EDUCATION AND STRUCTURE OF AUXILIARY HEALTH PERSONNEL IN GENERAL HOSPITAL KARLOVAC FROM THE END OF WORLD WAR II TO THE 1960s

Abstract

Organized and formal education of nurses in Croatia began in 1921 with the establishment of the School for Nursing Assistants in Zagreb. From the establishment of the first health institutions in Karlovac until the end of the Second World War, there were extremely few educated personnel for patient care. Patient care was performed by apprentices and nuns who attended nursing schools organized as part of the hospitals they managed or who had a diploma from the School for Assistant Nurses in Zagreb. In the period after the Second World War, many nuns were forced to leave the service, which contributed to a large extent to the attrition of trained personnel, who were already scarce. The General Hospital in Karlovac solved this problem by opening schools for childcare workers, paramedics, hygienists, and dental assistants, who, until the opening of the School for Nurses in Karlovac in 1960, will make up the majority of the staff providing direct care to patients. The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the education of auxiliary staff and the structure of employees who were direct care providers, with a review of the working conditions in General Hospital Karlovac from the end of the Second World War to the 1960s. The educational programs found for childcare workers and paramedics and the listed persons who implemented these programs are shown.