Part 6 (2/2)
This seems like stating a difficult problem, and I know it is not always easy to select just the proper time, but the best way, I think, is this.
If the baby is nursing from the breast, tell the mother, after this nursing you wish to wash the child, and not to let him go off for sound sleep. She can prevent it, and keep him for the twenty minutes or half an hour it is necessary to wait after his meal, meantime you have time to get everything in readiness for the bath. It is a great mistake to attempt to bathe a baby when he is hungry. He will scream for his food from the beginning to the end of the performance, hesitating occasionally when something warm touches his mouth, and he eagerly seeks his meal, only to redouble his cries when not satisfied. Nothing is so persevering in its endeavors, as a hungry baby. Satisfy its appet.i.te first and wait a reasonable length of time, wash him deftly and quickly, and he will be so sleepy by the time you are through, you can lay him in his bed and he will be asleep in a moment, when you can pick up all the soiled clothing and the general ”mess” of the bathing operation, and leave the room once more tidy.
And just here, let me say a little about the was.h.i.+ng of the baby's clothes. Of course the dresses or slips, skirts, and the diapers go to the laundress. Begin every morning on an entirely new, that is newly-washed, set of diapers. Gather up all that have been used the past twenty-four hours and have them washed. Perhaps they may not be ironed, but washed they should be, every twenty-four hours, even if you have to do it yourself, and I do not think a nurse should ever be called upon to do this. Still, I would rather do it than use a diaper over and over again.
But it is of the little s.h.i.+rts I particularly wish to speak. I think the nurse should wash these, also the socks when they need it, and the knitted shawls most babies wear. It takes very little time to do this, and if you know how, you will do it much better than any laundress. The best way to wash these things is in cool borax water, and if there is any one place the baby has vomited on, put a little dry powdered borax on (the place being wet), and rub it in. Then wash by plunging it in the water and squeezing it out. Do this again and again until the garment is clean. Rinse in clear cool water, and wring as dry as possible in a towel; then pull in shape and lay it on a clean towel to dry. It is a good plan to lay it on a folded towel over a half shut register and place a single fold of towel over. It will dry very soon. If you are was.h.i.+ng a baby's knitted shawl, be very careful about the wringing. Lay a large towel (bath towel is the best) out flat, and, having squeezed the most of the water from the blanket, lay it carefully on the towel and roll both together, and wring very tightly. If this towel gets wet take a second. When you are satisfied that it is as dry as you can make it, lay it out on a folded sheet on the floor, in some room not much used, and pull and arrange it into its original shape and size.
Anything made of Germantown wool stretches terribly, but you can arrange it as it ought to be. It will look ruffly here and there and ridgy all over, but when it is dry it will shrink down all right. Only do not hang it up, and when it is dry you will be surprised to find it looks as good as new. If you are ever consulted beforehand as to what would be nice for the baby, use all your eloquence against _any_ color being put into these knitted shawls. Germantown wool is the best to use, and plain knitting or brioche st.i.tch is the best to wear and wash, and these things must be washed with the most careful handling. On the nicest baby they will become dirty, and the delicate blues and pinks become the dismalest wrecks when washed. Therefore, tell your patient not to put any color in these first plain little comfortable shawls. They should be a yard long by about three- quarters wide. Two or three will be all you will need, and do not use any of the fancy blankets sent in by friends. Lay these all away, with a sachet bag or two, in some convenient drawer, and never take them out unless the baby is required to look very fine for a brief display to some friend. These delicate, fancy trifles when once wet through or vomited on are ruined, and it should be your aim to leave everything as good as you found it when you go from the house. There will be plenty of time after you have left, for the fond mamma to spoil all the pretty things, and as she does so she will appreciate more and more your care of them.
XIII
THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW
I suppose that no nurse deliberately chooses to go to an incurable case, yet most of us who have done private nursing have found ourselves at some time caring for one who slowly, and painfully, creeps nearer day by day to the great End. We have gone perhaps to stay a few weeks, for some acute disease, but symptoms have changed, and instead of recovery, a long, slow decline is to be faced, the nurse feeling she is needed, decides to stay and do what she can for the poor failing body, and so the weeks drag on in the dreadful monotony of that one sick room, until we feel that we have been left out of the real nursing world, that we are stranded with our patient upon an island of pain, that there is no outlook but the one dread Valley, no moving object but the river of Death, and no hope for the life we are guarding. Each week we grow more and more rusty as to our hardly-won surgical technic, more out of touch with those who come and go to one patient after the other, and who not unnaturally count upon so and so many victories over the very enemy who we know will overcome the life we are fighting to save. Yet we realize that all our care will never bring victory, all our skill can but help to smooth the rugged pathway, down which the feet must tread alone. The endless repet.i.tion of the same symptoms is wearying, the only possible variation being some new pain, which indicates another stage in the development of the disease. An improvement hardly cheers us, as we know it is but temporary, and maybe followed by an exacerbation of the trouble.
Often the actual nursing calls but for a portion of the day, but that portion is so necessary that the nurse's presence is imperatively demanded. The remainder of the time little is to be done, except perhaps a guard maintained over the failing strength, a watch kept for untoward accidents that might snap the frail thread that binds the spirit still to earth. Probably the bedroom must be kept tidy, and the patient's clothing cared for, and the nurse feels she has degenerated into a servant.
