Making Good on Private Duty | Page 9

plenty of space, and when she is asleep, get up quietly and lie down on your lounge, which should be placed so that you can see her every movement.
Never let the patient think for a moment that you fear her disease; if she has diphtheria, do not tell her or the family that you have a delicate throat or that it is sore, and do not examine it by the help of a hand-glass where any one can see you. Do not go to such cases if you really fear them, but if you go, and have reason to feel that you have contracted the disease, tell the doctor as soon as you can, and if he thinks you ill, he will send you home. Never tell a patient you have a weak back or any weakness. Tell the doctor and he will see to it that you have rest or medicine, but do not let the patient know it. Never go about a sick room with a long face; it is enough for the sick one to have to be sick; the family sympathies are all enlisted for her. You are there to be a help and a comfort, not an added anxiety. Of course these remarks do not apply to any of you who are tired from a long, exhausting case. The family in such instances are ready and willing enough to let you rest. Keep your cheery manner: all higher considerations aside, it is money in your pocket to look cheerful. I have known one or two good, faithful, conscientious nurses who were dismissed from case after case, merely because they looked "so doleful." It may seem curious to place a commercial value on a smile, but in reality it amounts almost to that.
Be very careful to have your dresses fit you perfectly, and have them well laundered, especially do not have them too stiff. In this connection I cannot do better than to relate an incident that I heard of some time ago. A nurse went to care for a patient whose first nurse had been called to her own home, and she had not been in the room an hour before the patient called her and taking her hand said, "My dear, I can't tell you how thankful I feel that your dress is not too short in the waist. Miss----'s dress was frightful!" This was only a nervous woman's whim, but our success as nurses depends in many cases on just such whims, so it is well to be careful. When the patient is well enough for you to come to the family table at meal time, be sure to have on a spotless apron, and let no sickroom odors announce your presence. It is worth more to a nurse to have soft, dry, warm, sympathetic hands, than to have the prettiest face ever seen under a cap, so be careful of them; after using any antiseptics always have at hand glycerin and rose water, cold cream, or something soothing to use. Never put a cold or clammy hand on a patient. If it is cold and dry it can be laid on a hot, aching head, but never do so if it is the least damp. If the hand is always damp, pour on it a little alcohol, or eau de cologne, if that is preferred, or some toilet water, then put it on the patient's head, and it will be all right. A simple and very cold lotion is alcohol and water, about equal parts, and a piece of ice added. Hold your hand in this a moment and then gently comb the patient's hair (that which grows on top of the head) with the dripping fingers, taking care not to let any cold water-drops fall on the face. This is wandering somewhat from my subject, but I will let it stand and speak of one more thing that is good to remember. Never lay a warm hand on a patient's head, or a cold one on the body. If you have to rub your patient's body, and your hand is warm and damp, shake a little talcum powder into it, or use a little cold cream, cocoa butter, or lanolin, and the dampness will not be perceived. Alcohol may also be used, or bay rum.
Some nurses are much troubled by excessive perspiration, especially under the arms, any hard work making the dress quite wet. The ordinary shields are not very good, as they are not absorbent enough. A piece of flannel basted inside of the shield is a help, as that is absorbent. The auxiliary space might be bathed with a solution of alum; alcohol is good or alcohol with white-oak bark. Many preparations for this trouble are on the market,