunch believer in getting an education. She often told me that an education was something that no one could take away from me. This was her message to all four of her children. My grandparents on my mother’s side of the family also believed in education as a means of gaining independence. Even though they were farmers, living in South Carolina, they managed to send my uncle Fred, their youngest son, to North Carolina State. My mother was sent away to boarding school, to study to become a teacher. At that time during the 1920s, you could qualify to become a teacher after completing the 10th grade. Unfortunately the year my mother was supposed to complete her studies, the program was terminated. I believe that was why she so badly wanted me to succeed.

While working as a dietary maid under the supervision of Mrs. Nan Foster, the Dietary Aide, I had the opportunity of seeing the white side of the Medical College of Virginia. It was my responsibility to pass the breakfast, lunch and dinner trays, to patients on the unit I worked on daily. I also collected the trays after meals, scrapped them clean of all food, and placed them in the dietary department’s institutional dishwasher. Afterwards I would tidy up the diet kitchen and prepare for the next meal. Mrs. Foster’s responsibility was to place the correct diet slips on each tray so that each patient would receive the correct diet. Food sent from the main kitchen would then be placed on the appropriate tray by Mrs. Foster.

At Saint Philip Hospital, all of the doctors caring for patients were white and the nurses were all African American. Here at the Medical College of Virginia, the entire staff was white due to segregation.

One day while talking to Annie, another Dietary Maid, I found out that she had worked as a dietary maid for ten years, and was only making thirty-three dollars per pay period. To me that did not seem like much after ten years of service. That was a long way from gaining the independence my mother always talked about.

Several weeks after sending in my application for admittance to Saint Philip School of Nursing at the Medical College of Virginia, I received a letter of acceptance along with a booklet outlining the entire curriculum. This was a three year diploma program. All of our studies would take place on the campus in Richmond. For our psychiatric internship we would travel to New York for training at Brookside Psychiatric Hospital in Brooklyn, New York. All students were to remain on campus during the week however we were allowed to go home on the weekends. We had a twelve o’clock midnight curfew. This curfew applied to the married students as well. Emphasis was placed on maintaining good grades or your matriculation would be terminated.

Chapter 2

With my mother’s blessings, I packed my trunk and headed for my new educational experience. I had no doubt that I could and would be a success in the field of nursing. Arriving at the dormitory in which we were to be housed, were several other young women with all of their belongings. Most of them arrived by themselves. I found out later that all of us were from the State of Virginia except for Veronica, who hailed from the State of New Jersey.

After everyone had placed their belongings in their assigned rooms, we were told by the House Mother, Mrs. Phelps, whom we met upon entering the dormitory, that we were to meet with the Dean of Nursing, Mrs. Channing that evening at 6:00 PM. In the mean time we all introduced ourselves to one another. There were a total of sixteen students in our class. Marleen was the oldest. She was quite tall and angular at five feet nine inches tall, with a sallow complexion and a hawk like nose. Marleen proved to be the smartest in our class, and she was to become the spokesperson when there was a problem that had to be addressed by the Dean of Nursing, Mrs. Channing.

Then there was Lydia. No one would have ever guessed that Lydia had ever had polio as a child. She certainly showed no residual effects. At five feet five inches tall, with a glowing complexion, perfect teeth and naturally curly hair, she was easily the most attractive girl in our class.

Debra and Lydia were cousins. Debra had none of Lydia’s spontaneity or family resemblance. Nor was she as outspoken as Lydia. At nineteen, these two cousins were the youngest in our class. Debra had issues with her skin and had to be extra careful with what she ate. Eating the wrong thing would cause her to break out in hives, accompanied with a great deal of discomfort.

Lauren, like quite a few of our classmates was entering the nursing profession in the hopes of meeting her future husband. My purpose in entering the nursing profession was to gain independence and not be dependent on a future husband. After all, my mother warned me, there was no guarantee that the marriage would last. Listening to my mother has served me well throughout my life.

At 6 PM sharp, we were called to the waiting room for a welcome by Dean Channing. She was very pleasant and soft spoken. We were again reminded of the dormitory rules. Anyone returning after midnight would not be allowed entrance. The night House Mother, Mrs. Jackson, would be at her post until midnight. After which time the door would be locked for the night. Anyone breaking this rule would be expelled the following day.

We were each assigned a big sister by Dean Channing. A big sister