The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1900-02-16
THE BABY.


Out Of the sky as l came through.
What makes the light in them sparkle and
spin!
Some of the starry spikes let in
Where did you get that little tear?
found 1t waiting when l got here.
high?
"A soft hand stroked it as went by.
What makes your cheek like a warm white
Something better than anyone knows.
Whence that three-cornered smile of bliss:
Three angels gave me at once Il kiss.
Where cid You get that pearly ear?
God spoke and it came out to hear.
Where did YOU get those arms and hands
Love made itself into bonds and bands.
Feet. whence did you come, you darling
things?
From the same box as the cherubs wings
George Macdonald.
NEED OF PATIENCE IN THE
SICK ROOM.
The amateur nurse, she who is called
upon to care for an invalid and has had
no previous training Or experience, finds
herself often in a most trying position
with nerves unstrung. feelings hurt and
patience exhausted. She is certainly tC
be sympathized with, but if she will pull
herself together, reason the situation out,
and make up her mind to DO the best she
can and not get upset. she will find that
things move more smoothly, and not only
will it be Il relief to her own self. but to
the patient as well, who. in the super
sensitive condition caused by invalidisnl,
feels every mood of the caretaker.
OF course it is better. if one can, to
have trained nurse, who can do what
is needed and recognize the need without
having it called to her attention. but
there are many times and many circum-
stances when it is not possible TO obtain
a regular nurse, and then the family
must do the best it can.
There are some persons who seem to
know by instinct just what to do in sick
ness; they are never frightened. never
lose control of their nerves, and always
do the right thing. There are others who
are almost helpless under the same cir
cumStanceS, and it is these who need the
help which the emergency lectures give
and who have also to train their nerves
to stand steady under trying conditions.
al invalid requires. above everything
else. good stock of patience. Hcr-ve
best efforts will many times fail of ap-
probation, and she will be hurt and
grieved by the evident lack of considera-
ton of her feelings and her feet; but she
must stop and think that it is suffering
and pain that cause the irritation and
must be administered to at once, and not
because affection or feeling or natural
is leSsening. Self is promi-
nent now. and unpiraSantly SO, for it will
assert itself so pitilessly. She has only
to put herself in the place Of the sick one,
and think what it would be to her to be
held down by disease and rendered help
helpful and we'll. 1t IS pretty certain
that all her sensitivenesS would diSap
pear. and she would meet her inyalidS
every mood with cheerful patience and
loving words.
Not everybody knows by experience
how greatly tritleS are magniicd when
one Is Ill, nor what proportions inSigni-
hcant affairs assume. And unless one
does know by experience, there is no use
trying to understand: the only thing to do
is to recognize the condition and humor
it. Matters which in health are of the
very slightest consequence become eN
tremely important and assume abSur,ly
large proportions to the invalid. Occur
renceS which usually would be passed
,ver without a word, and hardly with Il
thought. will worry and fret an invalid
ndescriba bly,, while the slightest unex-
letteu act that IS III the least kindly and
will make her CORRESPONDENCE
grateful and happy.
The nurse who remembers some of her
)Wn experiences when WE'LL and multi
plies them anywhere from ten to fifty
lines, will have little understanding Of
he feelings of her patients. and she will
lave- new, courage to undertake some
hing fresh to please her. when some
hing else has failed to do so, and will
Gel for her a new pity and ii patience
hat will not let her resent any seeming
ack of appreciation.
The sick one does appreciate what is
icing done for her; there really isn't a
hing escapes her notice, even when she
seems to be the most begrudging of ex-
:itlng nature, nor refer to anything NOR
nee to anything annoying. # there is
my hitch III the household affairs. never
ct it come to the invalid's ears. It will
surely trouble her and retard recovery.
1t Is OF the utmost Importance that all
trouble and vexation be rigidly excluded
from the sick room, and that it be per
vaded ut all times by an atmosphere of
Sickness makes such children of us all.
friends how she broke down and cried
during an illness from which she had
recently recovered. just because the
nurse brought her some cruel in bowl
which she perfectly detested. 1t seemed
so foolish, and vet every one of the group
had some similar experience to relate, ali
going to prove that, after all, the grown
ups are. only big children when it comes
right down to things. And nothing
ma kes such very weak chiltlren-yes, and
such fractions Ones-as sickness When
the invalid is we'll again, she is ant to
recall her weakness with feeling of
shame, and to consider what a trial she
must have been to the nurse, or to the
one who was trying her level best TO
perform the duties Of nurse.
But even persons of naturally sweet
disposition cannot always control their
moods when i'll, and in caring for the sick
it is essential that every allowance be
made for all sorts of childish whims and
exactions. These arc thu
things that the nurse must make up her
mind to endure bravely and patiently.
-, All this has been emphasized, in order
that the amateur nurse may the better
what she calls "fussiness'
and ''crossness" on the part of her ma
tent. and with which she often loses pa
thence. She must remember that it is
part of the disease, and that the Door sur
ferer can't help it. She most certainly
would if she could. She must remember
what the patient is when we'll, and i'm
agine what the suffering must be, so COM
pletely to change her This is a very
good opportunity to follow out the injunc-
ton. Put yourself in his place." Imag-
inc, if you can. what it must be to lie
day after day held down by pain, made
a bsolutely helpless by suffering, losing all
the good times ont of life and sann,in o. III.