Nurses who have stayed at home

Kai Tiaki : the journal of the nurses of New Zealand, Volume X, Issue 1, 1 January 1917, Page 58

Nurses who have stayed at home

The following letter is worthy of reproduction. It is quite true that we are apt to overlook the grand work being done by nurses every day, year m and year out, with no hope of distinction and frequently with- no reward of gratitude. gi F; — Now that Christmas is coming our thoughts naturally turn to, our men who are away fighting and to the nurses away taking care of them. ■ But are we remembering with gratitude the nurses who have stayed at home ? Think ! Which is the harder thing to do ? To sail away to a new country, with bands playing, crowds cheering, and their country applauding ; or to work on quietly at their posts — no applause, much hard work, not for grateful young soldiers, but often for the most disagreeable old people ? Some one may say, ' 'You forget our army nurses are risking their lives for their country." True they are. But are not our nurses at home risking their lives, too ? Not m a drama! ic way cert ainly, but

simply through fighting fevers and disease, quietly and as a matter of couree doing their duty, day after day, week m, week, out, Sundays and Christmas Pay, too. Tiue, they are given a fortnight or most generously if they are nearly worn out, four weeks m the year m which to rest both mind and body. Do we remember gratefully enough what these nurses are doing ? ■ The hospitals quite rightly have open doors for all who are sick. This means that the very dregs of society as well as the respectable members are there. And our nurses take care of them all alike. No nurse worth the name makes any difference m manner or attention between her patient s. But oh ! how hard it is sometimes to remember there is a soul living m the poor misused and dirty bodies that come to be cleansed and cured, or patched. up as the case may be. Then think, too, of the nurse working m the old people's homes and chronic wards. Does it not need greater courage than most

of us possess to work m them ? I remember being much struck by a remark made by a sister of a chronic ward : "It would have been delightfully refreshing if ' one ' person had said she felt better this morning." Think what it means to have to keep bright m such an atmosphere and not only to keep bright, but to try and cheer others. Does not this need more courage than

that required to go away to new countries and work hard, of course, but in stirring, exciting surroundings ? I do not for a moment wish to underrate what our army nurses are doing, but I do want us to appreciate and encourage our nurses who have stayed at home. God bless them ! — I am, etc., A FRIEND.