Stockton State Hospital

“ All persons employed in the Asylum are required to cultivate a calm and deliberate method of performing their daily duties—carelessness and precipitation being never more out of place than in an insane asylum. Loud talking, hurrying up and down stairs, rude forms of address to one another, and unsightly styles of dress, are wholly misplaced where everything should be strictly decorous and orderly.
6. In the management of patients, unvarying kindness must be strictly observed by all. ”

“ Those employed at the Asylum be expected to hold themselves in readiness for duty when directed by its officers; and the neglect of any labor, or duty, on the ground that laboring hours are over, or to hesitate, after proper direction, on such pretexts, will be regarded as evidence against the fitness of the employee for the place he or she may hold.
4. It must be remembered by all the employees, that their duties are peculiar and confidential, and that there is an obvious impropriety in disclosing the names, peculiarities, or acts of the inmates. ”

“ The Farmer will be careful to confer often with the Steward in reference to all matters pertaining to his charge, give timely notice as to all his wants, and he will be expected to be faithful and industrious in the use of every means in his power, to render the farm productive and profitable to the Asylum. ”

“ During the evening, after patients have retired, one Attendant or Assistant, shall always be present in each ward, to discover any disturbance, and administer to any necessity that may arise, and no Attendant shall ever leave the ward in which he or she is engaged, without informing an Assistant of his or her intended absence. During the day Attendants are expected to make the patients, and the patient’s clothing, and sleeping apartments, the objects of their most careful attention. ”

“ The two departments of the Institution—male and female—must always be separate to its employees, and no person, whose post of duty is exclusively in the one, shall ever be permitted to enter the other, unless some express or proper occasion shall demand it; and any one who shall discover, and not disclose, or who shall in any way encourage, an acquaintance between two patients, of opposite sex, will be held highly culpable for such misdemeanor, and will be forthwith dismissed from service. ”

“ Attendants are forbidden to make walking out with their patients a pretext for doing errands, or making calls for themselves, and they must not go to town with the patients, when the state of the roads and fields allow exercises in other directions, and they must be especially vigilant that patients, when out, do not obtain possession of any dangerous implements, matches, or other articles improper for them to have, and strict search must be made for such immediately on their return to the Asylum, and before they shall have time to secrete them in the wards. ”

“ No one can justly take offense when respectfully informed by the Superintendent, that his or her temperament is better adapted to some other employment; and those receiving such information should regard it as kindly given, that they may have opportunity to avoid the unpleasantness of being discharged. ”

“ While employees are not prohibited from occasionally visiting each other in their wards, it should never become a habit, and the indulgence is only allowed in view of the spirit of emulation, which may thus be encouraged by sometimes inspecting each other’s sphere of duty. ”

“ The Matron shall have charge of the female department of the Asylum. It will be expected of her to be with the female patients, in all the wards, as much as possible; see that they are kindly treated; that their food is properly cooked, served and distributed; that their apartments are kept clean and in good order, and properly warmed and ventilated; that the female employees attend to their duties in all respects, and report to the Superintendent any departure, on their part, from the rules and regulations of the Institution. ”

“ All making of dresses, working of embroidery, or any mechanism, for the use of employees, is prohibited, unless by the special permission of the Superintendent; and no employee of the Institution shall ever make any bargain with any patient, or his or her friends, or accept of any fee, reward or gratuity from any patient, or his or her friends, without the Superintendent’s consent. ”

“ Care must be taken that no patient carries away from the table a knife, fork, spoon, or any article of food, and, to be sure of this, the knives, forks and spoons should be counted after each meal, and search be made for any lost article. ”

“ Money, jewelry, or other valuables, shall be brought to the office for safe keeping—except where their retention by the patient is expressly permitted by the Superintendent or Assistant Physician. On the discharge, or removal, of a patient, the clothing in his or her possession, shall be carefully compared with the clothing account of said patient, that any losses may be discovered or accounted for. ”

“ Feelings of mutual good will, can, with few exceptions, be successfully cultivated between Attendants and those under their immediate care, and doubts may be justly entertained of an Attendant’s fitness, when these are wanting. ”

