FIRST REQUISITES IN A NURSE.

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Now as every young woman ought to know how to perform the gentle offices of a good nurse, and few can be supposed to have had much experience of sickness, it is well to gain the necessary information from every source that presents itself; and if, by reading a few pages in this book, you can learn to avoid some awkwardness, and to administer more acceptably to the sick, you will not think the time ill bestowed.

A light step, quick but gentle movements, and a dexterous use of the hands, are pre-requisites in a good nurse; they seem to be natural endowments, and to belong, in a great degree, to original temperament and conformation. In this, however, as in other things, much may be done by cultivation, where nature has not done the most; by observing the alert movements and nimble fingers of expert persons, you may improve your own, and avoid, at least, that degree of clumsiness which has been described by saying of a person, "He uses his hands as if all his fingers were thumbs, and his thumbs legs of mutton."

If the absence of all unnecessary noise is a luxury to those in good health, it is of the first importance to the sick; and no one can be acceptable to them who cannot step lightly, and move gently. I have seen a nervous patient seriously incommoded by the attendance of a friend who wore a rustling silk dress, and whose every movement was accompanied with so much noise, that the invalid could not bear it, and 'was obliged at last to beg her to change her dress, or keep out of the room. Apart from the rustling noise of the silk, it was an unfit dress for a sick room, where nothing should be worn that will not wash. But to continue the subject of noise. The occasional falling of pieces of half-burnt coal upon the fender is jarring to the feelings of nervous persons, even in health, but in extreme sickness it should be provided against, as should also the throwing on of fresh coal, which makes a

dreadful rattling. This should be avoided by putting on lumps of coal with the tongs, or even with the fingers, protected by an old glove. In sweeping the hearth, too, much unnecessary clatter is often made, by holding the tongs and shovel together in one hand, as well as in other ways, too trifling to mention ; which may easily be avoided, if people are aware how trying such noises are to the patient. Most people refrain from loud talking in the chambers of the sick; but few are equally careful to abstain from needless whispering, which is often more trying than a common low tone. The buzzing noise which cannot be understood or shut out, is very fatiguing; and rather than inflict it on a patient, the nurse and her companions should keep silence.

All creaking hinges and grating locks should be immediately oiled; and if by chance you have on a pair of shoes that creak as you walk, lose no time in changing them; for nothing is more unpleasant to the ear, particularly that of the sick. Folding or unfolding a newspaper that has become very dry, will make noise enough to wake a person from a light slumber; and so will turning over the leaves of some books, if done care→ lessly. I have known a whole night's rest lost to a sick person by this simple act on the part of the watcher. Coughing, sneezing, and blowing the nose, may be done at such unlucky moments as to cause broken slumbers. It is therefore advisable to learn how to do the voluntary acts with the least possible noise, and how to prevent the involuntary one by pressing the corners of the eyes next the bridge of the nose. The instances I have now mentioned, are sufficient to show a young nurse how many ways there are of making unnecessary noises; and if her attention is once thoroughly alive to the importance of stillness to the sick, she will herself find out others. I shall, therefore, pass next to the subject of cleanliness and ventilation.

CLEANLINESS AND VENTILATION.

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Important as it is to all to sleep in airy rooms, and to have frequent changes of linen, it is doubly so to the invalid. Fevers may be sometimes prolonged, and the recovery after them retarded, by deficiency in these particulars. Our sense of smell was not given us in vain, and one of its uses is to detect the impurity that would injure us. If there is anything offensive in a sick room, you may be sure that it requires very careful ventilation; to effect this, without exposing the patient to cold, is one of the arts of a nurse.

Bed-linen and body-linen should be changed oftener in sickness than in health; and every day, when the patient can sit up long enough to have it done, all the bedclothes should be carried out of the chamber and thoroughly aired, either out of doors or in another room, whilst the bed is shaken up and remains uncovered and the mattress is turned. When the sick person can only sit up a very short time, it is well to have two sets of pillows, blankets, and sheets, and employ them alternately, that one set may be airing whilst the other is in use.

