School of Nursing Scrapbook 1979

said. ,.,,_ nurses In su

poslU.S because keep them under DUDIB who graduate

from the Hahn School may not be able to change the way many hospitals view nurses today, Palmer said. 8ut they will change the quality of care these hospi– tali are providing patients - and slowly these changes will lead to a new apprecia– tion of the nurses them- 1181 . uraes are already in– volved tn areas that were Ul)heard of a half century •• such as pre- and post– OP.91'dve counseling, Palm- eaplained. Patients have anr,n to expect such care .i many hospitals so hospi– tall bave been forced to ace this service as a f1111ctton of its nursing team. '"11118 school is putting out educated nurses," Palmer said. "It's putting out IJ!lq)le who know what they lhOuld do in complex s,ttuaUo s that often Involve wbole f nilles. '1nlt d of talking to a patient 1bout the latest ~o Jr nurses will talk about utrltion - and they'll J lW that it's impos– sible tc 11' realistically to a patit bout good diet wlthoU, powing the indi– vidual' socio-economic and cultural baekground. "It all boils down to edu– cation. We're growing nurses who are profession– als" (New laws mandate that by 1985 a college degree will be required of registered ur . Currently, individu– als can become RNs with two years training. Both San Diego State University and Point Loma College offer 4-year degree pro– grams for RNs. The Hahn School at USO is the only local school which offers a 2-y ar bachelor degree pro– gram - and a master's degree program - for indl· viduals who already are registered nurses ) As more and more nurses become "educated profes– sionals," it's likely that nor– toriously low pay scales for nurses will rise, Palmer saJd "Hospitals have always undervalued the contribu– tion of the RN," she said. "I think that ls because they do not value the services she can provide." But as patients begin de– manding such services, hos– pitals will likely be forced

DR. IRENE PALMER - A new breed of nurses Into such recognition, she said. And with the help of what Palmer calls "a few qualified nurses in leader– ship positions,'• this recog– nition of the value of nurses should be reflected in pay.

History of Nursing' ' to "Current Issues and Social Trends Affecting Nursing." As a nurse who talked with her first patient nearly 35 years ago, Palmer has experienced a bit of the history of nursing. As dean of the Hahn Scbool, she's helping determine the is– sues and trends affecting nursing today and those that will affect them in the future .

"It's mostly low salaries that keep many qualified people from choosing a ca– reer in nursing," Palmer said, explaining that cur– rently in San Diego 7 per– cent of all jobs for regis– tered nurses are left un– filled - because there sim– ply aren't enough RNs (with or without degrees) to go around. Palmer. who earned a Ph.D in nursing from New York University, isn't con– tent to sit behind a desk as dean of the Hahn School of nursing. She teaches class– es ranging from the ''The