A guide to sick nursing in the tropics / by Andrew Duncan.

  • Duncan, Andrew, 1744-1828
Date:
1908
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: A guide to sick nursing in the tropics / by Andrew Duncan. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    45/182 (page 31)
    If there be constipation this should also be brought to his notice, but on no account should the nurse give purgatives without orders. The stools should, whenever passed, be examined for curds, in order to see if the milk be duly digested, or for sloughs. They should be covered over and saved^ for the doctor’s inspection. Where there is incontinence of fseces pads of absorbent wool, sprinkled with some antiseptic powder and enclosed in butter-muslin, should be placed beneath the patient, and burnt immediately after removal. The method of disin- fecting the stools will be described later on. As regards the urine, there may be retention, which, of course, must be brought to the visiting physician’s notice. After the catheter has been used, this must be scrupulously cleaned and steri- lised. Where there is incontinence of urine this must be reported, and especial care taken as regards bed-sores, all soiled clothing being at once removed. Tne bed-pan must be used from the first, and care must be taken not to bruise the patient with it. Tymiianites is best met with by the application of the turpentine stupe or by the long rectal tube. Sir Wm. Jenner used to direct a flannel roller to be placed beneath the patient, then a double layer of thin flannel, wrung out in very hot water with a drachm of turpentine mixed with the water, was applied to the abdomen and covered with the ends of the roller. Eyistaxis.—This may be troublesome. When it appears the nurse should raise the patient’s head on a pillow, and bathe his forehead and nose with ice- cold water. Should this not stay the bleeding, the doctor may have perhaps to plug the nostrils. Lung Complications.—We usually find a certain amount of bronchitis in a case of enteric, and this may cause much sleeplessness from the constant cough. A more formidable complication is pneu- monia. Where this occurs we must not allow the