As there is a great difference between the Christian Science practitioner and the regular physician, so there is a great difference between the Christian Science nurse and the one who nurses according to the methods of medical practice. As some physicians, however, have given up these methods and become Christian Science practitioners, so some of the best Christian Science nurses have come from the ranks of hospital-trained nurses. In every case this has been so when the material view of God and man, of disease and of medicine, has been replaced by the spiritual view and it has been recognized, as Mrs. Eddy tells us on page 142 of Science and Health, that "Truth is God's remedy for error of every kind."
The Manual of The Mother Church (Art. VIII, Sect. 31) provides for the Christian Science nurse. He or she must be a member of The Mother Church and as such amenable to its discipline. In addition to a practical knowledge of the care of the sick, the nurse must have a demonstrable knowledge of Christian Science. This last qualification is necessary, in order that the nurse may better understand the patient and his difficulties, may cooperate intelligently with the practitioner; and more than all else, that the nurse's thought and presence may have that spiritual quality which aids in overcoming fear and in bringing peace and hope to the patient, as well as to the household.
In one case, when a disturbing element seemed to interfere with the work being done for the patient, the practitioner said to the nurse that nothing must be allowed to disturb her consciousness of Truth's healing power. This advice was heeded, the interference was overcome, and the patient was healed in a short time. This healing consciousness cannot exist unless the nurse understands in some degree the unreality of the disease which through material sense is deceiving the patient and those around him. A nurse was once reporting to the practitioner over the telephone some recurring conditions in a patient, when there came in gentle tones the reassuring message: "We won't let that deceive us." This case too was healed in a comparatively short time. And often afterward that simple but pregnant, remark was recalled and repeated with benefit to other patients.
On page 46 of the Manual of The Mother Church a rule for practitioners emphasizes the importance of holding in strict confidence all private information coming from the patient or from other sources. It is evident that this is very necessary, in order to shield the patient and remove all possible obstacles to his healing. This rule is equally applicable to nurses. There are some things which the nurse needs to know in order to do the best work and to keep the practitioner thoroughly informed. There are main things which the nurse cannot help discovering in her unavoidably intimate relation with the patient. But to repeat and discuss these things would be to betray a trust, and to emphasize and increase the very errors which should be destroyed. To deny mentally and to reverse this false material evidence, and to "look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen," elevates the nurse's thought above much error and pettiness, enabling her to forget it all. This certainly lifts the burden and brings the good cheer and sunshine so essential in the healing work.
More than once it has been pointed out in our periodicals how important it is for practitioners to take sufficient time for reading and mental work for themselves. This is absolutely necessary if they would do their best work for others, and indeed in order to continue their work at all. It applies to all workers in Christian Science and is most important for nurses. The practitioners in charge of cases will not forget this, and it should be well remembered by the nurses and provided for by their employers.
Sometimes a nurse may be tempted to believe that her sphere of work is a narrow one, because she must devote all her attention and labor to one patient at a time, while the practitioner reaches a number each day; but upon further consideration, it is seen that her work reaches farther than would at first appear. She cannot help exerting more or less influence in the household in which she serves. If it is not a Christian Science household, though she be quiet and modest hers is really the highest and strongest influence there. It may reach one or more visitors, or even friends outside the home, and so bring some to see the healing and harmonizing power of divine Truth. Like the ever widening circles from a pebble thrown into the water, the influence of one loving worker may have no limit.
Again, it is necessary for the nurse to do a great deal of right thinking in order to keep her own thought clear. She is constantly confronted with the false evidence and arguments of error, and for the patient's sake, as well as for her own, she must mentally affirm the truth. Any one who is scientifically doing this is helping to reduce the sum total of error and thus adding to the sum total of good in human experience, and in this way helping all other Christian Scientists in their efforts to do likewise. It is encouraging to know that every true and loving thought, realized, reaches perhaps the whole world with its benediction.
It is to be remembered that, like all other Christian Scientists, nurses are human beings. Their work is constant while it lasts, and they are usually needed at night as well as during the day. Oftentimes it is in households where there is trouble and dismay that they are most needed, so they are likely to be placed under stress of circumstances. It is here that mental poise and strength of character appear. It is here too that faults and weaknesses are sometimes more prominent than under ordinary conditions. But there is an ideal for which all should be striving. On page 395 of Science and Health Mrs. Eddy says: "An ill-tempered, complaining, or deceitful person should not be a nurse. The nurse should be cheerful, orderly, punctual, patient, full of faith,—receptive to Truth and Love." In this last qualification lies the secret of the conversion to Christian Science of more than one nurse. Being receptive to Truth and Love, she cannot help seeing the great advantage to the patient of spiritual over material methods and of accepting the better way.
There is no greater opportunity for the cultivation of love, compassion, faithfulness, consideration for others, sacrifice, and complete self-immolation, than is afforded by the work of caring for the sick in Christian Science. As these qualities grow in character, the more impersonal view of the work comes to light, and the highest ideal may be brought out, in accordance with what our Leader calls (Science and Health, p. 567) "the more quiet task of imparting a sense of the ever-presence of ministering Love."
