footholds, as a means to self-control, as a fitting for the sterner
hardships of self-support, of nursing the dangerously ill, alone, of
meeting suffering and death in her patients with quiet courage and
faith. In other words, she can meet the thousand and one personal
services which in themselves might be disagreeable and prove pure
drudgery, not merely with the stern will to do them because they are a
necessary part of obtaining a desired end, but also for the sake of
adding to the comfort and well-being of each patient in her care. The
emotion of interest and kindly desire will ease the strain which will
undergoes in demanding that she not shirk the disagreeable. For there is
little stress in doing what we wish to do.

It is psychologically possible to find genuine pleasure in the meanest
tasks if the doing is backed up by a strong desire to make life count as
much for others as possible. The nurse who comes to realize the waste
involved in carrying out against desire what _reason_ proposes and
volition dictates, will try to secure the co-operation of desire, and
save will-force for more worthy accomplishment.

A constant opportunity for will-strengthening comes to many a nurse
during the early weeks and months of training in the necessity of going
on despite the sheer tiredness, the weary backs and swollen, tender,
aching feet. The one who means to "see it through" disregards them as
far as possible on duty, gets all the out-of-doors her time permits,
takes special exercises to strengthen weak spots, and relaxes her body
while she reads or studies or visits in her off-duty time. In the end,
not only does her body adjust itself to the new work, but her will has
become a better ally for the next demands upon it; her endurance is
remarkably increased.

When she can accept hardship, drudgery, weariness of mind and body and
perhaps of soul, the nagging of unco-operative patients, and the demands
on her sympathies of the suffering; when she can meet these as
challenges to develop a strong will--a will not only to endure, but to
find happiness and give service through it all--then the nurse has
learned the art of making every circumstance a stepping-stone to mastery
and achievement.

CHAPTER XIV

THE NURSE OF THE FUTURE

The student of life and of the sciences which deal with the origin and
development of the human race, and with the relations of man to man and
nation to nation--such sciences as biology an