Studies in Ethics for Nurses

general. Poise of soul comes from careful thinking, from meditation on the great principles which affect personal life and living. It manifests itself in numerous ways. It is a thing to be striven for by every nurse. The possession of poise, or the lack of it, affects tremendously the estimation in which an individual is held by the people whose respect she desires to secure. It means more than self-control. A stoic may be self-controlled, but he may be absolutely without heart. He may be able to maintain a stoical demeanor because he is indifferent, absolutely unconcerned, as to the issues involved, even though they may be tremendously important to others. Self-control.?It is soon recognized that nurses need to cultivate the habit of not being easily excited. They quickly learn that self-control is indispensable. They should also learn that it does not necessarily mean a lack of sympathy or a callous indifferent disposition, but a mind and body brought under the control of the will and trained to express sympathy in a very practical way. An unknown writer in a city daily, writing on the subject of self-control, says: "Many an individual has seen fleeting opportunity elude his grasp because at the moment the self-control necessary to intelligent reaching was not his. "Self-control means precisely what it reads?the full command of yourself, the captaincy over your mind and body under military discipline. "It means to be able to hold yourself in c...