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
repetition 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 passed
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 circumstances 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 associated 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 shore, 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 pass 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 pass 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 pass 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 God," teaches repentance, the 42d, "As the hart pants after
the water-brooks, so longeth my soul for Thee, O God," shows the
desire of the soul for God.
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 God'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 passages 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.
In the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer are many helpful prayers.
The sentence, the collect, and the whole of the Easter service in
this book are radiant with the truths of the Resurrection, and the
Easter hymns are tuned to the same inspiring theme.
This last thought I leave with you. What more helpful
consideration can come to a weary nurse, than that the sick one to
whom she has ministered for so many weeks or months should at
last, on entering in to the life Eternal, lay before the Lord of
Glory, the name of the one who was with her, who helped her, who
cared for her, and who was faithful to her trust to the end?