Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-12-07

mucous; one small clot OF blood; size, end
of little finger. At 430 patient was sleep
ing walked gasping for breath and in pro-
fuse perspiration; lost consciousness for
minute or two; gave hypo OF whisky; pulse.
was imperceptible for short time; came up
after whisky, but was slow, irregular and
weak. This was followed by great excite,
ment and restlessness; saw all kinds of
things; general muscular twitching; had
but was very restless and excited; tried
several times after each attack to get out
of bed very thirsty; is more quiet and
sleeping some; pulse slow; good tension;
temperature at am, ninety-nine degrees;
pulse, ninety-six degrees; drainage not un-
usual amount.
All-Night Work.
did one nurse handle all that alone" I
asked Miss Forbes when I had finished this
report. ''on single patient?"
Eyes. and that was not ALL"
and does a night nurse work all night
long?"
From in the evening until In the
| morning." Miss Forbes answered, adding,
lit is high crime to be caught mapping"
We went from one to the other Of every.
one of the thirty-five patients in that de-
partment of the hospital under Miss
Forbes supervision. At each bedside, Miss
Forbes. book and pencil in hand. made a
note of the doctors directions. and, in
turn, instructed the attendant nurse as
each case demanded. Three operations
were to be performed in the afternoon.
The business-like term Miss Forbes had
for this incident of hospital experience was
amusing
You are to be done today" was the way
she hit off the little affair of a surgeons
knife and human flesh, and 1t seemed to,
be ated, for the patient replied, "Yes
MN: l don't care, so long as 1 wake up
after it's over
In che of the private rooms was woman
he wit
tory to being operated on a few hours later.
yet with 70 apparent apprehension Of be-
ing done" the only distress she expressed
was because her hair was not curied for
company
WI en- the morning round was completed
Miss Forbes asked me to sit in the room
with patieh. who had been operated on
the day before, while the nurse in charge
went down stairs to do duty in the dis
pcnsary. The poor woman, Srcaning with
every breath. and constantly declaring that
to get her drink. l few out into the cor
r.dor to ask Miss Forbes where water was
to be had. and learned that the strength
of a nurse is occasionally to sit still.
The patient was not allowed to drink
water. and as sat there stolid in the face
of her entreaties it seemed to me that the
heroism which faces guns of war is Of
snail consequence compared with that
which battles human suffering.
In the ObstetricaI Ward.
then I went with Miss Little. head nurse
Of the maternity section OF the hospital, to
learn how little theory and how much
practice are required of a nurse in OBJ
stetrical work. At the outset / learned a
great deal from a nurse who had gradu-
ated from one of the leading training
schools for nurses in the east, which does
rot however, provide practice in obstetrics.
This girl. therefore, In spite of her diploma
and r0 ryb toll in, wal
diseases, felt that her training was in
complete and is finishing 1t in the
obstetrical wards of Columbia.
In this part of the hospital there were
tWenty-three patients, not counting the
baby in the incubator. This baby In the
incubator would not be entitled to being
counted as being on earth until two
months hence. 1t was about a foot long.
as nearly as I can judge of the size of
human beings that are not sufficiently IN
existence to get into census, and 1t lay
Under the glass of the incubator apparently
Lot caring whether 1t was or was not alive
The incubator is a square box, with the
same convenience on top for viewing its
prehistoric contents that a coffin has for
inspecting the remains Of a life history. 1t
is heated by hot water two degrees hotter
than the temperature required for hatch
ing chickens. While l stood by the nurse
lifted out the expet tation of human body,
and, with a glass dropper, administered it's
ratiors. which consist of a few drops of
attenuated milk every two hours.
There were twelve babies in the hospital.
all black and all less than two weeks old.
They lay in rows. like peas In pods. in three
large cribs. and these pulpy. pulling pieces
of humanity are the especial charge of the
probationer in the maternity wards.
Miss Little asked me If l thought l could
wash and dress one without studying how
in books.
Beginners always handle a new baby as
If they expected 1t TO break in their hands,"
said Miss Little. II have known them more
than once to be afraid of touching the
homeless little thing as to let it roll off their
laps to the floor. But it is wonderful what
practice does. 1t is not long before nurse
is able to wash and dress baby in twelve
minutes. We sew on all their clothes. thus
doing away with the hidden pins that give
POOR babies so much misery. Here is the
babies bath room"
1 wish you could see it. Somehow all the
provisions Of a hospital seem to reduce
everything about humanity. very human
life itself, to an equation in a scientific pro-
cess. Three hundred babies year are born
at Columbia Hospital on an average. Here
In this bath room, not babies, but physiolog
ical conditions. were provided for. There
we're five stationary bath tubs all in a row,
each about the size of Thanksgiving tur-
key roasting pan. Each baby has its own
towels, soap and face powder. and each has
its chart. in which, as a physiological con-
dition. its history every day Is infinitely re-
corded. 1 went through the different wards
where the mothers lay in various stages of
convalescence. The quantity Of the work
required Oh nurses III thlS department OF the
hospital further grounded me in the belief
that trained nurses wear a cap, inspired by
humility, to conceal their halo.
Wanted a Skeleton.
At half-past II I sat down to dinner
with the nurses. I spoke Of the excellence
of the dinner. and one nurse said yes, they
have everything they need at Columbia,
but some new books and a nice skeleton.
instinctively shuddered at the sang
froid with which pretty girl thus dis
closed that she finds something nice about
a skeleton, and it seemed more human.
more feminine. when another girl replied:
mo, not skeleton. we want a mankin"
You mean one that wears foot ball hair
and a chrysanthemum in his buttonhole"'
1 asked.
mo. no." the girl answered. and Informed
me that the coveted thing is a sort of
modern improvement on a skeleton-an
imitation man that you can take to pieces
and which is worth a great deal more than
many of the genuine articles costing as
high as $500
When 1 declined strip that was passed
to me at the table, 1 was told by all hands
in chorus that I would never make a
nurse unless I learned to like strip, rice