Milford chronicle., 1903-03-27

| physicians diagnosis. lie sees the pa
tient but once in twenty-four hours
I while she is by the inyalids bed prac
1 tically all the Time She can record tho
progress Of the disease by the flight OF
minutes. lie can only study it by the
morning and the evening call. The
value of the intelligent nurse is to be
found in what she sees, as well as in
what she is willing to do; her useful
ness is to be enhanced by what she
can tell, as well as by her willingness
% obey orders.
A FaIIacy Exploded.
at is high time" Florence Nightin-
gale once wrote, chat the fallacy
should be exploded that every woman
is able to become a competent nurse"
1t is high time that the standard of our
training schools for nurses should be
raised. that unworthy institutions
should be crushed out and that the
question of a trained nurses efficiency
should not be decided by her ability 10
buy a glngham dress and to read 4
thermometer 1t is high time that the
state legislatures should place laws up
on the statute books, so that the gradd-
ates of these different institutions
should be compelled to pass eXamina-
tions for licensure, as the doctor, the
pharmacist. the lawyer or the locomo-
tive engineer is compelled TO do. In
competent nursing has involved the
loss Of many life and caused many
an agoniZing pain. Some time ago
dear friend of mine, Il brother minis
ter, had his little tive-year-old son near
" burned to death. The only way to
save the child's life was by grating
human skin upon the little ones stom-
ach and chest. The father and the
child's two brothers volunteered to let
the doctor peel the skin from their bod
les to save the baby's life. After one
of the brothers-a noble lad about ten
years of age-had had the skin cut off
his arms and shoulders and chest the
surgeon turned to the nurse ana said,
Nurse. where did you get that knifeT
"Out of the alcohol" she answered.
did you then place the blade in sterile
water before you gave it to meT' No"
she answered; Il did not know you
wanted me TO do it." Then said the
surgeon, eve have cut all tie skin Off
from this boys body for nothing. Your
criminal ignorance is to blame for this
useless suffering You should have
known enough to place that knife in
sterile water. You profess to DE a
trained surgical nurse and graduate
of a nurses college"
Thus, you women about to become
trained nurses. it is of vital impor-
tance that you are intelligent and eff
cient. 1t is of vital Importance that
you should know the value of fresh air
and of proper dietetics. 1t is Of vital
importance that you obey the laws Of
cleanliness and not allow your patient
to become infected. The ignorance Of
incompetent nurses has sent many a
patient to the grave If you volunta-
rily enter your noble profession intel
lectually unqualified, you are commit
ting sin against the human race just
as surely as is the ignorant switchman
who throws open the wrong switch
and sends the passenger train crashing
into the freight train which has been
sidetracked. Il did not know" in the
sicllroom is about as criminal as Il did
not think" or Il forgot" In this age
of fine training schools for nurses it is |
just as much every nurses business to /
learn how to think right as it is to
learn how 10 do right.
--asa4.ez,s.
Cure Soul and Body.