Home nursing : with notes on the preservation of health / by Isabel Macdonald.

  • Macdonald, Isabel.
Date:
1909
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Home nursing : with notes on the preservation of health / by Isabel Macdonald. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    t CHAPTER III. THE SICK-EOOM. People seldom realise the wonderful effect which a patient’s environment has upon his condition. Often we find them quite content that his bed is fairly com- fortable and his food well cooked. To me it seems that an invalid’s surroundings count for much. Brightness and sunshine must have a wonderful effect on the nervous system during recovery from some serious illness, although, in its more acute stages, much shadow may have been necessary to give a restful atmosphere to the sick-room. The best out- look for a sick-room is a south-eastern one. Very often the patient is awake before any other mem- ber of the household, and I have often found the varying lights cast over the landscape by the rising sun giving much real pleasure. For a sick-room sometimes a southern aspect is said to be the best, but this gives us often the difficulty of having a very bright afternoon sun to contend with. Blinds may be drawn, but, if the patient is not very ill nor caring to sleep, these give a depressing effect. Much can be done at times by altering the bed in order that the fight may not cause glare in eyes easily strained because of weakness and ill-health. If the bed is light and narrow it is wonderful what variety one can sometimes give by occasionally changing its position m the sick-room. Of course while the patient is