Bed-curtains are bad things in severe sickness, and ought to be taken down, or put quite out of the way.

Where there is not so much debility as to make the effort of changing too exhausting to the invalid, no articles of clothing worn during the day should be retained about the person at night; they should be so disposed of as to be well aired by the time they are wanted in the morning; and, in like manner, everything worn at night should be left off during the day. Where the weakness of the patient forbids these changes morning and evening, the same clothing must be kept on night and day; but in such a case, it must be oftener changed for that which is wholly clean.

Personal cleanliness is important to the sick, and daily ablutions necessary. Let the friend or nurse who takes charge of the sick, encourage them to perform more

than their usual ablutions. When too ill to use a tooth-brush, some good may be done by cleansing the mouth with a little swab, made by winding a piece of fine linen rag round the end of a small stick. Scraping the tongue, too, with a little instrument made for the purpose, or with a silver knife, is comfortable.

All the utensils in a sick room should be kept constantly clean; and, generally speaking, this will be best done by the person acting as nurse at the time; for sending away, to be washed in the kitchen, every spoon and tumbler that has been used, makes too much passing in and out of the room. You should therefore take care to provide yourself with suitable towels and a little tub; for washing up glass and crockery in a bowl makes too much noise. As soon as possible after using an article, wash and wipe it, that it may be ready for the next occasion. It is some comfort to the sick, to take even the most nauseous dose out of a clean vessel, and the nurse should feel that she is bound in honour to prepare everything in the most cleanly way, never using a cup or spoon twice without washing it. Α bowl of water should be always standing ready for you. to wash your hands in, and this should be done before you touch either food or medicine for the patient; in preparing either, use your fingers sparingly, and never put your lips to it; but if it be necessary to taste the article, take a clean spoon to do it, and put it aside after using it. Many a poor, feeble sufferer, has been disgusted with the food his stomach craved, by seeing a nurse put her lips to it whilst in preparation, or by having it presented in a smeared, sticky vessel.

Always, in carrying any liquid to be taken by a person in bed, carry a towel too, to spread over the sheet, in case a drop should be spilled; for a drop of gruel is of no consequence on a towel, but on a sheet it would give an appearance of untidiness to the whole bed. You should frequently straighten the bed-clothes, and

LIFTING A PATIENT.

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beat up the pillows, and always have close at hand a small blanket or a flannel gown, or something else suitable to throw over the patient's shoulders and back, when sitting up in bed. In this position much support is needed at the back, for which purpose bed-chairs are made; but where they are not to be had, a small footstool, put behind the pillows and the bolster doubled, makes a very good substitute; and so does a baby's chair, the back put down next the patient's back, and the legs up, with pillows before it. It also adds greatly to the ease of this position to have something at the feet, to push against; if there be no foot-board to the bed, it should be something heavy that will keep its place, but if there be, any brace between that and the feet will answer. Sitting up thus is often a great relief to a person confined to the bed, and would be more frequently resorted to, if those in attendance knew how to take the strain off the back, by supporting it in the manner here recommended.

When a patient is too ill to sit up whilst the bed is making, he can sometimes crawl over to a cot-bed made up, warmed, and put close beside the one he is in; or he can be lifted from one bed to another. In shifting persons from one bed to another, an inconvenience often arises to the inexperienced, from attempting to lift the patient from the first bed to the second with his head in the same direction after his removal as before. The persons lifting him, in this case, being between the patient and the second bed, are in their own way. The difficulty is obviated by placing the head of the second bed toward the foot of the first, leaving ample space between the two, that is, four or five feet, and lifting the body by two or three persons, who are then to wheel round, like a platoon of soldiers, and deposit the head of the patient toward the head of the second bed, which corresponds to the foot of the first. This fatigues