The sun. [volume] (Morris, Stevens County, Minn.) 1882-1895, 1884-09-11
Home Nursing,
From Harper's Weekly.

Apart from the helpless tediousness of q
long illness, which alone may effect the patients
temper and cause varying degrees OF irritable
ity, thereis, with some diseases, an accompany
ing fretfulness or moodiness most difficult to
manage. So marked may this become that &C.
casionally the patient seems to have changed
his character, and the most aimable and un-
selfish in health may become the most i'm
patient and exacting in Illness The trained
nurse, accustomed to watch the effects of dis
ease, will understand and make allowance for
such perversion; but in private nursing the
patient friends often suffer acutely from man
ifestations of i'll temper, for which they could
only account on moral grounds.
There is such thing as spelling patient
even though he be past the age we generally
associate with the word ''spoiL" Illness often
brings back some of the peevshn9ss of child
hood, and you get such things to contend with
as positive refusal to take food or medicine,
or to comply with some order of the DOCTORS
AS regards the question of how far to give in
to patients whims and fancies, there is no bet
ter general rule than this, oppose his wishes
only on questions of right and wrong; and
when opposition becomes a necessity, use spe-
cial efforts to keep your self-control as to
avoid all expression of anger or lmpatlence.
How far you succeed in steering your patient
through such troubled waters will depend
greatly upon what measure you possess OF that
invaluable gift, sympathy: in other words, the
power Of putting yourself in another's place,
seeing from his point of view, and feeling with
him in his difficulties. A hard, cold, or even
a merely narrow nature cannot be trained into
a really good nurse; and, indeed, as broad
rule, lack of health and lack of sympathy are
the only two absolutely insurmountable OBJ
stacles in the way of those who desire to be
helpful in the sick room.
For observe that the qualities of self control,
cheerfulness and patience, though much easier
to some than to others, are within the reach of
all who earnestly strive to possess them, and,
moreover, each and all are capable of being
developed and cultivated to an almost unlim;t
ed extent Sympathy, on the other hand,
though capable of Development by its fortu-
nate possessor, is one of those natural gifts
which no amount of training can impart, and
which is no more within the reach of all than is
that good health without which attempts at
nursing can not but end in failure. Given
these two special gifts of health and sympathy
and you have the ''born nurse" needing, in
deed, much patient care and training, but one
who may confidently count upon success
Various other qualities and habits such as
humility, gentleness, firmness order and accu
racy, are useful in nursing. There are also
various gifts, as good hearing and sight, clev-
erness of fingers, and natural qulckness of ap-
prehension and of movement, which, though
very desirable are not absolutely indispensi-
bic, and on these it is not necessary to dwell.
Those who have them may rejoice, and those
who have not need not be disheartened, as they
can very we'll be dispensed with, provided
there is thorough, conscientious effort made to
acquire those more necessary things which are
to be had for the trying.