San Francisco Hospital School of Nursing - Cap and Seal Yearbook (San Francisco, CA)

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W-wen 'the shades ft MW, Y.- - x Night Duty By A. KNIGHT Paowuan. 'r varying intervals learned professors in different parts of the world arise - and endeavor, by sundry more or less complicated tests to prove that man- kind in general spends entirely too much time reposing in the arms of '! f i'9 Morpheus. The necessary amount of tissue repair can be obtained in anywhere from two to four hours, depending on the professor, and any more time spent between the sheets is an unnecessary waste of valuable time, fbetween you and me the world would be the gainer if a great many people spent twenty- four hours in sound slumberl but that is neither here nor there. What I started out to say was that these anxious professors have very evi- dently never been night nurses, or even student orderlies on night duty. That fact is very evident or they would start movements to have sleep abolished alto- gether, thus enabling night workers to forego the struggle to get even four hours repose while the entire waking world is tramping up and down, telephone bells are ringing, children roller-skating, whistles blowing, automobiles tooting, street cars rattling and clanging, and last but not least, the maid is running the carpet sweeper over the rugs in one's room and emptying the waste paper basket to the accompaniment of much banging and rustling, while some industrious fellow student rings oneis telephone buzzer two or three times by mistake. I believe, under such conditions, even the learned professors would grow weary-eyed, hag- gard and irritable. When the Sun decides to call it a day and goes to bed, relinquishing the duties of lighting the narrow way for mankind to that pale satellite, the moon, these aforementioned night nurses and student orderlies wearily yawn, and arise from their narrow beds falong with the other creatures who do their marketing at night-the bats, the owls, cats, micel and go forth. Rushing to the dining room to partake of a little delectable hash, macaroni Spanish, possibly stew or ilsli Cdepending on the day of the weekl our heroes and heroines thus fortify the inner man for the coming strenuous eight hours fit must be awful where it is twelvej, dash off to the ward where the weary land luckyj day people impa- tiently wait to hand over the reins of power? Then-as the funny papers say-the fun begins. Getting a ward full of patients ready for bed, be they children or adults is no sinecure. The details are too well known to be interesting. Who has hot heard the cry: Nurse, it is nine o'clock and I haventt slept a Wink! Nurse, did the doctor order something to make me sleep '? Nurse, that little Dill you gave me can't have been the right one-I can't seem to sleep! and so on. L Of course there are serious sides to the subjectg there a-re occasions calling for a steady head, quick hands and particularly quick feet, especially when the shadow of the great wings of that celebrated bird, the stork, falls over our Chim- ney! When the shades of night have fallen the Pendulum of Life swings with Page 36

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c my' ' ,Iii L V L.. +.JMW3f PLACING A PA'r1rzN'r IN AN ELECTRIC Born-BAKE equipped with everything necessary for teaching nursing procedures as they will be applied in the various wards of the hospital. The treatment room of the demonstration ward is identical with that of the other Wards. ' Demonstration of procedures by the Instructor, in so far as possible, is the method of teaching nursing technique. Then the student demonstrates back to the Instructor. After this the students go into the wards. There under the supervision of their instructor they give such nursing care as has been taught them in the classroom. Each student keeps her own record of the nursing procedures. I The Instructor frequently demonstrates nursing procedures by finding pa- tients in the Wards who need such care or treatments and herself gives this nurs- ing care as a demonstration. The students very much prefer this practice Work with ,actual patients rather than with the ever-ready and long-suffering Chase- doll in the classroom. PATIENT RIzcxz1v'1NG FLums VVHILE IN 'rms Bonx'-BAKE Page35

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an almost audible tick-tock. One can see the mysterious forces of life and death at work from a very different angle than that afforded by the light of day. The responsibilities are quite as heavy, though for the most part, even the sick compose themselves to slumber, most of the night. The business of getting the patients up and ready for breakfast is quite equal to the task of putting them to bed. There is very little difference between a patient in a hospital bed and in his own little bed at home. The more unwilling he or she is to go to sleep the more unwilling they are to wake at the routine waking hour. Most nurses and doctors are in sympathy with night workers, having traveled the rocky road themselves. For one thing night duty teaches tolerance. One can- not get right next to stark reality, as one does on night duty, without learning to have sympathy and understanding with human nature. I have heard of that rara avis, the person who really likes night duty, but I have not met such a specimen. I suppose like individuals who are born with a liking for pate de foie gras, caviar and olives, the percentage is rather low. Considering the struggle it is to sleep while the world is awake, and to be awake while the world sleeps, one would think those who eventually achieve success, would, in their retrospective moments, consider the erection of a MODEST monu- ment to the Night Workerst' of the world. As yet, of all the heroes, these are without public recognition. Let us hope that before these clever professors do discover that sleep is only a luxury, some one will wake up and take the proper steps to have these ob- scure heroines and heroes, the night-workers, recognized, and elevated to their rightful place in the Moon!', J lrl111I!lIllf'lll L ,ff , l k ' ' ' 1' -T' f ff 51. f f ,llqlil-' K 71 W An auto-alarm-get-up-and-dress device sug- gested by one ol' the seniors, which is guaran- teed to have you on your feet and half dressed before you have completed yawning. Page 37 l K5 55 U H F ll xl li ll ll if 5 I l l l l Y t it . 1. l in