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
On the one hand are those who direct their efforts toward the
annihilation of the tubercle bacillus. We are sufficiently instructed
about the life history and habits of this organism to lay our plans upon
a firm, scientific basis—a basis so firm and at first sight so simple
and so plausible that over-enthusiasm led to predictions that have been
sadly disappointed. The principles are sound indeed, but in practice
their application has met with insuperable difficulties. These
obstructions have sharpened our wits to find new avenues that now
promise a more ready approach to the goal. To put the matter briefly,
the tuberculosis campaign of the past fifteen years has taught us two
important lessons: first, that the tuberculous cannot be isolated in
their homes; second, that they cannot be cured in or out of sanatoria. I
am shocked myself to read these bald statements, particularly the
second, and still I am convinced that they are true. Some patients can
be isolated in their homes, and many patients recover from tuberculosis
and remain well. Tuberculosis is very amenable to treatment and under
proper conditions the results of treatment are very gratifying. The
difficulty is that the proper conditions are in most instances wanting,
and when they are absent sanatorium recovery is almost invariably
followed, after a brief period, by relapse. The records of cases with
tubercle bacilli in the sputum establish this fact. Concerning the value
of statistics of cases without tubercle bacilli in the sputum I
entertain the gravest doubt. While I am heartily in favour of treating
such patients, the personal equation enters too largely into the
diagnosis to give the results convincing value as evidence of the
lasting benefits of treatment. Experience has taught me that the
educational value of sanatoria has been grossly exaggerated, and that
this value is of small account in a broad plan of prevention. Our
present knowledge, fortified by the costly experience of the past
fifteen years, forces us to believe that the most direct and effective
way of dealing with the tubercle bacillus is to isolate as many advanced
consumptives as is possible. The hospital, perhaps supplemented by
colonies, is the rational method of procedure. Other factors are of
importance; all other factors are, but this is the fundamental and
essential factor in the campaign.
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