“It seems a commonly received idea among men and even among women themselves that it requires nothing but a disappointment in love, the want of an object, a general disgust, or incapacity for other things, to turn a woman into a good nurse. This reminds one of the parish where a stupid old man was sent to be schoolmaster because he ‘was past keeping the pigs’.” * * * * * “And remember every nurse should be one who is to be depended upon, in other words, capable of being a ‘confidential’ nurse. She does not know how soon she may find herself placed in such a situation; she must be no gossip, no vain talker; she should never answer questions about her sick except to those who have a right to ask them; she must, I need not say, be strictly sober, and honest; but more than this, she must be a religious and devoted woman; she must have a respect for her own calling because God’s precious gift of life is often literally placed in her hands; she must be a sound and close and quick observer; and she must be a woman of delicate and decent feeling.” * * * * * “The everyday management of a large ward let alone of a hospital--the knowing what are the laws of life and death for men and what the laws of health for wards--are not these matters of sufficient importance and difficulty to require learning by experience and careful inquiry, just as much as any other art? They do not come by inspiration to the lady disappointed in love, nor to the poor workhouse drudge hard up for a livelihood.” * * * * * “To revert to children. They are much more susceptible than grown people to all noxious influences. They are affected by the same things, but much more quickly and seriously, viz., by want of fresh air, or proper warmth, want of cleanliness, in house clothes, bedding or body, by startling noises, improper food, or want of punctuality; by dulness and by want of light; by too much or too little covering in bed; or when up, by want of the spirit of management generally in those in charge of them. One can therefore, only press the importance, as being yet greater in the case of children, greatest in the case of sick children, of attending to these things.” The Nightingale Training School For Nurses Chapter IV.