Sick-nursing essentially a woman's mission : being an inaugural lecture on the qualifications for and the conduct of sick-nurses, delivered at the opening of the new school of nursing in Saint Bartholomew's Hospital, on May 1, 1877 / by Dyce Duckworth.

Date:
1877
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Sick-nursing essentially a woman's mission : being an inaugural lecture on the qualifications for and the conduct of sick-nurses, delivered at the opening of the new school of nursing in Saint Bartholomew's Hospital, on May 1, 1877 / by Dyce Duckworth. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    1848. Her admirable qualities and correct judgment are not yet forgotten here. Amongst the older Sisters should also be mentioned ‘ Sister Colston ’ of Mr. Vincent’s and Mr. Lloyd’s day, a woman remarkable for her good sense and clear head. Nor can I omit to tell you of ‘ Sisters Matthew and Hope ’ of Sir George Burrows’ time, and of my own student days, or of the faithful old nurse Flack of Matthew ward, who have all passed away to their rest, having done good work and soothed many a sufferer; or yet again of ‘ Sister Ehzabeth ’ of Dr. Jeaffreson’s day, one so devoted and so womanly, of whom Dr. Jeaffreson himself once expressed to me the following sentence—‘ I have only to say to Sister Elizabeth, “ That case is a bad one,” and she will never hold her hands day or night to save it if possible.’ From examples such as these you may learn the secret, if indeed it be a secret, of success in yoirr calling. The tale of the excellences of these good women is the same in each case, and it tells chiefly of faithfulness and devotion, and of the exercise of good sense and correct judgment. These Sisters were the best types of the nurses of their day, they learned all they knew within these walls, and they were the right hands of the medical and surgical officers they acted under. They - gained responsibility because they were worthy of it, they were excellent in their calling because they had mastered carefully all the details of it, and had acquired good administrative capacity.