May it not be that the change in occupation has something to do with this unwillingness to remain with a patient when he is convalescing? When a temperature has to be taken but once a day, or when the doctor only makes visits twice a week, when all the routine of the sick-room gives way to a more natural atmosphere, many nurses do not feel at ease, they do not read aloud pleasantly, they do not care for books, and, if the patient asks for this amusement, the reading is a torment to the nurse, and I imagine it does not afford much pleasure to the listener. A nurse once gave me a graphic description of her efforts to read "Romola" to a convalescent typhoid patient. The poor nurse knew nothing of Florence or of the Italian language, and her struggles over the foreign words in that book must have been funny enough. Her patient was not much edified--of that I am certain. If a nurse does not read aloud understandingly, she should make every effort to learn. She thereby increases her usefulness, and makes herself more acceptable to her patients. She adds to her own value. She is worth more. No nurse can tell when this method of passing the weary hours will be required of her, as it is almost certain that a patient of intelligence will ask for some mental refreshment. Another pleasant way to pass the long hours of convalescence, is by playing games with your patient. I am sure no training school for nurses has added the study of cribbage, pinochle, bezique, chess, checkers, backgammon, or dominos to its curriculum. All these are two-handed games, the playing of which will help the convalescent to forget himself and his past illness and present weakness. The nurse, if she knows only one game that is unfamiliar to the patient, gives him new thoughts while she teaches him, and it is quite astonishing how much pleasure such simple things can give both to teacher and pupil. I would suggest that nurses in their club houses or homes could profitably fill some vacant evenings practising these two-handed games. I am sure they would never regret the time so spent.