HOME-NURSING.
BY A LADY.
THIRD ARTICLE.
In our last paper we spoke of the choice of a sick-room; we shall now proceed to discuss its management. In commencing to nurse a case that promises to be anything like lengthy, it is well to consider how to save unnecessary dust and unnecessary labour, whilst keeping the room in its proper state of cleanliness. With this end in view, heavy woollen draperies, retaining dust and bad smells, should be avoided; and if curtains are used at all, they should be of lace, or some light, washing material. The best chairs are those with simple wooden frames and cane seats and backs. Should a sofa be necessary, and a regular invalid couch not procurable, nothing is better than a chair-bed—provided it does not creak—fitted with washing-covers to its cushions. Much has been said for and against the use of carpets in a sick-room; and taking all into consideration, we see no reason for changing our opinion that, in ordinary cases, it is better to let them remain; they make a room pleasanter and more natural, and do away with the noise of scrubbing, incidental to a boarded floor.
If there are cupboards, they should be cleaned out before beginning to nurse, and in no case must they be used as receptacles for food or for anything that has become soiled in using. A chest of drawers is a comfort if used with discretion; but in home-nursing, it often proves the reverse of useful, and serves as a treasury for all sorts of things which have no business in a sick-room.
Pictures have a brightening effect, but they must hang straight, or your patient may worry himself with endless efforts to make them fit in with the pattern of the paper; though, if possible, the paper should be without those decided markings which so often add to the distress of unduly sensitive nerves.
Growing-plants have a cheerful look, and are not deleterious, as many suppose; cut flowers may also be indulged in, with the exception of those which have a heavy, sickly smell; but it is better to remove them at night. In summer, it is necessary to take precaution against the patient’s being disturbed by the buzz of insects; a fly-catcher at the open window will generally be sufficient; but such things in the room itself are worse than useless.
Small washable ornaments may be allowed to remain, but not to a greater extent than suffices to give the room its customary appearance, for it must be remembered that all useless articles increase the number of dust-receptacles and make the process of tidying-up more lengthy. I have seen mantel-boards and brackets covered with cloth, and literally crowded with ornaments, which have not been properly dusted for weeks because it made the patient sneeze! Such instances point the moral in regard to cloth-coverings as well as superfluous ornaments.
A folding-screen is an almost indispensable article of sick-room furniture; it not only serves to keep off draughts and the glare of the fire, but in convalescence is useful for putting round the invalid’s chair. By its help, too, ventilation is made so much easier, that, if nothing pretty and ornamental is to be had, it is worth while to extemporise a screen with an ordinary clothes-horse and sheet; but a chintz or holland cover, bound with braid and made to tie on, is much more cheerful than the dull expanse of a sheet.
And now for the most important article of furniture, the bed, on which depends so much of the patient’s comfort or discomfort. If possible, have a light iron frame without a foot-rail, or with only a low one. For an adult, the bed should measure not less than six feet three inches in length and about three feet in width. Greater width increases the difficulty of reaching the patient, and it is astonishing the journeys such a thing as a handkerchief will make over a large surface of bed. The height of the bed is another serious consideration, for should it be too low, the nurse will find it add considerably to the back-aching tendency of nursing; and if too high, the constant straining up to the patient will be quite as bad. The rule then, is, that the bed when made shall be so proportioned to the nurse’s height as to enable her to lift and attend to the patient without any undue effort. In home-nursing, the bed question is often overlooked altogether, or made much more of a difficulty than it need be; and though that relic of unenlightened days, the four-poster, is almost extinct in some households, most of the beds are large, and to alter the furnishing of a room seems beyond the imagination of the ordinary housekeeper. But surely, in time of illness, the first consideration should be how best to mitigate the patient’s sufferings and lighten the nurse’s labours; and in all but quite slight cases, it is worth considerable effort to secure the right kind of bed and bedding. This brings us to another home-nursing difficulty; for in spite of recent progress in hygienic knowledge, there are still not a few individuals who are foolish enough to prefer the unwholesome softness of a feather-bed to the healthy firmness of a good hair mattress. Yet few victims to this enervating habit fail to complain of the lumps, only to be got rid of by a large expenditure of strength and time. And if this be so in ordinary life, how much more complicated do matters become when the patient is too weak to bear to be removed for the necessary shaking, and is yet in a state to feel every discomfort with added force. Indeed, so true is this, that in serious illness, a feather-bed may be reckoned as an invincible enemy to comfort and cleanliness; and it is better not to allow your patient to remain under such unfavourable circumstances, even though it involve a few hours of dissatisfied grumbling. It may make things easier if the change is ushered in by allowing the feather-bed to remain under the mattress till the patient has become accustomed to the new order of things, when it will be well to substitute flock for feathers.