The Health bulletin [serial] - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

18 The Health Bulletin June, 1951tal Health funds. Miss Burnett is nowplanning the program of Training inMental Health for Public Health Nurses.In addition to the four week-end groups,a ten-day course is offered for nursesfrom the distant parts of the state. MissBurnett is also available on requestthrough the State Board of Health forstaff conferences in departments whereone of the nurses has been to Duke forthis experience.In the interest of recruitment of publichealth nui'ses, an apprenticeship planhas been started whereby nurses may begiven experience in field training centers.Three nurses were granted stipendson this program early in the year, twoof them were granted scholarships forthe Program of Study in Public HealthNursing in September. Five additionalnurses began apprenticeship experiencein the fall.HEALTH EDUCATION SECTION —Elizabeth Lovell, ChiefAs in years past, the keynote in publichealth education in 1950 was the recruitment,training and employment ofhealth educators on the local level. Atthe present time, twenty-six trainedpublic health educators are working inlocal health departments in North Carolina.Two of the health educators wereemployed in 1940 to develop a demonstrationin venereal disease investigationand general health education. These twohealth educators were employed withUSPHS funds, and in 1950 the localhealth departments assumed the responsibilityfor the salaries.Ruth Thompson was employed asSupervisor of Public Health Educationand loaned to Wake County Health Departmenton a part-time basis to developa local health education programand to supervise the local health educatorsin the eastern section of NorthCarolina. A public health educator,jointly employed by the State Board ofHealth and Appalachian State TeachersCollege, has continued her work as Professorof Health Education, AppalachianState Teachers College, as well as workingpart-time with the district healthdepartment in Boone.Two public health educators havecontinued working with the TuberculosisSection of the State Board of Health.Even though the time allotted for theeducational program preceding the massX-ray has been limited, these workershave done an excellent job of preparingcommunities for the mass surveys.In 1950 ten public health educatorswho received their training at the Universityof North Carolina and NorthCarolina College were employed in localhealth departments or colleges inNorth Carolina.The State Board of Health awardedfive training scholarships in September,1950. The first public health educationapprentice is now receiving her graduatetraining at North Carolina College.One apprenticeship trainee is receivinghis training at Wake County Health Departmentat the present time.The local health educators carried ona planned recruitment program throughand local communities andthe collegesscreened the applicants for scholarship.This year for the first time, a deliberateeffort was made by the local health educatorsto interview the references givenby each applicant. In addition, each applicantwas asked to submit an autobiographyas a part of the applicationforscholarship.In 1950 the local public health educatorshave assisted public health personnelin developing health educationprograms to meet the needs in localcommunities. These programs includesuch activities as organization of healthcouncils; foodhandlers and milkhandlerscourses; adult study courses; and planninghealth programs with civic clubs,home demonstration clubs, voluntaryhealth agencies and other groups.With the increased emphasis on theschool health program, the local healtheducators have continued emphasis onthe organization of school health councils;in-service-training programs forteachers, providing materials to schools;assisting in planning school health programs;and working with Parent-Tea-