Love Over Scotland - Alexander Hanchett Smith [126]
“You are Nurse Forbes, I take it,” said Irene. Nurse Forbes smiled. “Yes, I am. Please come in. Did doctor send you?”
Irene winced. She did not like the doctor to be referred to simply as “doctor”; it was so condescending to the patient, as if one were a child.
“Yes,” she said. “My doctor sent me.” There was a great deal of emphasis on the possessive.
Nurse Forbes invited Irene to sit down. This, she thought, is the typical patient for the area. Thinks she knows everything. Will condescend, if given the chance. But she knew how to deal with people like Irene.
“I’ll just take a few details,” said Nurse Forbes. “Then we can have a wee talk.”
Irene sat down. “I don’t have a great deal of time,” she said.
“I was planning to come to those classes you’re running.”
“You’ll be very welcome,” said Nurse Forbes. But she would not. This sort of person tended to be disruptive, and sometimes she wondered why they came at all.
“The classes are quite well-subscribed. I think that people find them quite useful,” she said.
“I’m sure they are,” said Irene.
“But if there are any particular issues you’d like to raise with me privately,” said Nurse Forbes, “please do so now. Sometimes people have concerns that they don’t like to raise in front of others.”
264 No More Nonsense, Nurse Knows Best
Irene nodded. “There are,” she said. “I do have some questions . . .”
Nurse Forbes raised a hand. “But first we need to go over one or two things,” she said. “You know, diet issues. General health matters.”
“I have a very healthy diet,” said Irene. “You need have no worries on that score. And I take all the necessary supplements.”
Nurse Forbes looked up sharply. “Supplements?”
Irene smiled tolerantly. Nurses could not be expected to understand dietary issues. “Shark oil capsules. Slippery elm. Red raspberry. Wild yam,” she paused. Nurse Forbes was staring at her. Would she have to explain each of these?
“Why are you taking these . . . these substances?” Nurse Forbes asked.
Irene took a deep breath. It was going to be necessary to explain after all.
“As you may know,” she began, “modern foods are lacking in certain important constituents. This is a result of farming techniques which . . .”
No More Nonsense, Nurse Knows Best 265
“During pregnancy,” Nurse Forbes interrupted, her voice raised, “during pregnancy, mother should eat a healthy, balanced diet. She should not – and I repeat not – take non-medicinal supplements, herbal remedies and the like. These may be harmful to both mother and baby. And we do not want baby to be harmed, do we?”
Irene was silent. This would be risible, if it were not so insulting. Here was this . . . this bureaucrat, in her ridiculous uniform, telling me – me – what I should and should not take. And what did she know about slippery elm? Nothing. Nothing at all.
This woman, this ridiculous Nurse Forbes was the state. She was the local, immediate face of the state, presuming – yes presuming – to lecture me as if I were some sixteen-year-old first-time mother who subsisted on a diet of fish and chips. Absurd! They glared at one another.
For her part, Nurse Forbes thought: this woman thinks that she is superior to me, she really does. Nothing I say to her is going to make any difference. But I must be tolerant. There is no point in alienating people, even somebody like this. It’s tempting, but it’s just not professional. So, count to ten, and take it from there.
“Well, we can return to this issue some other time,” Nurse Forbes said quietly. “There is some literature I can pass on to you. But, in the meantime, have you discussed delivery