Hospital Conditions 1947 in Duncan OK, USA

I came to Duncan a new bride in 1947 having just graduated from a large teaching hospital in Dallas. My husband secured a job with Halliburton. I was anxious to use my skills here in a hospital. I interviewed at Patterson, Weedn and Lindley Hospital for work. I found that there were very few Registered Nurses here except the ones doing Private Duty. Private Duty was twelve-hour shifts, 7AM to 7 PM. All major surgery patients had to have a Private Duty Nurse if they could afford one at $1.00 an hour. Many times a nurse even went home with the patient for a few days of recovery.

I wanted to work in the hospital so Dr Cheatwood hired me to work for him for $190. a month. My findings were astounding here. There was usually only one Registered Nurse per hospital and the rest were practical nurses with no formal training. All the hospitals had ramps rather than stairs to climb with gurneys and wheelchairs and they were more than two floors sometimes. The nursing staff was very limited as to what they could do. I had been used to taking charge of a complete unit for a shift because most of the Registered Nurses had gone into the service of World War II and had not returned. As students we were in charge by the time we were junior students. So I decided I would make the best of the situation.

I went to work at Patterson under Dr. James Patterson, Dr. Everett King, (who was due back from the Army soon) and Dr W.R. Cheatwood. I was in charge again.

There were no antibiotics to give, as Penicillin had just recently become available for use, we still used the Bunsen Burner to heat the water to dissolve the narcotics for pain. (Those of you of my generation will know what I mean). There were no diet cards or medicine cards to tell you whom medications went to. For Surgery, Dr. Ivy or Dr. McGreggor gave the anesthetic and Dr. King and Dr. Patterson would operate. An IV and a 50cc Syringe (that by the way was re-sterilized in the autoclave each time it was used) gave the patient a little Sodium Pentothal. Our instruments and pans for surgery were also sterilized in the autoclave after each case. We folded our own linens and made our own packs for Surgery with linen we designed and made ourselves. There were no cotton balls, dressings, or anything bought from a supplier. We had our own laundry, sometimes it was sent to a local laundry.

It really seemed primitive to me, but you know, people did well with their surgery and got well from heart attacks and I was again amazed. Each nurse was kind, loving and very attentive to the needs of the patients. I have some of the fondest memories of those days.

I remember one Sunday; I was in church and got a call to the hospital. A family had had a car accident down south on hiway 81 and been brought into the hospital. The lady was unconscious and was cut up pretty bad. The doctors sewed her up and she was unconscious for almost 6 weeks. The nurses washed her hair, tended to her every need, were kind to her family and did all the right things. She became a member of the family and she finally waked up and was all right. That is what we were in those days, a big happy family doing what we could for the community.

I actually ran into a lady recently that I helped deliver her baby back in 1947 and she never forgot who I was. It is rewarding to know that people really do care. I even had to have an appendectomy myself along in 1950 and did beautifully.

Duncan had three good hospitals, but the funny thing to me was, if you worked in one, you didn’t go from one to the other. You were actually a part of the one where you worked and it was not easy to combine forces.

As years past and we built Physicians and Surgeons Hospital with new beds, new bedpans out of stainless steel, had a Registered Nurse on each shift and many of the things hospitals needed in the olden days.

In 1953 the State Nurses Organization passed a new rule that all nurses had to be licensed. Our Local District #22 here of the Oklahoma Nurses Association agreed to sponsor a six-week class to the practical nurses in the area. It was required that a person had worked at least two years in the capacity and a doctor would have to sign the application. We had about eighty graduates of this class, which gave us our first Licenses Practical Nurses. A few of those beginners are still working in the area now.

We are proud of the progress of our city in the Nursing field. With the combination of the three hospitals and the advancement of nursing practice we have the best of the best in our community. I am proud to have been a part of this progress. Duncan Regional Hospital and its leadership have come many miles in the advancement of nursing and medicine. When I came in 1947 there were about seven doctors here. Now were have over 25 and more to come in the next year. The management of this hospital is looking for better ways to keep us in the market for the best medical care anywhere and we should support DRH management one hundred percent.

Freddy Sue Ellis, R.N.

(May 2000)