One who has gone through with an experience like this, and who has courageously remained with her patient to the end, has pa.s.sed through a training more severe than any she has had in her hospital life, and she has earned a new diploma.
There are some things which the nurse may do to lighten these dark days, some things which may help both herself and her patient, and these I will try to show.
_Firstly_, it is well to study your case from a pathological view point. Find out the heredity, the manner of the daily life, the first manifestation of the disease, what circ.u.mstances led to it, how it was treated, what success the treatment seemed to have, what symptoms can now be noted, what complications have shown themselves, and their influence on the original disease. A careful history could be written embracing all of these points, and as new symptoms appear they should be observed and noted. All this should be valuable and should help some future day to show some one who has but started on the dreaded pathway, how to avoid what will surely be a fatal disease. Many a valuable paper could be written in the long hours when the nurse feels she is losing her time, if she would intelligently study her case, and write the story of the disease, what led to it, and how it is being combated.
Perhaps, if it could be arranged, the nurse might be spared part of a day once or twice a week, and she could go to her hospital out patient department, or to some dispensary and do some work that carries a little feeling of success with it; work in a babies milk station, or almost any of the numerous charitable activities, would rest and refresh one who has for months been with the same patient.
_Secondly_, as a psychological study. We all know we must die, we feel that we talk to people every day who perhaps will not be alive a twelvemonth hence; but we are not actually certain that ourselves or any of our friends will so soon be dead, and we habitually act and speak as if we all were to live on indefinitely.
So to be closely a.s.sociated with some one who we know is drawing closer and closer to the life beyond the grave, is a very solemn thing; whether the sick one knows it or not, the nurse knows it, and such an one must be viewed with peculiar interest.
She is so near to knowing the great Mystery. She will so soon see those who have gone before. The present helplessness will so marvelously become Life Everlasting. It seems, as the end comes nearer, and yet more near, as if, perhaps, one could send a message to some of our own loved ones gone on before, ”If you see some of my dear ones, on that other sh.o.r.e, bear them a loving greeting from me, tell them I am trying to live as they would have me live.” Such a thought trembles on the tongue, so near does the unseen seem to come to us.
In the face of these things, how small do the thoughts of our own dignity seem. It is all _service_, and service is what we were made for.
”I pa.s.s this way but once, if, therefore, there is _any_ service I can perform for my fellow man let me do it now, for I shall not pa.s.s this way again.” This quotation is familiar to all, and especially does it come to mind when we minister to those who are to die. When they are gone there will be no bringing them back to explain duties slighted or left undone. ”We pa.s.s this way but once.”
_Thirdly_, from a religious point of view. It is quite impossible to say, what exactly is the nurse's duty as regards the religious side of her ministration, though the wish to help must be often in the mind of every thoughtful nurse who has charge of an incurable case.
The patient may not know her condition, and the doctor may not wish her to be told, then, of course, the nurse's lips must be sealed, as to any allusion to the dread truth. The religious views of the patient and her friends may be different from anything that the nurse knows, or perhaps the family pastor comes frequently, and instructs and comforts the sick one, and the family.
A patient will sometimes _ask_ for the reading of some portion of the Bible, and unless the part is specified the nurse may be at a loss just where to turn. Some parts of the Scriptures are so generally known and accepted, that they can hardly fail to give hope and comfort, no matter what the religious teaching may have been heretofore.
I will suggest then _in case_ readings are asked for. The Psalms are full of beautiful comforting thoughts and prayers. The 23d has helped many a poor soul about to take its last journey, the 37th, which begins ”Fret not thyself,” shows that those are truly blessed who trust in the Lord, the 51st, ”Have mercy upon me, O G.o.d,” teaches repentance, the 42d, ”As the hart pants after the water-brooks, so longeth my soul for Thee, O G.o.d,” shows the desire of the soul for G.o.d.
In the New Testament, the 14th chapter of St. John's gospel is a universal favorite, on account of its comforting thoughts ”In my Father's house are many mansions.” In St. Luke's gospel chapter 15th, verse 11, we have the parable of the Prodigal Son, to show how complete and perfect is G.o.d's love, and His forgiveness, when sin is forsaken. In 1st Corinthians, 15th chapter, verse 20, we have a masterly argument for the resurrection from the dead, and a life beyond the grave. In Revelations, 14th chapter, 13th verse, is a very comforting thought for those who have led a strenuous life and are in much suffering.
These few references will help, I hope, if any nurse is called upon to read the Bible, and she feels a little nonplussed as to exactly where to turn.
There are of course innumerable pa.s.sages besides these, that could be found by the aid of a concordance, and which it would be wise to note on a slip of paper, ready for any call. Sometimes a patient will ask for a prayer, and it is not often that a nurse would feel competent to kneel down by the bedside and make an acceptable extemporaneous prayer, so I would suggest buying a volume of ”Prayers for the Sick.”
Very tiny, dainty little books can be purchased at the church book stores, full of these prayers.
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