General nursing / by Eva C.E. Lückes.

  • Lückes, Eva C. E. (Charlotte Ellis), 1854-1919.
Date:
1898
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: General nursing / by Eva C.E. Lückes. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    J 108 NUKSING. ICuAP. VIIL The same bags can be used, for the same ^patient, two or three times if the ice is put in carefully. A double supply of these bags should be employed, so that when one is removed the other can be instantly replaced, and the patient not disturbed twice. This is a greater consideration with small ice-bags, inasmuch as the ice melts quickly, and they have to be frequently renewed. In changing these little bags the extreme end should be cut off, for the purpose of refilling it with ice. The ice must, of course, be broken up into small pieces, to make it as little uncomfortable as possible for the patient. Always report at once if ice-bags cause persistent pain. Leiter's tubes are an invention for main- tubestaining a steady supply of cold to almost any part of the body for which it may be required. A pail of iced water is placed higher up than the patient, from which an indiarubber tube supplies the water to the coil of metal tubes placed on the patient. When the iced water has circulated through these, it is conveyed by another indiarubber tube to a vessel on the floor placed ready to receive it. A nurse should see from time to time that the water is flowing through properly, as the tube is a little apt to get stopped up and become ineffectual until a vigorous blow up the tube puts it all right again. A piece of lint must be placed between the patient and the metal tubes for the same reason that it is employed in the application of ice-bags. The paU containing the iced water must be neatly covered round with flannel, or some other material, to absorb the moisture which rapidly condenses on the outside of the pail, and which will otherwise drop on the bed, or the patient. Ice is best broken by any instrument that break°ice ^ ^^^^ point. For dividing small pieces noiselessly and quickly, there is nothing better nor more convenient than a strong needle. If a nurse wishes to