Page:A short history of nursing - Lavinia L Dock (1920).djvu/395

379 APPENDIX II THE OATH OF HIPPOCRATES WITH TWO MODERN ADAP- TATIONS SOMETIMES USED IN NURSING SCHOOLS The practice of " swearing in" a member of a guild or profession is very old and is still continued as a tradition in some professional schools. The general feeling of the present day is against the requirement of any such pledge or oath. The examples quoted below are given for their historic interest and not be- cause they are believed to be an adequate expression of the present ideals of the nursing profession. The Hippocratic oath was framed by Hippocrates, the Greek "Father of Medicine," in the fifth century before Christ. There are several forms of the oath. The following translation is taken from a copy pub- lished by the Journal of the American Medical Asso- ciation: "I swear by Apollo, the physician, and ^sculapius, and Health, and All-heal, and all the gods and god- desses, that, according to my ability and judgment, I will keep this oath and stipulation : to reckon him who taught me this art equally dear to me as my parents, to share my substaoce with him and relieve his necessi- ties if required; to regard his offspring as on the same footing with my own brothers, and to teach them this art if they should wish to learn it, without fee or stipu- 379