The schools at Scott & White and King’s Daughters hospitals were forced to take economy measures during the Great Depression: King’s Daughters discontinued the monthly $6 allowance to trainees, and students were required to furnish their own textbooks and writing supplies. Neither school admitted students in 1932 because of the Great Depression.
Because of the nursing shortage, in 1933 Texas had one registered nurse for every 1,033 persons.
Changes in nursing education deeply affected cash-strapped hospitals. Despite the problems, King’s Daughters’ school in 1934 developed its own accredited curriculum. The National League of Nursing Education in 1937 recommended a fully equipped laboratory for the sciences, which King’s Daughters did not have. Nevertheless, by next year, the hospital did open a lab and made other improvements, such as adding much-needed library books.
Likewise, under the watchful eye of nursing supervisor Anna Laura Cole, R.N., Scott & White improved its curriculum according to state and national standards despite the tough financial times. The curriculum expanded, so that students’ classroom hours more than doubled. Added were courses in ethics, surgical nursing, pediatrics and orthopedics. Each additional classroom hour meant longer workdays for student nurses, who also worked patient floors as part of their practical training.
By the onset of World War II, both schools admitted three classes each year to compensate for the wartime shortage.
Despite the difficulties, both Scott & White and King’s Daughters hospitals schools of nursing managed to survive the Great Depression in reasonably good health.
pbenoit@temple-telegram.com
