Nursing

In reviewing the draft charchter rules, a thought occured
to me concernign nursing (I'm not one, but I hav several
friends who are).

1) the idea of "Nurse" being one "rank" on the Medical
profession list is somewhat absurd. Nursing is a specialized
profession which has a different set of tasks to perform.
While the sorts of structures that exist today might be
modified heavily (though other trav professions don't make this
assumption) it would seem that using the contemporary term
is confusing.

2) the medical cascade doesn't really contain any skills
appropriate ot a nurse. Trauma ops (?) is somewhat appropriate,
and a level of diagnosis, but not actual surgury. Unless,
"level-1" surgery perhaps is a first-aid/assistant/lower level
sort of thing.

Under MT, I had considered making a nurse profession, or
setting requirements to qualify for being a nurse. Medical-2
(being inbetween Medic and Doctor) was appropriate. The only thing
I though really came close to the rest of a Nurses skills was
Steward. I note that steward has been removed from the skill
list (correct?) Something like it should be on for nurses.

With the specialization/cascade of the medical skill, perhaps,
Pharmacology (not really chemistry or biology) should be an
additional skill. Perhaps a nurse would have it at level 2 (in
the old system, at least) and level 3 for a doctor (can prescribe
medicine). Nurses spend alot of time memorizing the effects of
various drugs when they are in school :-).

Nursing really should be it's own profession, or at least not the
same track as a doctor (perhaps nurses would be on the "enlisted"
track, and doctors on the "officer" track). BTW, how would
military medical personell be handled?

One could have
e1 trainee (physical therapist ?)
e2 Nurse
e3 Nurse who'se been to Grad school ( I forget what these are)
e4 Nurse Practicioner
01 Intern
02 Resident
03 Doctor
04 Surgeon
05 Cheif Surgeon

or something like that. I noted the rank structure seems to have
a desire to fill in every rank from 1-6. Why is this necessary/desirable?

Part of the real problem is that (on the nurse track as I've deliniated
it) there is not always an inexorible progression of rank. Many nurses
are quite content to be nurses and not advance, and they get their
priveledges by seniority, etc. A nurse only haveing "doctor" as her/his
end goal is silly though. I submit this partially also in the interest
of not discouraging women from traveller and role-playing by having
misrepresentations of a (still) female dominated profession.

paul duggan
[email removed]