CHAPTER XV. THE CHOICE OF PHYSICIAN AND NURSE.

Choice of Physician and Nurse of Real Consequence.—Choose a Physician Whom You can Trust Implicitly¹.—A Cleanly Man.—The Wife Should Make the Selection.—A Christian² Physician.—Choice of Nurse.—Wife most Capable of Making Choice.—Advice of the Physician Desirable.—She Should be Pleasing to the Wife.—Cleanliness.—Gentleness.—A Person of Individuality.—Neatness in Manner and Clothing.—Should be Intelligent.—Physician and Nurse Should Work in Sympathy.—A Good Cook.—Able to Converse³, but not a Gossip.—Many Such Physicians and Nurses.

The choice of a physician and nurse for the ordeal⁴ of maternity⁵, is a matter of real consequence. It is not enough that you have a physician whom you have trusted in the common ailments⁶ of life, and perforce must have him now, lest he think it strange; the question is, do you desire him to minister to you at this time?

Choose a clean man or woman as you value your life and comfort. Choose one to whom you can pin your trust, and in whom you can[174] confide⁷ implicitly. Choose one who is above reproach, and can inspire you with courage and hopefulness. Choose a clean doctor physically⁸. They who do not delight in clean linen⁹, and clean hands, will hardly delight in cleanliness in their attentions to you.

Finally the wife should have the unbiased choice of the physician, unless there is some very good reason why she is not capable of a reasonable choice. Of course it is far better that the choice of one should be the choice of the other, and that there be perfect harmony between husband and wife in the choice made, both for their own peace of mind, and for the comfort of the physician. There are many cases on record of labor¹⁰ being delayed, and much discomfort¹¹ being caused by disappointment in the physician desired.

Above all choose a Christian physician. The counsel of the Great Physician is never more needed than in birth travail¹², and it is comforting to feel that the human friend upon whom you depend, knows this power and helpfulness and can direct you to Him.

In the choice of a nurse as great care and consideration are needed. Do not depend upon the selection made by a friend; no one can choose for you. You alone are the one[175] concerned, and you alone are capable of making the choice. It is well to ask your physician to recommend a nurse, or more than one, and then ask for an interview, and mark well every point, before you make your choice. Remember you are to have her about you almost constantly for two or more weeks, and unless she is pleasing to you in the outset, depend upon it, she will almost inevitably¹³ become displeasing¹⁴ to you before her term of service is over.

She must be very cleanly in her person, and guilty of no idiosyncrasies in dress or manner; of gentle voice, quiet and subdued¹⁵, clean of speech, and self-conscious enough to know her ability and prove it. She must have a strong individuality, and an authority second to none save the physician’s. She must not wear squeaky shoes, or wear rustling¹⁶ dresses, or bright colors, or jewelry¹⁷ or fancy trimmings of any sort. Quietness, unobtrusiveness, ladylikeness, and simplicity¹⁸ should characterize all her dress and manner and habits.

She need not be pretty, but she must have the attractiveness of a good face, and a kindly¹⁹ eye. The prettier, the more cultured and attractive, the more versatile²⁰, the better, for she has a critical trio, or perhaps quartet to[176] please, and must stand between her patient and all annoyances²¹, between her patient and all pleasures and desires that might be harmful. She is to be the care-taker of mother and baby, and the court of appeal, of husband, mother and all other relatives. If she is vacillating and weak she can claim the respect of none of these. If she be loud and imperious in her authority, lacking the quiet dignity upon which real power is based, she will have little influence with either her patient or the family.

Further the physician and nurse must be in sympathy, or they cannot work together. The physician is the authority, and the nurse like Eve to Adam, an help meet for him. She is to have no authority independent of the physician, save in an emergency, when she must sometimes act without waiting to consult him. Again the nurse must know what to do and how to do it, without asking questions. She must see and do with a quiet easy air of generalship, that will make her patient wonder when so much gets done, and how it could be done with so little noise or friction²².

The nurse must be an excellent, attractive and inviting²³ cook. She must serve everything in a pleasing way, and not so great a[177] quantity but that her patient will wish there were more.

Finally she must not be a talker; she can read to you, converse with you, but never gossip. The more she knows of books and people the pleasanter her companionship.

Such doctors and such nurses, do you say, are hard to find? No, there are many of them, but I fear the search for them is not always made with wise discrimination. When such are sought for and demanded, they will come to the front.

I fear we have too often sought for what we thought was ability, but which rightly interpreted meant reputation, and too seldom for real worth. Ian MacLaren’s doctor of Drumtochty was not a man of wide or great reputation, but of unlimited²⁴ painstaking²⁵ and faithfulness. So are many of what the world calls common men. Not that this true greatness does not ever go with a wide reputation, but that it can as well be found with the common painstaking, less gifted practitioner²⁶, and we should not forget it.

