Hospital Etiquette

Kai Tiaki : the journal of the nurses of New Zealand, Volume I, Issue 2, 1 April 1908, Page 36

Hospital Etiquette

S. G. MAUDE

(by

Now that we are united in one common bond, through the agency of this little quarterly paper, it behoves every nurse to try and contribute something, if it be only in a small way, and I think that a few words on "Hospital Etiquette," and "Manners," will not come amiss. , I am not acquainted with the etiquette of the various colonial hospitals, but I well remember the days of my own training, when we were taught that to our superior officers was due a certain amount of deference when we were on duty, although off duty these officers might be our most intimate friends. To hear a nurse answer " Yes, sir," is. surely more professional than "Yes, Doctor," and to stand to receive orders, if it be only from the sister of the ward is equally important;, of course there must be precedence in all grades of the profession, from the visiting staff to the newest probationer. Another point of etiquette too often violated is the questioning of doctors' orders, after he has left the patient. Whatever a nurse may think, her duty is to obey, without expression of opinion, as after all, the patient is in the doctor's charge, the nurse being required simply to carry- out his instructions faithfully.. . Courtesy, both to one another, and to our "patients.,, . does a great deal to., keep the machinery of., Hospital life smooth and in

good order, in fact, in every grade of society courtesy is one of the needs of the present age. What a difference it makes to the tone of a ward if the sisters and nurses take the trouble to speak kindly and brightly, and to answer the patients politely, and how often does one hear that such a patient had been rude to the nurse, when possibly the nurse's own short manner had been the cause of it ? With regard to private nursing, what a blessing or otherwise a nurse may be, if she is kind and thoughtful for the servants of the house, and shows sympathy with those who are feeling the strain, caused by the illness of some dear one, what a comfort her presence will prove ; no doubt her power for good can be very great in the home, where she reigns supreme for the time being. So very -much is written about " the trained nurse." She is set upon a pedestal, advertised and worshipped by the world, and there are many who would prefer a few words, showing that after all she is only a woman, with the faults and failings of her sex. The calling she has adopted is a very high one, and full of responsibility, and the very helplessness of her patients should draw out all that is noblest and best in the woman who has chosen to devote herself to the care of the. sick and suffering.