Every large Military Hospital ought to have one Head Nurse, and a sufficient Number of other Nurses, to attend and take Care of the Sick.
Orders to the following Purport, hung up in every Military Hospital, would serve to shew the Nurses and Patients what their Duty is, and to maintain Regularity and good Order through the whole Hospital.
Matron, or Head Nurse.
Every Matron, or Head Nurse, is to go round all the Wards of the Hospital at least twice a Day, Morning and Evening; to see that the Nurses keep their Wards clean; that they behave themselves soberly and regularly, and give due Attendance to their Patients; and to examine the Diet of the Patients, and see that it is good and well dressed; and if she finds any Thing amiss, to report the same to the Physician, Surgeon, or Apothecary, of the Hospital.
Common Nurses.
1. The Nurses are to give due Attendance to their Patients; and to keep them always as neat and clean, as the Nature of their Distempers will admit of; to give them their Diet regularly; to be particularly careful to see them take the Medicines ordered by the Physicians, according to the Directions given; to report to the Physician, Surgeon, or Apothecary, any Faults or Irregularities which any of their Patients may have committed; and to acquaint the Ward Matter and Head Nurse of the Death of any of their Patients as soon as it happens, that proper Care may be taken of their Cloaths and Effects.
2. They are to keep their Wards extremely clean, to sprinkle them every Morning with Vinegar, and to fumigate them with the Smoke of wetted Gunpowder, or of Frankincense, or any other Aromatics that may be thought proper; in fair Weather to keep open the Windows of their Wards, twice or thrice a Day; for a longer or shorter Time, as the Weather will permit; to attend at the Steward’s Room for the Provisions of the Patients at the Hours appointed for that Purpose; and to pay implicit Obedience to the Matron, or Head Nurse, in what relates to their Duty; and punctually to obey all Orders they receive from the Physician, Surgeon, or Apothecary, of the Hospital.
3. They are to keep themselves clean and decently dressed, and to observe the strictest Rules of Sobriety; remembering, that if any one is found intoxicated with Liquor, that she is immediately to be sent to the Guard, and afterwards discharged.
4. They are not to absent themselves from their Wards, unless when employed in the Discharge of their Duty; nor to go out of the Hospital to which they belong, without having a Ticket of Leave signed by the Physician, Surgeon, Apothecary, or Head Nurse, belonging to the Hospital.
5. They are not to throw Nastiness of any Kind out at the Windows, but to carry it to the common Necessaries, and to empty the Chamber Pots and Close-stools as soon as used, and be careful to wash them before they bring them back.