344 CARE OF TUE SICK. 



allow yourself to settle back in an easy-chair. If watching all 

 night, take a good lunch in the middle of the night ; coffee 

 may help to keep you awake. It is not to be expected that 

 one who has worked hard all day out-doors will be likely to 

 keep awake all night. There should be day and night watch- 

 ers, and one would better not watch more than six hours at a 

 time. 



Do not allow the room to be swept with the ordinary 

 broom. The room should have rugs that can be removed and 

 shaken, and the floor wiped with a moist cloth. If the room 

 is carpeted, it may be swept with moist salt, tea-grounds or 

 coffee-gounds, sawdust, etc. Any dusting should be avoided ; 

 furniture may be wiped with a damp cloth. 



In the effort to be quiet many make a mistake ; do not 

 whisper, as it disturbs more than talking, and also has an air 

 of secrecy that rouses suspicion in the patient. In walking 

 on tiptoe, often floors and stairs are made to creak when they 

 would not in ordinary circumstances. It takes little reflection 

 to see that in walking on tiptoe one brings more weight than 

 usual on a smaller part of the floor, and is therefore more 

 likely to spring a board in the floor ; it is best (like the good 

 servant Baum, in Auerbach's novel On the Heights) to walk 

 flat-footed. Wear an easy pair of shoes ; an old pair are likely 

 to be quiet. Kaise the head with the hand, or bolster the 

 patient up, when giving drink ; or if the patient is very weak, 

 use a rubber tube, so that he will not have to lift the head. 

 The nurse should know how to prepare any food that may be 

 needed during the night. An oil-stove or gas-stove is very 

 desirable for cooking, or heating poultices, as an ordinary wood 

 or coal fire is likely to die down, making it impossible for the 

 nurse to do this work quickly, as is often necessary to take 

 advantage of a favorable time, as when the patient wakens, etc. 



Most lamps, when turned low, give off a disagreeable gas. 



