The care of the sick at home and in the hospital : a handbook for families and for nurses / by Th. Billroth ; tr. by special authority of the author by J. Bentall Endean.

  • Billroth, Theodor, 1829-1894.
Date:
1891
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The care of the sick at home and in the hospital : a handbook for families and for nurses / by Th. Billroth ; tr. by special authority of the author by J. Bentall Endean. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    16 inches high, and place the table over the legs of the patient in bed. It must stand securely on the mattress, and be so arranged that slipping off sideways is not possible. Any car- penter can make it. Even if this little contrivance comes into use only for a week it will afford considerable relief to the patient, and will protect the bed from being soiled by food. The nurse must not neglect to require patients to rinse the mouth after meals : particles of food remaining in a not too healthy mouth with a furred tongue, can, under some circum- stances, become really injurious. She must also examine the bed after meals to remove bread-crumbs, &c, which may otherwise annoy the patient. If so far recovered that he may read in bed, the nurse must insist upon his having good and suitable light. The light (daylight, gas, or lamp-light) must fall upon his book from behind, over his head. A small reading-desk can be placed upon the bed dining-table. If he sits in an arm chair, these various things must be attended to : one can scarcely con- ceive how much these little aids contribute to nurse his strength. The nurse must always know how to set a patient up com- fortably in bed. Generally, he is raised at the back a little, is supported by pillows, and so eats. If this arrangement makes him comfortable there is no objection to it, but it is really only lying high, not sitting. To place him in a sitting posi- tion, the patient is taken hold of below or by the pelvis, and then, with a quick, lifting movement, is pushed upwards in the bed; thus, stooping forward a little, he sits in the bed, the pelvis is upright, the hips are bent, and he is no longer recumbent. If strong enough, he can sit up of himself, but many persons require much attention before getting into the sitting posture. When bandaging the upper part of the body