Above: The caption for this photograph, taken sometime between 1935 and 1943, reads: "These NYA girls working in Flint Goodrich Hospital, New Orleans, La. perform the duties of apprentice nurses and are equipping themselves for regular training as graduate nurses. 52 youths are employed on this project." The National Youth Administration (NYA) was a New Deal program that employed millions of young adults. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.
Above: A WPA poster. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Stress
The coronavirus crisis is placing a great deal of stress on nurses (and also on other hospital employees). Nurses are being overworked; they're experiencing mental fatigue; wealthy investors--who are sitting at home in their pajamas, safe from the virus--are telling nurses to shut up if they want to keep their paychecks; and nurses are also facing a serious risk to their lives, thanks in large part to American voters who, for decades, gave tax breaks to the rich instead of adequately preparing for a public health emergency (for example, adequate supplies of personal protective equipment).
Does it really have to be like this?
Well, fortunately, we have the historical experience of the New Deal to tell us "no."
The New Deal's stress-relieving healthcare supplementation
During the New Deal, there were efforts to help nurses with their workloads, and also reduce stress on the overall health system. All across America, nurses and nurse's aids were hired and trained by New Deal work programs. This was welcome relief for a country dealing with economic depression, several dangerous diseases (tuberculosis, polio, smallpox, etc.) and, eventually, a world war.
In Alaska, for example, the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) hired two nurses and, "During an epidemic of smallpox at Juneau the visiting nurse assisted the Commissioner of Health in the vaccination campaign, and made over 1,900 vaccinations" (The Emergency Work Relief Program of the FERA: April 1, 1934-July 1, 1935, p. 81).
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) had many nurse and nursing-aid projects in the 1930s and 40s, for example:
"A program for the training of non professional personnel to serve in hospitals and other institutions was set up late in the fiscal year 1941 and was operated under the WPA service activities. This training was begun in response to requests from various Federal agencies, hospital superintendents, and health officials, and was a part of the national defense training program. It was designed to train WPA workers to serve as ward helpers, orderlies, and other assistants in the giving of elementary care to the sick, under professional supervision" (Final Report on the WPA Program, 1935-43, p. 93).
The National Youth Administration (NYA) also assisted the nation's healthcare system:
"One of the most successful types of projects from the standpoints of job training, community service, and health education was the hospital project. In 2 fiscal years alone, 1941 and 1942, NYA girls assisted in 1,733 hospitals" (Final Report of the National Youth Administration, Fiscal Years 1936-1943, p. 165).
Duties of the NYA hospital aids included:
"... cleaning, sweeping, dusting, care of bathrooms and drains, care of some equipment including linens and furniture, removing of stains, disposal of refuse and garbage, and community sanitation... girls mended and marked garments, and made linens and garments. They also did hand and machine laundry... care of kitchen equipment, preparation and cooking of foods, and serving of meals in nurses' dining rooms and on trays... assisting with the admission of patients; assorting and distributing mail; answering the telephone; making beds for convalescent patients; helping to feed children and adult patients; assisting crippled patients out of bed; passing wash basins, soap, towels; filling ice bags and hot water bottles (and checking them with nurses) transporting wheel chair and stretcher patients; arranging flowers; and stand-by assistance to nurses. If the hospital operated an out-patient department, the youth assisted with records, admissions, preparation for clinics, and care of supplies and equipment" (see previous hyperlink, p. 166).
Today, we could use similar FERA, WPA, and NYA programs to help relieve the stress that our nurses and other healthcare workers are going through.
Above: This photo was taken in Cinco, West Virginia, July 6, 1938. The caption reads, "A practical nurse who was taught in a WPA adult education class is shown as she attends a patient. Through instruction received she is able to earn her living through this profession." Photo courtesy of the National Archives.
Above: An NYA Nurses Aid Project in the Virgin Islands, ca. 1935-1943. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.
Above: A close-up of one of the NYA Nursing Aids. Note the "NYA" letters on her shirt pocket.
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