The noiseless step of woman, the noiseless drapery of woman, are mere figures of speech in this day.  Her skirts (and well if they do not throw down some piece of furniture) will at least brush against every article in the room as she moves.[15]

Again, one nurse cannot open the door without making everything rattle.  Or she opens the door unnecessarily often, for want of remembering all the articles that might be brought in at once.

A good nurse will always make sure that no door or window in her patient’s room shall rattle or creak; that no blind or curtain shall, by any change of wind through the open window, be made to flap—­especially will she be careful of all this before she leaves her patients for the night.  If you wait till your patients tell you, or remind you of these things, where is the use of their having a nurse?  There are more shy than exacting patients, in all classes; and many a patient passes a bad night, time after time, rather than remind his nurse every night of all the things she has forgotten.

If there are blinds to your windows, always take care to have them well up, when they are not being used.  A little piece slipping down, and flapping with every draught, will distract a patient.

[Sidenote:  Hurry peculiarly hurtful to sick.]

All hurry or bustle is peculiarly painful to the sick.  And when a patient has compulsory occupations to engage him, instead of having simply to amuse himself, it becomes doubly injurious.  The friend who remains standing and fidgetting about while a patient is talking business to him, or the friend who sits and proses, the one from an idea of not letting the patient talk, the other from an idea of amusing him,—­each is equally inconsiderate.  Always sit down when a sick person is talking business to you, show no signs of hurry, give complete attention and full consideration if your advice is wanted, and go away the moment the subject is ended.

[Sidenote:  How to visit the sick and not hurt them.]

Always sit within the patient’s view, so that when you speak to him he has not painfully to turn his head round in order to look at you.  Everybody involuntarily looks at the person speaking.  If you make this act a wearisome one on the part of the patient you are doing him harm.  So also if by continuing to stand you make him continuously raise his eyes to see you.  Be as motionless as possible, and never gesticulate in speaking to the sick.

Never make a patient repeat a message or request, especially if it be some time after.  Occupied patients are often accused of doing too much of their own business.  They are instinctively right.  How often you hear the person, charged with the request of giving the message or writing the letter, say half an hour afterwards to the patient, “Did you appoint 12 o’clock?” or, “What did you say was the address?” or ask perhaps some much more agitating question—­thus causing the patient the effort of memory, or worse still, of decision, all over again.  It is really less exertion to him to write his letters himself.  This is the almost universal experience of occupied invalids.