The Tuberculosis Nurse: Her Function and Her Qualifications: A Handbook for Practical Workers in the Tuberculosis CampaignLa Motte, Ellen N. (Ellen Newbold)
History
The Tuberculosis Nurse: Her Function and Her Qualifications: A Handbook for Practical Workers in the Tuberculosis Campaign
La Motte, Ellen N. (Ellen Newbold)
Tuberculosis -- Nursing; Tuberculosis -- Nursing -- United States -- History
=Withdrawal of Relief.= When relief is given with the understanding that
certain conditions be complied with, it should be withdrawn if this
compact be violated. The nurse is in a position to know of any breach of
faith, and should notify the agent accordingly. The objection is
sometimes raised that assistance given in this way is a bribe, or a
threat, or a means of coercion, and is therefore wrong. This rather
overstates the case. Let us say, rather, that under these circumstances
we have in our hands a powerful lever, by which mountains of ignorance
and prejudice may be removed. By the use of this lever, we can work
quickly and well for the best interests of the family and the community.
We constantly see families who are not on the poverty line, and over
whom we have no control, yet who are equally obstinate, ignorant, and
dangerous, and regret infinitely that we have no such lever as in the
case of patients who are below the poverty line.
When asking for relief, the nurse must be sure that her patients will
take advantage of it, and that she is not sending the agent on
wild-goose chases. Patients have sometimes been supplied with cots,
window-tents, reclining chairs, and other similar and expensive
articles, which they subsequently declined to use. An indifferent,
careless patient, unwilling to co-operate in any way, is not one for
whom to demand such an outlay.
=Milk and Eggs.= Ten years ago, milk and eggs for consumptives was an
integral part of the tuberculosis campaign. In those early days, they
were considered as necessary as was fresh air itself. They were
prescribed as a matter of routine, and if the patient could not afford
to buy them, they were at once supplied by some charitable association.
We have come a long way since then.
Attention has already been called to the fact that, in the past few
years, medical opinion has undergone a great change as to the value of
milk and eggs. This rich and highly concentrated food is considered far
less advantageous than was at first supposed. By reason of their fat
content (especially the case with eggs), they tend to cause indigestion,
always a serious complication in pulmonary tuberculosis. For this
reason, the old idea of living on enormous quantities of milk and eggs
has been largely abandoned. Some sanatoriums do not give them at
all—other food is substituted, equally nourishing but less apt to upset
the stomach. Yet the idea that they are necessary for consumptives dies
hard.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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