The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-02-09
tor Tuon1en.


The sixth lecture In the very interest
ing course which is being given this win
ter for the benefit of JEFFERSON Maternity
Hospital, Philadelphia. was delivered by
Miss Marion E. Smith, chief nurse at the
Philadelphia Hospital. who spoke on "The
Ethics Of Nursing"
The subject is so broad" said Miss
Smith. that I undertake 1t with hesita-
ton. Courtesy under rudeuess, ignoring
insult, silence as to sfailings of others,
come into the field for ethics. but we
m take the subject as a practical one.
LET US try to see why there are so
many complaints about nurses when they
enter homes to care for the sick. Three
classes complain-physscian nurses and
patients. A number of difficulties would
vanish If there were q clear understand
ing of a nurses position, duties and needs.
No one knows at first who Will be a sue
cessful private nurse, the able hospital
nurse sometimes falling here entirely.
Florence Nightingale writes of the COM
plant common in private family that
nurses order about" the servants; the
fault belongs with the head of the house,
hold Where illness is not critical, give
a nurse six hours sleep daily: this is lit
tie enough, and yet sometimes impossible.
What wonder that the average career of
a nurse is but eight years. The mother
of a patient said to one of our graduates
who. worn out with sleepless nights,
asked to be allowed to retire. Sleep? Why,
I thought you were trained to do without
IT.
Responsibility for patients becomes a
part of the nurses very life; even in
sleep. she dreams of hemorrhage or heart
failure. waking with a start, fearing 1t is
reality. Physical call for rest must.
however, be obeyed. DIR. ]. william
White has paid an eloquent tribute to the
untiring and unremitting devotion of good
nurses.
IF the nurse cannot leave the sick
some one at hand to call her if needed.
Never leave a sick patient alone. If the
temperature is high delirium may occur.
Serve the nurses meals to her alone.
1t is not necessary for the family to be
thrown with her thrice daily; she has
not time to change her dress for. each
meal, and her uniform would be insult
able at the family table. She viii pre-
fer to be alone. But do not let her eat
IN the sick room; let her come down
when the household has finished. or serve
her meals on a tray In an adjoining
room and serve them hot. Never ask
her to go to the servants table. The
physicians dependence on the nurse en-
sures her the respect of the family. Let
her be in the fresh air half an hour
daily; she will work better for it.
If a nurse is a true one she will
gladly perform any service asked of her.
She should always disinfect the room
after contagion. and superintend the
~scrubbing which follows; she should also
dust the room of a surgical patient.
But she must not unfit her hands for
aursing; their surface must be smooth.
or they may harbor germs Of disease
which will be conveyed to the patient.
How much authority belongs to a
nurse? Sometimes she is too autocratic.
THE doctor should regulate this matter.
The relatives must be careful, however,
net to interfere with the orders given by
him to the nurse. Mothers often carry
c~ontagion to their sick children by fall
ure to observe this caution. And even
valuable property. If it becomes infected.
must be destroyed. Do not spoil the
nurse by over praise. Give a correct
report OF her work. so that if she is
inefficient, other people will not suffer as
you have. Expect much of the nurse.
and If she fails in little things, speak
to her frankly about them. A nurse
should be clean, orderly, punctual, OBJ
1iging and cheerful; honest in speech
and action; thorough in work, dignifed
and quiet, alert and watchfui, devoted to
duty.
B careful to get your nurse from
an established directory, for only in that
way can you be certain to secure an
excellent. reliable nurse. If you should
chance to have a garrulous nurse, refuse
to listen to her: this trait is to be de-
plored. Do not ask a nurse her opinion
of a physician, 1t is not her business
to speak or this subject. Do not object
to the uniform in the sick room, it has
many sanitary reasons to recommend it.
Always have a clear understanding as
to a nurses salary; arrange this at the
very beginning. Some nurses are worth
SIS a week, some $50: thesefare the very
best. A novice should not expect the
highest salary until she has proved her
self worthy of 1t. Do not expect a nurse
~ Ia % VI LIN VI il116SS equally We'll.
doctors are specialists, and nurses must
be so too. Do not think that because a
nurse can witness an operation, or stop
a hemorrhage, that she Is heartiess or
unwomanly. To quote Florence Nightin-
gale once more. Tt seems a
received idea among men and even
among women themselves that it re-
quires nothing but a disappointment in
love, the want of al object, a general
disgust or i~ncapacity for other things, to
turn a woman into a good nurse. This
reminds one of the parish where a
stupid old man was sent to be school
master because he was past keeping
the pigs Nursing Is an art > : It
requires as exclusive a devotion, as hard
a preparation, as any painters or sculp-
tors work. It is one of the fine arts
"A nurse has to cover a great deal OF
study in the training school; she is
drilled in anatomy and physiology, in
hygiene n sanitations. She studies
s-ymptoraatology in class and ward,
serves a term in the medical, nervous
surgical and obstetric wards. and is
taught the special nursing OF each. In
the isolation building she learns to care
for scarlet fever. diphtheria, small.pox.
measles. and allied diseases. Massage