The Lexington intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1901-1949, 1905-05-06
THE PROFESSIONAL NURSE.
Qualities That Make a Good Atten.
dAnt-DiRerent Types and
Their Actions.

is often discussed to-day and will
arouse memories in the minds OF
many who have had personal ex
perienoe of the ways Of the prOfes
siOnal nurse, in homes darkened
with the terrors of sickness and
the shadow of death.
"Great technical knowledge"
says the journal in question,
will never provide a substitute
for a subtle sympathy with i'll
ness, and some stop should be put
to the unrestricted rush of i'll
suited girls to the nursing profess
sion. The lady who trains is
more to the manner born, for she
feels instinctively the little
shrinking points that a nurse
from a lower rank can never I'M
derstand and is sure to ignore,
moreover, as the idgets, pure and
simple"
While there is much truth in
these sentences there is also err
rOr. The subtle sympathy with
illness" is a quality that is not
confined to the 'lady" nurse. It's
a characteristic of the warm
hearted, undetermined woman
whether she be gentlewoman, OF
having her place in the humber
walks of life. There are many "to
the manner born" whose natures
are entirely devoid Of sympathy
of any kind, for good birth and
breeding do not always mean a no
BILE nature. There are rough.
iOud-voiced, grimy-handed costeI
girls who possess wOmanly quail
ties Of heart and head that many
a duchess lacksl SO it is plain
that the nurse should be chosen
for her sympathetic qualities.
lady or not.
All the hospital training in the
world will not give sympathy to
the unsympathetic, a soft touch
Of hand, or gentle tread, to the i'm.
patient mind, a soothing tone OF
voice to the irritable tempered.
The good, efficient hospital nurse
is-to be trite-born, not made
and if some examination for pro.
bationers could be invented that
would reveal the temperament
and the mental qualities of the
candidate, the way out of present
difficulties would be palmer.
l have known several types OF
hospital nurses personally and in
timately, and the memory Of
them, ! must confess, brings a lit
tie bewilderment to my mind, as
upsetting all sorts of theories
There was one of good birth an(
irreproachable breeding. She was
very charming to deal with, TO
she never made a false step. More
over, she was a capable nurse. Blu
Ia more cOld-hearted girl, OF III
ter aloofness of attitude, and Ell
tire disdain for any kind Of SCI
timent, ] never met. She nurse
her patient carefully back t
health, but the latter, a girl Of 2
once said ruefully, during a wear
convalescence: ~ I'm mortal
afraid of nurse. Mary (the hous.
maid might put on poultices MOI
clumsily, but l declare she does
more alphabetically"
Then there was another type
Nurse N. She was a rOs
checked, buxom young woman
excellent education, but lOwly o
igin. She openly confessed he
self incapable of feeling symp
thy, and said it was "unprOfe
sional to show your feelings" b
she was tremendously console
tious; and so, when-as she sa
she found a patient worryil
and fretting for the lack of e
pressed sympathy, she would {
liberately feign it, and would ia.
endless pains TO prove TO t
weary sufferer that she was "tru
sorry" The resultwas very sat
factory, for | never knew a G
more popular with her patier
than Nurse M!
One further type may prove
teresting to quote. That W
Nurse j.. Her reputation
nursing the most complicated a
terrible surgical eases in her h
pital had been really wOnd
a Hf -.