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Helen Smith, born and raised in New Jersey, came to Las Vegas in 1956. She intended to visit relatives for a couple of weeks, but ended up staying. Her aunt convinced her to interview at Southern Nevada Memorial Hospital (SNMH) and Helen worked there for a year. She recalls three hospitals at that time: SNMH, the Eighth Street Hospital, and St. Rose de Lima in Henderson. Helen worked in the emergency room back east, so it was natural for her to start in the newly opened ER at Southern Nevada. She recalls treating many victims of accidents on the "Widow Maker", or route 95 to the Test Site, and compares the more advanced treatment and staffing back east with the Las Vegas small-town conditions. In talking about the medical advances she has seen over the years, Helen gives a detailed explanation of autoclaving, describes the duties of an ER nurse, and mentions the shifts that nurses used to work. She also discusses her own progression from relief nurse to day nurse to supervisor, and comparisons are made between hospital stays 30 and 40 years ago to hospital stays today. Helen refers to doctors and nurses that she worked with or knew of, talks about the types of things children were treated for, and shares several anecdotes and stories of patients and their treatment. She also expounds further on her work history at Sunrise Hospital, with her husband in their air-conditioning business, and as case manager for SIIS in workman's compensation. As Las Vegas grew in population, a process which started in the sixties, Helen notes that more specialists were attracted to local hospitals. She shares her own more recent experience as a patient and gives her opinion on the use of ERs for general care rather than true emergencies. Her closing remarks include descriptions of changes in nurses' responsibilities and comments on her husband's work with the Children's Shrine in telemedicine.

Oral history interview with Francis Oh Allen-Palenske conducted by Stefani Evans on June 30, 2022 for Reflections: the Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. In this interview, Francis describes her childhood growing up in Lousiana with a white father and Korean mother. She recalls the family relocating to Reno, Nevada in 1983 where Francis obtained her bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Nevada, Reno in 1999. She describes serving as a staffer in Washington, D.C. for Representative Jim Gibbons (R-NV) before moving to Las Vegas, Nevada. She discusses her Korean mother, maternal grandmother, and maternal aunts as strong, smart, business-minded women. Throughout the interview, she discusses Korean traditions, celebrations, clothing, and foods, as well as Korean cosmetics and views about skin color.

Newsletter from Congregation Ner Tamid, October 1991