Lawrence democrat. (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.) 1884-1925, 1905-06-09
BY MARGARET E. sANGsTER.


When a girl decides that she will be-
come a trained nurse, she must put out
of her mind every thought Of romance.
There is nothing romantic about work
whlchis full to repletion of drudgery and
taxes every power of mind and body.
Only an intelligent woman, quick to com
prehend her duties, and willing to obey
literally the orders of a physician just
as a soldier on the battlefield obeys the
orders of his commander, is fit to be
nurse. Only a woman of very strong
physique, able to endure much loss OF
sleep, to bear patiently with the caprices
and unreason of the sick, and to go
through whatever the situation may de-
mand, without breaking down from
strain, is fit to be nurse.
The incidental needs of the sickroom
include much that is distasteful to a fas
tidious woman, and unless one can con-
| Quer all repulsion and enter heartily
into the light between life and death,
that goes on In the chamber of illness,
one should not undertake this particular
pro. assion'
Girls o4ten write to ME saying that
they are tireo IT teaching, or of house
keeping or of newspaper work, and they
think they will study nursing: Unless
they have positive vocation for it,
they would better select something else
To the girl who has the needed requi-
sites, nursing presents itself as an in
wiling field of labor. In these days
| physicians are reluctant to allow very
i'll persons to depend on the most eff
cient home-nursing. In private prac-
tice there are multiplied occasions for
the nurse, and the payment for her serv-
ices is generous, as indeed it ought to be,
| considering the risks she takes, the deli
cate nature of the work and its many re-
sponsibilities.
Hospitals absorb great many nurses,
and in short one who is capable and eff
ficient is seldom long in idleness.
| Nurses are not in excess of the de-
mand
|
The novitiate required of the nurse
extends in some hospitals over two
years, and in others over three. Most
of the large hospitals have training
schools attached to them, and the nurse
while in training is at no expense ex
cept for her clothing and laundry work.
She receives board and lodging, and a
small sum of money, either eight or ten
dollars every month. Her uniform is
not expensive; cotton dresses, white
aprons and caps are worn by the nurses
Simple as the uniform is, nothing pref
tier or more becoming has ever been
devised to set off a girls good looks.
1t is dainty and soundless, and gives an
air of real distinction.
A nurse is taught how to change the
position of patient, so that he may be
rested and yet not lose any particle Of
needed strength, She learns how to ad-
Just bandages, give baths, and make
people at ease when every nerve is raw.
A college professor who had his first
| uUSplJdl ChpCllcuCC Jul lug Oil llluCoo,
told me that it was to him a revelation
of comfort Hitherto he had been
nursed by his own womankind but low
ing as they were, they did not compare
/ with nurses who knew precisely what to
do and how to do it. He said: 1.-THE
| simple operation Of changing the sheets
J and making the bed was done for me
I by few magic passes" The nurse
} had learned how to have her clean sheets
r ready aired and warm, then turning the
/ patient over on one side away from her
5 she had folded the upper sheet tightly
g in fiat folds, close up to him. The clean
: sheet she laid on the side of the bed
: nearest her, half of it folded up against
/ the roll of soiled sheet; she next tucked
in the clean sheet on the side of the bed
where she was standing, then crossed
to the other side, gently pulled out the
soiled sheet from underneath her pa
tient, whom she had turned softly bach
g on the clean sheet. This all sounds very
g simple and easy, but it requires dexter
= ity and practice TO do it right,
i, Among other things the nurse Is
: taught how to prepare food for her pa
: tient how to make broths and por
y ridges, to cook eggs, and to prepare 6
= meal 50 that it may be relished by {
slender appetite. A surgical nurse
must have steady nerves, quick eye
" cool hand, and the power of concen
= trating everything in her on the cas-
=, in hand.
She prepares patient for an opera
ton, assists the doctor in any way he re
quires while it is going on, and on he
+ assidious care the life of patient afte
q critical operation, often depends. N,
d nurse is permitted to use the right o
ia private judgment when under physi
f clans orders. At every step she mus
4 consult her superior officer, and do tn
"a thing he tells her to do, whether she ap
d proves of 1t or not. She makes careful
" written reports to him of the hours tina
v pass while she has the patient in charg
q. in the intervals between his calls He
,e Office is no sinecure. She earns ever
dollar she receives.
1t Is of great importance that nurs
shall have grammar school course an
y shall know how to speak correctly an