The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1884-03-08
Care OfSick Patients.

writer in the Boston Traveller gives som,
practical hints in ministering to the sick which
are worth needing. To be good nurse require.
rare combination of excellences in the same in.
Observation-Disclosures physical strength, kind
disposition with irmness, light hand and foot
courage greater than that which animates the
soldier on the battle field, and, above all, untiring
patience. Given these, and the nurse becomes
more than half the remedy not only inspiring
confidence the part of the patient, but of the
surgeon or physician also, who can rely that his
instructions will be carried out with implicit
obedience to the letter.
Such paragon, however, is rarely to be met
with, except as an emissary from one or another
of those admirable institutions where ladies are
trained under skiful management for this work !;
and in vast majority of cases an invalid is placed
in the hands of his immediate friends or relations,
who, with the best intentions, it must be con-
fessed, often prejudice his comfort and retard his
recovery by the very r-anxiety which is bred
of affection.
The writer, after penning the above, proceeds
to enumerate few small points which should be
avoided, as tending greatly to the discomfort of
the patient, and for the guidance of those who,
without previous experience, find themselves sud-
denly thrust into this most responsible position.
Quietude is great thing, of course, but real
quietude means the absence of all excitement, and
it must be remembered that anything out of the
common will tend to excite the mind of a sufferer
Do not, therefore, walk tip toe, for this, in ad
aisiv. ~i..s,v.-s:e-. Of ths gait, in
variably causes a certain amount of creaking.-
Speak in low tones, but don't whisper. whisper
will often awake a sleeper who would not be dis
turbed by an ordinary conversation; and never
say "hushw Let your clothes and foot covering
be of as noiseess and unobtrusive a character as
possible, and instead of gliding and lettering
about like rickety ghost, do net hesitate to
walk. If you have occasion to say anything in
the room, say it SO that the patient can hear it if
he wishes, and do not let him be aware of your
cOnspirng privately with the others, especially at
the door.
That door has much to answer for. If it be |
visible from the bed, people open it cautiously,
put their heads in, and slowly withdraw again.
If, as is more frequently the case, it is screened
by the bed curtains, mysterious openings and /
shuttings are heard, unattended with any ap-
parent ingress egress, and soto colloquies
going on outside. When you enter, do so honestly
and at once. Do not spend five minutes in turn
ing the handle, like housebreaker, thereby
producing series of irritating little clicks, finally
terminating in big snap, with which the door
flies open. If the latch be at all rusty, handle
that is slowly wound back in this way will often
stick, and either require to be ratified back in
position, or, ifeft as it's may start back suddenly
after time, of its own accord, with report like
a pistol shot.
While talking to him it is better to sit by the
side of the bed and as the pillow spossible,
so that you may converse easily, while your face
and body are turned in the same direction as his.
By this means you can make all necessary OBJ
servation of his features without enforcing the
rest of his eyes to your own, which is so en-
barrassing and disagreeable to one lying in bed,
and is almost unavoidable when facing him.
Keep him in as comfortable position as possible,
by all means, but don't be too demonstrative in
smoothing the pillows and little Offices of that
sort. Fidgety attentions will worry him and do
him more harm than downright neglect.