ABSTRACT
The caretakers are quite sharply set off from the professional rehab staff. Few have professional training. The unit supervisor and usually the daytime charge nurses on the male and female wards are registered nurses. The chasm between the professional rehab staff and the caretaker staff is intensified by the fact that the professionals frequently criticize the ward staff for not doing their job right. Those who carry out the menial tasks of patient care are often from a social background similar to that of the patients. Nearly all are Negro, Puerto Rican, or European immigrants of low social status. They sometimes form friendships with patients of like origin or characteristics. The improvement of a patient's ability to care for own needs is the central task of the entire rehab staff. Patients unable to feed themselves are segregated from the dining area and eat in the main portion of the day room away from the other patients.
