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THE NURSE

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Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jul 17, 1901

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 27, No. 29.

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THE NURSE.

By A. J. Sanderson, M.D.

“Love one another” was the new command given and demonstrated to the world by the divine Teacher. It is this principle, and this only, that lies at the foundation of all Christian work, and it is the only ruling force that can uplift and strengthen human life. Herein is taught the universal brotherhood of mankind and the equality of all people. Here is given the secret of real success.
A service rendered because a man loves to do it, has no ill effect upon himself or others; but the influence is life-giving to both. This principle, continuously followed, takes away the burden from the hardest difficulties of life, and leads the way securely amid dangers that otherwise might be impassable.
The man who loves himself truly will not fear to look candidly upon his own life. He will not pray for unpossessed talents; but, with correct visions of himself, will be able to choose his course in life in harmony with the established facts of his being. Love can not create taste or talent; but it effectually intensifies the activities of our own inherent qualities; it brings out and makes useful their latent forces.
In the wide field of life no calling is held more sacred or is more urgently demanded than that of the nurse. Sickness we find everywhere. The nurse is the servant of the sick, a messenger of God, to give them a helping hand to soothe and relieve. The medical missionary stands foremost in this field; for the calling is fitting only to the Christ-follower. The one who attempts such service with a lesser motive can render but partial ministry.
We live in a world where disease has almost unchecked power. While its ravages are here and there limited by quarantine and the stamping-out of epidemics, and while the sufferer finds newer and more numerous remedies year by year, yet the inhabitants who have not said, or can not say, “I am sick,” are very few. The world has something wrong at the heart of things, and diseases multiply.
The physical causes which in this fast age are undermining the material fabric of which our bodies are composed, are many and varied, and even more are the mental conflicts which sap the life of the individual. Abnormal ways of living are numerous in the habits of daily life, and disease is so common that some of its features have grown to be considered as a natural state of man. To minister simply for the relief of sickness without reference to the causes that have produced it, is but to leave an open door for the return of the disease. The nurse who fulfils all the privileges of her mission will often do the best service in turning the life of the individual away from these self-destructive influences to life-giving habits. But physical defects, with their producing causes, must be clearly discerned to make advice of any value. The fretting, chafing action of the mind must be set at rest; for the mental factors which figure in disease are far more numerous than the physical, and wiser skill and deeper tact are called for in order to handle them properly. The responsibility for the nicest of work thus rests upon the servant of the sick. The ministry of this noble work can be accomplished successfully only by one who has learned of Him who said to His disciples, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
The responsibility of the nurse is no small one. When she once takes in her hands the details of ministering to the daily requirements of the sick, she assumes an important charge; not only may life and death be left occasionally within her keeping, but always the future happiness and welfare of her patients is in a measure at her command. If in skill, tact, and Christian influence she can minister to all the varied needs of sickness, it may be her privilege to see the bonds of disease give way, and the work of physical redemption actually take place. She can watch nature in her beneficent acts, and worship God as she observes His merciful ways.
The essential qualifications of a nurse are health, adaptation, education, and training, with first and last a natural love for ministering to the sick and suffering.
The person who seeks to give health must possess health; health of body and health of mind. When the blind lead the blind, both are liable to fall into the ditch. All sickness is more or less infectious, and some diseases are very contagious. Mental ill-health has a deleterious influence that is even more far-reaching than physical feebleness. The sick should be spared, as far as is consistent, from coming in contact with sickness, and especially have they the right to expect health on the part of the attendant.
Health should be the watchword of the nurse. It is the source of her life-giving influence. Health should be cultivated at any cost, and never ought its principles to be sacrificed either for gain or pleasure.
The work of the nurse is beset with many dangers, and these increase in proportion as a person has a natural gift of giving her life for the welfare of others. Many times in her arduous duties, personal necessities would seem to conflict with the requirements of the patient; but here every individual should make the wise choice, and follow closely the right course of action. Sometimes a seeming violation made because of love unfeigned, will yield only healthful results, but human life can never be justly sacrificed on the altar of another’s need. It is a sad comment on Christianity that many of her most successful workers break down in health. This is not as it should be. Christianity possesses only life-giving principles, the pure exercise of which can have no destroying influence.
To maintain health is not the difficult problem we often make of it. The essential principles are few and simple. The person who properly feeds and clothes the body, and gives to its functions the appropriate exercise and rest, is sure to have health. An abundance of wholesome, palatable food is one of the essential conditions. The one who has not cultivated a keen relish for a simple substantial diet is not well prepared for endurance. The chronic invalid who so often suffers from a finicky, changeable appetite will be encouraged most readily by the nurse who is periodically hungry. The person who has a healthy appetite, is far more likely to eat healthfully and be well than the one who makes dietetics a burden.
Exercise in a nurse’s life is a very important factor. A person who confines herself to the sick-room needs relaxing outdoor recreation. Often the requirements of the case will seem to forbid these privileges; but nature demands that a compensating amount of physical work must be done; and where it can not be taken systematically, it should be taken at reasonable intervals. The need of rest is even more urgent. No other class of people have their sleep so broken, and one of the most necessary things for nurses to learn is to be able to sleep at any time and place that circumstances may permit. The ability to sleep should be cultivated, and the required amount should never be continually lost. Other forms of relaxation and rest should always be taken. The adjustment of one’s habits to meet the necessities of the irregular life of the nurse requires the best of judgment, but it is only as these requirements are met that the nurse will be able to endure. It is the maintenance of such consistent physical habits as preserve health that will give her the largest influence with her patient.
The mental faculties should be as accurately adjusted to right ways of thinking, as should the physical functions to the right way of living. There is no other occupation in life where adaptation is such a necessary requirement. This gift is not so much acquired; it is an endowment of nature. The education required to make one successful as a nurse is very large, and success will only crown the efforts of the student who makes the various features of her work a life-study. There is no stage in which the educational process may cease; but the more experienced the person becomes, the larger will be her conception of the requirements of the work, also larger will be the resources from which information will be gathered.
Trained workers are the ones in demand at the present day. It matters not how fully nature may have endowed us with qualifications for our work, it is only as these powers are trained to do their most effectual service that we can successfully perform the varied and difficult duties. The nurses’ training-schools of the present day have grown to be prominent among educational institutions, and the opportunities for training are open to every worker; but training is acquired only by those who are willing and anxious to do faithful and continuous service. It is actual experience under the direction of teachers that produces the highest quality of work.
One of the first principles in a course of training is to be able to do as one is bidden. There is no other occupation in the world that requires such implicit following of instruction. It may be that in later efforts the trained nurse will be able to rely upon her own judgment, as she must often do in cases of emergency; but the nurse who knows it all at the beginning will never become master of her work. The power to obey gives the power to serve; the power to serve gives the power to command. There are no short cuts in life, nor ditches that can be spanned by a deer-footed leap. The foundation must be laid from the beginning; and block by block it must be fastened firmly, before one can stand safely in a high position.
“Love one another as I have loved you” is the true rule of life, and the trained nurse who enters the sick-room in the full recognition of this divine command will have a commanding influence from the high plane of service and training which she has acquired. It may be that disease will quickly yield at her rebuke, or it may yield after long wrestling with its obstinate power, and occasionally there may be fruitless coping with the relentless power of death. Yet in it all, if she is conscious of duty well done and responsibility fully borne, there may be each day a blessing and a benediction pronounced on her work, felt both by herself and her patient, the fruits of which will be ever multiplied in the days to come.
A. J. SANDERSON, M.D.