“ The clothing belonging to the patients, in each division, shall be deposited in a room, set apart for the purpose, the key of which shall be in custody of the Supervisor, and, at some particular hour of the day, the Supervisors shall be in attendance in their respective clothing rooms, to exchange, or supply, such clothing as the wants of patients may require, and Attendants are enjoined, not to call on the Supervisors, for that purpose, at any other times, if avoidable. Clothing required for daily use, shall be kept in the ward closets. ”

“ As the Farmer will be held responsible for the safe keeping of all grain, hay, straw, bran, shorts, cattle, hogs, horses, farming implements, or anything else connected with the farm, the Steward will see that no such article is left at the Asylum, unless received by himself in person, or by the Farmer. ”

“ They shall have the care of the clothing of the patients, and the bedding, table linen, towels, etc., of their respective divisions. On the arrival of a patient at the Institution, whatever clothing is brought shall be committed immediately to the Supervisor of the division to which the patient is sent. A clothing account shall be opened for each patient, in a book provided for the purpose, in which shall be entered every article brought to the Institution, including what may be on the patient’s person, and, also, whatever may afterwards be received or purchased for the patient’s use. ”

“ When spoken to, mild, pleasant and persuasive language must never give place to authoritative expressions of any kind. All threats, taunts, or other kinds of abuse in language, are expressly forbidden. ”

“ No employee will be permitted to appropriate to his or her use any article belonging to the Asylum, or purchased for the use of the patients, however small or comparatively valueless it may be. From the salary of the person so offending, the cost of the article will be deducted, and he or she dismissed from service. ”

“ Patients generally enter the wards with the thorough conviction that evil is intended them, and the first show of harshness or force, however slight, will confirm that impression, while kind assurances, and manifestations of sympathy, quickly disarm them of their false impressions, and the first great step in the way of cure is begun. ”

“ Some very plain food should be kept in the dining-room closets, for the use of those whose meals may have been interrupted, or for old persons, or for convalescent patients, who sometimes require food oftener than under ordinary circumstances. ”

“ The Farmer, under the direction and control of the Steward, shall have under his immediate charge, the lands used for farming purposes; the farming implements, the horses, cattle, hogs, chickens and produce of the farm, together with the hay, grain, straw, etc., purchased and delivered at the Asylum.
2. He will keep a book, in which, under the head of General Accounts, he will charge the farm with, the wages paid for labor, and the labor performed by the patients; the cost of farming implements; the amount paid for blacksmithing ”

“ Food that has been handled, or rendered unfit for use, shall be sent back in a receptacle provided for the purpose, but whatever is fit to be served in another form shall be carefully laid aside for future consumption. ”

“ The place of duty of those having charge of patients is in the wards, or in the yards, or in the garden with the patients. During the day and while the patients are out of their sleeping apartments, they have no business in their [7] rooms, except for a momentary errand to adjust their own clothing; and any employee who shall enter his or her room, and engage in reading, writing, entertaining visitors, or be otherwise off duty, will be acting in violation of rule.
10. The employees are not permitted to correspond with the friends of patients ”

“ Employees having charge of patients outside of the wards, whether for labor or exercise, will be held responsible for their safe return, unless, by the direction of an officer they shall be transferred to the charge of some other person ”

“ The Attendants should see that the patients indulge in no pernicious practices; those given to solitary habits must receive special attention, and, as far as possible, induced to participate in the pursuits and amusements of others. Indolent patients should be led about the wards and yards, and induced to join in exercises; those, on the contrary, who are weak, and restless, should be induced to take repose. ”

“ Those having charge of patients are particularly enjoined to abstain from mentioning to visitors the names of those in their charge, their peculiarities, or any other circumstances, a knowledge of which might be painful to persons connected with them. ”

“ It will be the duty of the Watchman to look after the heating apparatus during the night; he must be very watchful against fire, and in case of its occurrence, must report immediately to the Superintendent and officers without giving general alarm ”

“ He is expected, while on duty, to be faithful and vigilant; to visit every part of the male department, and the outer walls of the female department, at least every [18] hour during the night, making as little noise as possible, never conversing in a loud tone, and opening and shutting the doors as quietly as possible. ”