The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1892-01-10
WORK OF A TRAINED NURSE
She Must Be Prepared at Any and All
Times to Minister to the Suffering.
There Ia Very Little Pleasure to Be Derived
from the Work-Incdents That Have Oc-
curred-One Nurse Gains Fortune.


outnumber men nurses by large majority
who are born nurses and whose lives begin
In the work as soon as they are able to cod
die DOLL The poor doll is an invalid of
the most pronounced ty De. and there is not
On i'll that flesh 10 heir TO to which
she is not sooner or later q victim,
from the time she begins her earth
ly career as the possession of the born
nurse. The life Of a trained nurse is said
90 be very short. Few survive the exact
ing lsbors for more than ten years, and
Jet there are always moro women ready
TO undertake the task. no matter how rap
idly death claims them. There are profess
sional women who nurse whole families.
and then all the sons and daughters
of those families. These are not reckoned
among the trained nurses, whose labors call
them to all sorts of cases, from
woman suffering from nervous prostration
TO strong man stricken with q fever.
whose delirium makes him more powerful,
and where physical strength and endur-
ance outweigh all other points of skill
combined; or, perhaps. little child may
be the patient. The trained nurse must be
equal to every emergency. The experiences
OF many nurse In pursuance of Der occu-
patton are more thrilling than many OF
the would-be sensational story-writers
have dared to imagine. So long az pa
tient 10 very i'll land very i'll he or she must
be before the trained nurse is caliedi there
must be constant watchfulness. but there
Is a very little quiet time when the nurse
can snatch few minutes in which to re-
euperate her strength. 1t is after the turn
ing point for better comes. when the pa
tient 10 too weak to do or care, and who
ner hnnra at lat
the nurse will dare TO lapse from her de-
nIanded vigilance.
INTERESTING ANECDOTES.
Nurses always have many interesting
anecdotes TO relate. A nurse was called
one night to attend O man who was alarm
ingly sick. His wife. mother and daughter
had waited on him for week.
and minutely followed every rule of
the physician. The man was very ex-
acting, and by the sixth day the
three women. unused to such irregular
hours and fatigue. coupled with anxiety in
regard to his condition. succumbed and
sent for nurse. Now it happened that
there had been such call for nurses that
none were TO be found. but word was left
for the first nurse VINO should come in TO 60
at once To the new case. The messenger
bad not been gone more than an hour till
one of the nurses returned. She had had q
typhoid-fe fever case. and after q ten days
Biege her patient had died. She had not
had her clothes OF. except to hurriedly
change, aud ten nights and days of watch
ing had drawn largely upon her strength.
She felt as If she could not possibly GO but
dared not refuse. so she took bath. which
freshened her. changed her attire through
ont, and with q piece of bread and but
Ter and q cup of strong coffee fortified
herself for another period of nursing. As
soon as the nurse entered the house the
women of the house threw off all RESPONSE
L. III g. IL
their positions nurses that they did not
even offer to relieve the nurse either that
night nor the next day. Her meals were
brought to the room. so she was constantly
confined On the second dsy she told the
wife that she would not be able to do any
thing at all unless she conld go out for
fresh air and have nap. The wife looked
surprised. as much as TO say. 1--WE pay you
ing ourselves" She did not give voice to
what her face said. however. and took
seat IN the room. The nurse left the
patient sleeping. The wife took up book.
nurse returned the wife was still Sleep
ing and the patient was not in
bed. Such fright, and such consterna-
ton. The house was searched and
finally the patient was found. He
bad rolled out of bed. and turned over
enough times 10 take him completely out of
sight, under the bed. The man was res
eued. and the trip did not do him any harm;
on the contrary be seemed to improve. but
the nurse made the resolve that she would
take care or the patient herself thereafter.
MUST BE VERSATILE.
A nurse must be more versatile than the
most accomplished lightning change artist
In the vaudeville. During the time of con-
yalescencs she must draw upon her very
best experience for entertainment. There
ts not a condition in Lire when person can
stand so much entertaining as when recov-
erlDg from illness. Every waking moment
must be filled with something diverting,
and, of course. it all depends upon the kind
OF patient, and the age. and the especial
condition of convalescence. If the illness
has been great and the mind ia left weak.
small talk and cheery stories, all short,
must be administered. Later, blood and
thunder tales for the boy fairy tales for
the little girl or an imaginary happening
In the interminable Elsie" books. must be
brought in for the fourteen-y ear-old. Light.
short stories from the magazines, which do
not require much effort of the mind. suit
almost any age: The nurse must know all
games OF cards. chess and back CANNON,
and be able TO readily acquire the intrica-
cies of any new game which the patient
may fancy. She must be able TO read mar
ket reports, foreign news and political
items lntelligently. and in all this pro-
gramme she must not show fatigue. Her
Judgment must be one OF her strong points
so that she will know just what is needed.
Wnen IL Is neeQed, now much and W hen it
should cease. The nurse must be able to
care for all wounds and know Just what to
do in case there should be some turning
point In the patients condition ana no ply
stefan near to whom she may apply.
nurse hns q typhoid fever patient. Sud-
denly. without any warning, q hemorrhage
sets in at In the morning 1t is impossi-
BILE to call q doctor. The nurse checks the
flow, and the patients life is saved, Such
is not plated case. So nursing is not
always o. owing q doctors orders-lt is
becomlns che physician and assuming the
entire responsibility. The privstIons of q
nurse are rarely counted. She devotes her,
self wholly and absolutely to her patients,
day and night, for as soon as the night
watchlngs cease. If the patient has q family.
the nurse is dismissed. While on duty
there are very few pleasures in store. Be-
tween cases. when rest il done, then they
make mp for lost time, and enjoy
themselves to the uttermost There
are many persons who think that
when they have paid money for
service nothing more is required.
nurse was called to attend very old
lady. who could not possibly recover. Moth
Ing neat was discovered in the room where
the OLD lady was, Notwithstanding the
house stood on q prominent corner of q
fashionable street. The carpet was old and
so full of dust that there were little rolls of
&c under the bed and on other articles in
the room. The bed linen was soiled and
the old lady complained that her bones hurt
her. The nurse felt of the mattress liz
was an old cotton-tOp affair. and from long
use the cotton had become matted. and the
thin frame OF the patient was not protected
from the Jumps thus made. The nnrsa be-