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Cheerfulness and Quiet

In the sick-room there should be no unnecessary noise, and, above all, no confusion. Neither should there be "solemn silence." Some cheerful conversation is often better than medicine. In any event, never allow a friend with long-drawn, solemn face, or a procession of them, to walk in, and, with a shake of the head, after gazing, to walk out again. Because a person is ill-even dangerously so there is no reason why the nurse or visitors should carry on their faces the you-will-never-get-well look. It would dishearten any invalid that it did not exasperate, and neither disheartenment nor exasperation is good for the sick, even though it be said that when the sick are "strong enough to get mad," they are " strong enough to get well."

The Nurse. The nurse should be soft-handed, deft in her work, of cheerful disposition, even tempered, and above all, intelligent. She should have delicate tact in cooking, for while every operation of cooking should be cleanly in the extreme, here the cooking, while simple, should be delicate. The beef tea must be pleasing to the eye as well as grateful to the palate. The steak or chops should be tender and cooked to a turn. The egg should be so boiled or poached as to be good to look at. Some tempting, simple, easily digested pudding, that comes as a surprise, is ten times more grateful than if the patient has been promised it, and then given the impatience of longingly waiting for it. A simple drink of water, if fresh from the well or spring, is always welcome; however pure it may be, it is nauseous if it has stood in the room until warm. It is all these little things, these attentions, that mark the careful from the careless nurse. In fact, no person should undertake the office of nurse unless loving kindness and self-abnegation are strong personal traits. With members of a family, these feelings are, of course, present. Happy is the patient who can always command such service.

In severe sickness, it is the physician, his medicines, and the soothing offices of the nurse, that bring the patient through. Here fully as much depends upon the nurse as upon the doctor. A time comes when no longer medicine but food is needed. With convalescence it is the cook who takes the place of the doctor, and here the nurse's best efforts are shown.