300 Life and Health 



do not appear to be annoyed, discouraged, or despondent. 

 Do your best to keep up the courage of sick persons under 

 all circumstances. In all things keep in constant mind the 

 comfort and ease of the patient. 



Symptoms of the disease should never be discussed 

 before the patient, especially if he is thought to be asleep. 

 He may be only dozing, and any such talk would then be 

 gross cruelty. Loud talking must, of course, be avoided. 

 The directions of the physician must be rigidly carried out 

 in regard to visitors in the sick room. This is always a 

 matter of importance, for an hour or even a night of needed 

 sleep and rest may be lost from the untimely call of some 

 thoughtless visitor. 



467. Additional Hints in taking Care of the Sick. 

 Keep, so far as possible, the various bottles of medicine, 

 spoons, glasses, and so on, in an adjoining room, rather 

 than make a formidable array of them on a bureau or 

 table near the sick bed. A few simple things, as an 

 orange, a tiny bouquet, one or two playthings, or even a 

 pretty book, may well take their place. 



Sick people take great comfort in fresh linen and fresh 

 pillows. Two sets should be used, letting one be aired 

 while the other is in use. In making changes the fresh 

 linen should be thoroughly aired and warmed and everything 

 in readiness before the patient is disturbed. 



Feather beds are always objectionable in the sick room 

 for many and obvious reasons. The proper making of a 

 sick bed, with the forethought and skill demanded in cer- 

 tain diseases, is of great importance and an art learned 

 only after long experience. The same principle obtains in 

 all that concerns the lifting and the moving of the sick. 



468. Helps for the Sick Room. Do not deceive sick 

 people. Tell what is proper or safe to be told, promptly 



