The nurse, the patient and treatment
Five qualities needed to attend to the sick.
Five qualities of a patient
Numerous people from every background came to the Buddha with questions on every conceivable issue. For example, he said five qualities were needed to attend the sick whether doctors, nurses, attendants, friends or family members. The qualities were the capacity to:
offer the proper medicine
knows what is beneficial for the patient
gives loving kindness to the patient (rather than just working for money)
does not experience repulsion at the sight of faeces, urine and vomit
and inspire and gladden the patient with words of wisdom.
The Buddha said such an attendant is qualified to serve the needs of the patient. (A. iii 145).
He went onto say that a patient is easy to take care of who does:
what is beneficial
observes moderation
takes her/his medicine
discloses all her/his symptoms to the kind attendant
reporting if s/he is getting better or worse
and patiently endures the different kinds of bodily pain.