Some of the necessary qualifications for serving mankind as a Christian Science nurse are given by our revered Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, in Science and Health (p. 395), where she writes: "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 the Manual of The Mother Church our Leader further says (Art. VIII, Sect. 31), "A member of The Mother Church who represents himself or herself as a Christian Science nurse shall be one who has a demonstrable knowledge of Christian Science practice, who thoroughly understands the practical wisdom necessary in a sick room, and who can take proper care of the sick."
The strict and conscientious observance of these instructions is a moral obligation to be fulfilled by those who are called to serve in this capacity. The very fact that our Leader considered such a form of activity necessary, and in her great love and wisdom provided for it, is great cause for gratitude and love to all concerned—patients, practitioners, and nurses.
The thought underlying the nursing work must always be love for God and man. If the nurse has already cared for patients previous to her study of Christian Science, she has had plenty of opportunity to convince herself of the inadequacy and impotence of material medication. Moreover, she is now ready to abandon useless material knowledge and its arguments. But she may retain from her experience whatever she was able to gain of "the practical wisdom necessary in a sick room."
