usy attendance is forced upon
the first patient, who wishes for nothing but to be "let alone," as that
the second is left to think himself neglected.

[Sidenote: Nurse must observe for herself increase of patient's
weakness, patient will not tell her.]

Again, I think that few things press so heavily on one suffering from
long and incurable illness, as the necessity of recording in words from
time to time, for the information of the nurse, who will not otherwise
see, that he cannot do this or that, which he could do a month or a year
ago. What is a nurse there for if she cannot observe these things for
herself? Yet I have known--and known too among those--and _chiefly_
among those--whom money and position put in possession of everything
which money and position could give--I have known, I say, more accidents
(fatal, slowly or rapidly) arising from this want of observation among
nurses than from almost anything else. Because a patient could get out
of a warm-bath alone a month ago--because a patient could walk as far as
his bell a week ago, the nurse concludes that he can do so now. She has
never observed the change; and the patient is lost from being left in a
helpless state of exhaustion, till some one accidentally comes in. And
this not from any unexpected apoplectic, paralytic, or fainting fit
(though even these could be expected far more, at least, than they are
now, if we did but _observe_). No, from the unexpected, or to be
expected, inevitable, visible, calculable, uninterrupted increase of
weakness, which none need fail to observe.

[Sidenote: Accidents arising from the nurse's want of observation.]

Again, a patient not usually confined to bed, is compelled by an attack
of diarrhoea, vomiting, or other accident, to keep his bed for a few
days; he gets up for the first time, and the nurse lets him go into
another room, without coming in, a few minutes afterwards, to look after
him. It never occurs to her that he is quite certain to be faint, or
cold, or to want something. She says, as her excuse, Oh, he does not
like to be fidgetted after. Yes, he said so some weeks ago; but he never
said he did not like to be "fidgetted after," when he is in the state he
is in now; and if he did, you ought to make some excuse to go in to him.
More patients have been lost in this way than is at all generally known,
viz., from relapses brought on by being left for an hour or two faint,
or cold, or hungry, after getting up