9 



HINTS FOB THE SICK-ROOM. i 75 



ing her into hysterics.) A habit of moving quietly about the room, 

 and yet not treading " on tiptoe " and making every board in the 

 floor creak its loudest, is also very advisable ; and nothing can be 

 better by way of foot-gear than those soft, warm felt boots now 

 so common; they both keep the nurse's feet from becoming cold, 

 and make the least possible sound in moving about. Of course the 

 manner of speaking in a sick-room is all-important. Oh, the horror of 

 that dreadful " pig's whisper," which penetrates to the inmost recesses 

 of the room, and wakes the sleeping patient as surely as the banging 

 of a door ! 



I call to mind a case of fever a very bad case, in which sleep was 

 the one desideratum almost the only hope. The sufferer had fallen 

 iuto a doze the terrible throbbing of the arteries in the bared throat 

 seemed a little less rapid the fire that was burning life away raged 

 a little less fiercely but, some idiot peeped in through a half-closed 

 door, and with horrible contortions of the visage, intended to express 

 extreme caution, whispered in blood-chilling tones, " How is he 

 getting on now ? " 



In an instant the patient had raised himself in bed, the poor hot 

 hands were thrown out to ward off he knew not what the filmy eyes 

 stared wildly round the parched tongue faltered: "What is it? 

 Where is it ? " And for hours the weary head tossed from side to 

 side, and meaningless words fell on the ears of those who watched 

 and waited, and almost feared to hope. And yet it was meant in kind- 

 ness ! 



In some of the most severe diseases, such as cholera and diphtheria^ 

 the patient is often intensely conscious of all that is passing around 

 him. The wish to know everything that is said and done is extreme, 

 and nothing excites a patient so much as anything like whispering 

 and mystery. The natural voice, only so much lowered as to be per- 

 fectly distinct, is, then, the proper tone for a sick-room. If silence is 

 needed, let it be complete, and no whispering permitted either in the 

 room, or, worse still, outside the door. 



And now I must say a few words on a disagreeable but yet most 

 important subject. In any case where operative surgery is necessary, 

 it cannot be too strongly insisted upon that no one shall remain 

 present whose calmness and self-control are not a certainty. I re- 

 member well a delicate and difficult operation having to be performed 

 not a painful one, but where success mainly depended on the per- 

 fect stillness of the patient. Scarcely had the first slight incision 

 been made, when the room resounded with the moans and cries, not 

 of the sufferer, but the friend who had kindly come to support her 

 through the ordeal ! With many a sob, and choke, and gurgle, the 

 friend was assisted from the room, and then all went well enough ; 

 but great delay, and much increase of nervousness on the part of the 

 patient, naturally resulted. 



