394 NURSING THE SICK. 



absolute. There is also an earnestness of manner which should, if 

 possible, be acquired or acquiesced in by the sick-nurse, as it 

 impresses the idea that she feels deeply interested in the case, a 

 circumstance which is always highly appreciated by the patient. 



It ought to be unnecessary to say that a nurse should be 

 honest, as no description of servant has so much in her power. But 

 the honesty of the nurse is not to be measured by her respect for 

 property; she must be above imposing on the physician, with 

 respect either to medicines or to diet. In her habits she should be 

 sober, active, orderly, and clean and neat in her person. 



It may appear a refinement to talk of the education of a nurse, 

 but there is not a greater difference between noon-day and midnight 

 than between an educated and an ignorant nurse. The former is 

 often an aid to the physician, not only in carrying his orders into 

 effect, but by observing and informing him or symptoms of great 

 importance which have occurred during his absence; whereas the 

 latter is a source of constant anxiety and too often assumes the 

 privilege of acting in direct contradiction to his orders, and accord- 

 ing to her own opinion. 



To prevent Infection In every case of infectious disease, 

 the attendants, even in the best ventilated rooms, should stand on 

 the windward, or on that side of the sick-bed from which the 

 current of air comes, as by neglect of this rule and by standing in 

 the current which has passed over the patient, the infectious exha- 

 lations are blown upon them in a direct stream from the body of 

 the patient. The attendants should never lean over the sick, nor 

 should they receive their breath. The health also of the nurses 

 bhould always be supported by nutritious and generous diet, but not 

 by brandy or any other ardent spirit. 



Light Patients should be able, without raising themselves or 

 turning in bed, to look out of the window from their beds. To see 

 the sky and sunlight at least, if you can show them nothing else, 

 is held to be, if not of the very first importance for recovery, at 

 least something very near it, and you should look to the position of 

 the beds of your sick, as one of the first essentials. Again, the 

 morning sun and the mid-day sun the hours when they are quite 

 certain not to be up are of more importance to them, if a choice 

 must be made, than the afternoon sun. But the best rule is, if 

 possible, to give them direct sunlight from dawn to sunset. 



A great difference between the bed-room and the sick-room is 

 that the sleeper has a very large supply of fresh air to draw upon 

 when he begins the night, if his room has been open all day as it 

 ought to be. 



Cleanliness Prof. Scudder of Cincinnati, makes the follow- 

 ing observations on this subject: "Compare the dirtiness of the 

 water in which you have washed when it is cold without soap, cold 

 with soap, hot with soap. You find the first has hardly removed 

 any dirt at all, the second a little more, the third a great deal more. 



