Variety, Intervals of Feeding
Variety for those who are sick (after they are out of danger, and waiting for strength to return) is just as necessary as for those who are well, and for the same reason—that is, to furnish the body with all those substances required for perfect nutrition. Many think that because a person is ill, or an invalid, he must be denied all things that are good, and fed upon such dishes as well persons generally abhor, like water gruel, thin oyster stews, and half-cooked corn-starch pudding.
It is curious how such an idea should have been lodged in the mind, but it is probably a relic of the old treatment in the days before antiseptic surgery and the modern practice of medicine. Now, as soon as a patient is out of danger, careful feeding with a variety of wholesome, perfectly cooked, nutritious food—of course, wisely administered as to quantity—is an essential part of the treatment, and constitutes nearly the whole cure in some forms of disease of the nervous system.
The body, depleted and exhausted by long-continued sickness, is without resources, and must draw from food (and, of course, air) all those substances needed for repair and the restoration of bodily vigor. To insure this, different kinds of food are required, for no single one, not even milk, contains everything needed.[44] Fruits of various kinds, green salads and vegetables, fish, beef, and mutton should be used, as well as milk, eggs, chicken, and toast.
Ease in serving the sick is an accomplishment in a nurse, and a certain amount of seeming indifference is an advisable quality to cultivate. It is a good plan to take every possible care in preparing a meal for a sick person, and then to appear not to notice whether he eats; for sometimes sensitive people, in their desire not to disappoint, or in their endeavors to please, will eat when they do not care for food.
Endeavor to remember individual tastes, and try to gratify them; always do so when it is in your power, for these individual preferences are often true instincts of the individual nature striving to secure that which is best for it. If a man asks for the second joint of a fowl, don't take to him a cut from the breast, even though you may think it the choicest portion.
Food should be given at regular intervals. If a patient is very ill, the rule is to administer nourishment in small quantities and often. Sometimes a patient is too feeble to help himself to food, and then he must be fed by the nurse. When such is the case, she should be extremely careful, no matter what the pressure of other work may be, not to hurry him. Give him plenty of time,—first, that the food may remain in the mouth long enough to be mixed with the saliva, for saliva is one of the digestive juices; and second, so that it may be thoroughly masticated and broken; otherwise it will be thrown into the stomach in large masses, and may not digest at all.
The quantity of food given will always depend upon the condition of the person, and will consequently vary for each individual. Give rather too little than too much, with, of course, the understanding that there is always an abundance to be had. A little is often a challenge, especially to one of delicate appetite; a large quantity is always vulgar. It is much better to carry a second portion to one who needs it than to offer too much at first.
No exact and definite directions can be given for the serving of special dishes, for a nurse's resources in the way of china, etc., are so uncertain; but a few hints in regard to some principles that, no matter what the circumstances are, never change may be found of service.
For instance, water, lemonade, milk, milk-punch, and all other cold drinks are most healthful when cool, not ice-cold. Ice-cold water, ice-cold milk, and all chilled drinks are always forbidden for both sick and well, except in fevers, in extremely hot weather, and in unusual cases, when only a few spoons of liquid are taken. Even in these cases it is a question whether cool liquids would not do as well. We all know the danger of taking a large quantity of ice-cold drink when overheated. Even death has frequently resulted from it.
Serve tea, coffee, cocoa, bouillon, broth, gruel, and all hot drinks in cups which are hot, not lukewarm. Soup as a part of a meal should be served in a covered silver dish when practicable, for silver may be made very hot, and no other is so pretty. In lieu of silver use a covered china dish, or a bouillon-cup made hot in an oven beforehand. Remember that the warmth of all these foods is one of their valuable qualities.
Beef-juice and beef-tea may be offered in a red wine-glass, to conceal the color, which is sometimes at first unpleasant to those unaccustomed to the use of rare beef; but the taste of these is so acceptable and savory that, after taking a few spoons, the objection vanishes.
Cups and tumblers ought not to be filled to more than within a half inch of the top. The best argument for this custom is, that it is considered good form; but there is a good reason back of it, as is the case in most other established customs. If a cup be filled to the brim it cannot be moved without spilling the liquid over the outside; this occasions wiping, which it is especially difficult to do, and waste of a certain portion of the contents; then it is not easy to drink from a cup so filled.
Fruits, such as oranges, grapes, peaches, and tomatoes, should be served cool, but not cold or chilled. The ideal way to eat fruits is without artificial cooling. A peach is never so delicious as at the moment it is gathered from the tree, just ripe, and tomatoes have the finest flavor eaten directly off the vines; but it is seldom that these fruits or others can be so obtained, and we, knowing that fruits do not keep well except in cool places, are apt to associate a certain degree of coolness with them. The objection to serving fruits very cold is that, besides the fact that they are not as readily digested so, their delicate flavor is lost, for the cold contracts the sensitive papillæ of the tongue, and thus the power of tasting is temporarily deadened.
Oranges, peaches, and plums may be used uncooked, as they are extremely easy of digestion so, and also grapes, unless there is objection to the seeds, in which case they should be cooked, and the seeds strained out. Apples and pears are safer cooked; tomatoes may be eaten either way.
Transparent jellies are pretty served in glass dishes, and ice-cream, sherbets, and ices in china saucers, or ice-cream dishes of pink, or other delicately warm colors. Ice-cream, uncolored, in shell pink, is much more attractive than it is in cold mauve or green. Water-ices, which usually have color of their own, may be served in dishes to match it. Raspberry or strawberry ice is lovely in dull rich red; apricot ice in yellow—that is, a certain shade of écru which harmonizes with the color of the fruit—and pineapple and lemon ice in Dresden ware are very pretty.
Eggs should be opened into a hot, though not very hot, egg-glass. It is the proper thing to do so even when a patient is well enough to open them for himself, for, although the supply may have been obtained from the very best sources, there is always the risk that some of the eggs may be old, too old to be good.[45]
Oysters in the half-shell are served simply with salt, pepper, and lemon-juice, or horse-radish. A quarter or a half of a lemon is placed on the oyster-plate with the oysters, and after the salt and pepper are sprinkled on a few drops of lemon-juice are squeezed over each oyster, or a bit of horse-radish is placed on each.
Broiled oysters may be served with a sauce of melted butter, seasoned with salt, pepper, and lemon-juice or vinegar.
Toast is particularly acceptable with nearly all kinds of cooked oysters, and fancy shapes, such as tiny rounds, squares, and points, are excellent with stews, soups, and roasts, instead of crackers.
Dry toast ought to be eaten directly off the toaster, and, except in serious illness, butter may be given with it. Orange, gooseberry, raspberry, and other marmalades, currant, apple, and grape jellies, and baked sweet apples or apple-sauce, are excellent with either dry or water toast. Cooked apples in any form are delicious with milk and cream toasts.
It is the fashion just now to serve junket, slip, soft custard, lemon cream, tapioca cream, and similar delicate desserts in cups and saucers, not glasses. The quainter the pattern of the china, the prettier the effect.