The Tuberculosis Nurse: Her Function and Her Qualifications: A Handbook for Practical Workers in the Tuberculosis Campaign — John Shaqi
The Tuberculosis Nurse: Her Function and Her Qualifications: A Handbook for Practical Workers in the Tuberculosis CampaignLa Motte, Ellen N. (Ellen Newbold)
History
The Tuberculosis Nurse: Her Function and Her Qualifications: A Handbook for Practical Workers in the Tuberculosis Campaign
La Motte, Ellen N. (Ellen Newbold)
Tuberculosis -- Nursing; Tuberculosis -- Nursing -- United States -- History
Let us consider the first objection, that made by the nurse. A nurse
does not feel conspicuous when on duty in her district. Her busy, daily
routine, taking her in and out of homes where she is needed, soon causes
her to forget her personal appearance. A self-conscious woman is hardly
the right sort for this work. The only rub comes when she is off duty
and going to and from her district, but this cannot be held to
constitute a serious objection.
As for the patient’s objection—he would be equally conspicuous if
regularly visited by any woman unknown to the neighbourhood, no matter
how attired. Prying eyes would recognize her as an alien, and the
neighbours would speculate accordingly. We have often heard of patients
who for fear of what the neighbours would say objected to being visited
by agents of the Charity Organization Society. Yet the agents of that
Organization wear no sort of uniform. The truth is, it is usually really
the visit itself which is objected to, rather than the costume of the
visitor—the costume merely serving as an excuse. On analysing the
objections of a group of patients who disliked the uniform, they were
found to be, without exception, patients who strongly resented every
suggestion made to them. Their one desire was to be let alone, to be as
careless as they chose.
On the other hand, the advantages of the uniform are many. In the first
place, all effective care given to a consumptive has to include nursing
as well as teaching. Now, one can “educate” in a woollen dress, but one
certainly cannot give bed-baths in anything but a cotton dress, which
can be plunged into a tub and washed. And whether she enters the home to
give a bed-bath, or whether she goes in merely to distribute
prophylactic supplies, the fact remains that a nurse spends some eight
hours a day in contact with an infectious disease. Good technique
demands that she be dressed in washable material.
In summer, a dress of washable material is not conspicuous. In winter,
it may be covered with a long coat. And if we admit that such a dress is
necessary, what objection can there be to making it of simple and
uniform design? A single nurse so arrayed looks neat and business-like;
a staff of nurses looks equally so. Moreover, uniformity of dress
suggests uniformity of method, standard, and character of work, and
hence inspires confidence. A staff of nurses, each one dressed according
to the hazard of her own fancy, would hardly create the same impression.
In itself, the uniform is a protection to its wearer. It enables her to
go freely and without molestation into all kinds of tenements and
lodging houses, into side alleys and back streets. The well-known dress
surrounds her with recognition, affection, and respect.
The uniform is also of value to the patients and to their friends. It
enables them to recognize the nurse as she passes, and to call upon her
as she goes by.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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