1 implicitly   

adv. 含蓄地, 暗中地, 毫不保留地

参考例句：

• Many verbs and many words of other kinds are implicitly causal. 许多动词和许多其他类词都蕴涵着因果关系。
• I can trust Mr. Somerville implicitly, I suppose? 我想，我可以毫无保留地信任萨莫维尔先生吧？

2 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

3 converse   

vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反

参考例句：

• He can converse in three languages.他可以用3种语言谈话。
• I wanted to appear friendly and approachable but I think I gave the converse impression.我想显得友好、平易近人些,却发觉给人的印象恰恰相反。

4 ordeal   

n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验

参考例句：

• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。
• Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me.在荒野里迷路一星期对我来说真是一场磨难。

5 maternity   

n.母性，母道，妇产科病房；adj.孕妇的，母性的

参考例句：

• Women workers are entitled to maternity leave with full pay.女工产假期间工资照发。
• Trainee nurses have to work for some weeks in maternity.受训的护士必须在产科病房工作数周。

6 ailments   

疾病（尤指慢性病），不适( ailment的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His ailments include a mild heart attack and arthritis. 他患有轻度心脏病和关节炎。
• He hospitalizes patients for minor ailments. 他把只有小病的患者也送进医院。

7 confide   

v.向某人吐露秘密

参考例句：

• I would never readily confide in anybody.我从不轻易向人吐露秘密。
• He is going to confide the secrets of his heart to us.他将向我们吐露他心里的秘密。

8 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

9 linen   

n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的

参考例句：

• The worker is starching the linen.这名工人正在给亚麻布上浆。
• Fine linen and cotton fabrics were known as well as wool.精细的亚麻织品和棉织品像羊毛一样闻名遐迩。

10 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

11 discomfort   

n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便

参考例句：

• One has to bear a little discomfort while travelling.旅行中总要忍受一点不便。
• She turned red with discomfort when the teacher spoke.老师讲话时她不好意思地红着脸。

12 travail   

n.阵痛；努力

参考例句：

• Mothers know the travail of giving birth to a child.母亲们了解分娩时的痛苦。
• He gained the medal through his painful travail.他通过艰辛的努力获得了奖牌。

13 inevitably   

adv.不可避免地；必然发生地

参考例句：

• In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
• Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。

14 displeasing   

不愉快的，令人发火的

参考例句：

• Such conduct is displeasing to your parents. 这种行为会使你的父母生气的。
• Omit no harsh line, smooth away no displeasing irregularity. 不能省略任何刺眼的纹路，不能掩饰任何讨厌的丑处。

15 subdued   

adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He seemed a bit subdued to me. 我觉得他当时有点闷闷不乐。
• I felt strangely subdued when it was all over. 一切都结束的时候，我却有一种奇怪的压抑感。

16 rustling   

n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的

参考例句：

• the sound of the trees rustling in the breeze 树木在微风中发出的沙沙声
• the soft rustling of leaves 树叶柔和的沙沙声

17 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

18 simplicity   

n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯

参考例句：

• She dressed with elegant simplicity.她穿着朴素高雅。
• The beauty of this plan is its simplicity.简明扼要是这个计划的一大特点。

19 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

20 versatile   

adj.通用的，万用的；多才多艺的，多方面的

参考例句：

• A versatile person is often good at a number of different things.多才多艺的人通常擅长许多种不同的事情。
• He had been one of the game's most versatile athletes.他是这项运动中技术最全面的运动员之一。

21 annoyances   

n.恼怒( annoyance的名词复数 )；烦恼；打扰；使人烦恼的事

参考例句：

• At dinner that evening two annoyances kept General Zaroff from perfect enjoyment one. 当天晚上吃饭时，有两件不称心的事令沙洛夫吃得不很香。 来自辞典例句
• Actually, I have a lot of these little annoyances-don't we all? 事实上我有很多类似的小烦恼，我们不都有这种小烦恼吗？ 来自互联网

22 friction   

n.摩擦，摩擦力

参考例句：

• When Joan returned to work,the friction between them increased.琼回来工作后，他们之间的摩擦加剧了。
• Friction acts on moving bodies and brings them to a stop.摩擦力作用于运动着的物体，并使其停止。

23 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。

24 unlimited   

adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的

参考例句：

• They flew over the unlimited reaches of the Arctic.他们飞过了茫茫无边的北极上空。
• There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris.在技术方面自以为是会很危险。

25 painstaking   

adj.苦干的；艰苦的，费力的，刻苦的

参考例句：

• She is not very clever but she is painstaking.她并不很聪明，但肯下苦功夫。
• Through years of our painstaking efforts,we have at last achieved what we have today.大家经过多少年的努力，才取得今天的成绩。

26 practitioner   

n.实践者，从事者；(医生或律师等)开业者

参考例句：

• He is an unqualified practitioner of law.他是个无资格的律师。
• She was a medical practitioner before she entered politics.从政前她是个开业医生。