Nurses' Papers on Tuberculosis :: read before the Nurses' Study Circle of the Dispensary Department, Chicago Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium — John Shaqi
Nurses' Papers on Tuberculosis :: read before the Nurses' Study Circle of the Dispensary Department, Chicago Municipal Tuberculosis SanitariumChicago (Ill.). Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium. Dispensary Department
Science
Nurses' Papers on Tuberculosis :: read before the Nurses' Study Circle of the Dispensary Department, Chicago Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium
Chicago (Ill.). Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium. Dispensary Department
Tuberculosis
The patient's clothing needs to be light but warm; where wool proves
irritating to the skin, a heavy linen mesh has been found a good
substitute, due to the fact that it dries quickly when the patient
perspires. The patient should have two good soap and water baths a week.
The nurse should let the family know when she is coming to give these
baths and explain to them that she expects them to have ready for her
towels, soap, clean bed linen, wash basin, wash cloths, newspapers and hot
water. Night sweats demand careful rubbing, first with a dry towel;
vinegar sponging is found to be very effective; alcohol rubs prevent bed
sores.
The hair, nails and teeth require special attention; beards and mustaches
should be shaved. Every patient must learn to use the tooth brush after
meals, that the mouth may be kept scrupulously clean. Gargling should also
be insisted upon. Tooth brushes can be kept in a 50 per cent Dobell's
solution, Liquor Antiseptic (U. S. P.), or a 2 per cent solution of
carbolic acid colored with vegetable green coloring matter as a warning
against swallowing. As an aid in hardening the gums, all foreign deposits
should be removed, the gums massaged by the patient and normal salt
solution used as a gargle. Where the patient is suffering from pyorrhea,
the gums may be painted, on the order of the physician, with tincture of
iodine (U. S. P.) or a 2 per cent solution of copper sulphate. While the
patient is learning to cleanse his mouth carefully after every meal, he
may also be instructed to avoid placing anything in his mouth, except
food, drink, gargling solution or tooth brush. The reason for using some
kind of mouth wash, instead of merely water, is because in that way the
need of cleanliness is more forcibly impressed upon the patient.
Such matters as the use of separate dishes, etc., are so well known to
every tuberculosis nurse that it is unnecessary to dwell on them at length
in this paper.
Difficulties always arise regarding proper method for the care and
disposal of sputum. The following are some of the plans adopted by
tuberculosis hospitals for advanced cases:
=1. Infirmary of Eudowood Sanatorium, Towson, Maryland.=
Pasteboard fillers in such quantities as will be required during
the current day are issued to the patients. When the filler
becomes not more than two-thirds full, it is carefully filled
with sawdust, wrapped in a newspaper, tied with a cotton cord
and deposited in a large galvanized iron bucket, in which it is
carried, with the others, to the incinerator.
=2. North Reading (Mass.) State Sanatorium.=
A room specially equipped for the disposal of sputum is
recommended. Paper sputum boxes are changed twice daily,
inspected as to character, quantity and presence of blood. Then
the box is filled with sawdust, wrapped in newspaper and carried
to the incinerator for burning.
=3. Montefiore Home Country Sanitarium, Bedford Hills, N. Y.=
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