Basic HTML Version
In the Sickroom
149
Sunlight, Ventilation, and Temperature
To afford the most favorable conditions for recovery, the patient
should be placed in a large, sunny room, with opportunity for thor-
ough ventilation. Many houses have no special provision for proper
ventilation, and to secure it is difficult, but every possible effort
should be made to arrange the sickroom so that a current of fresh air
can pass through it night and day.
So far as possible an even temperature should be maintained in
the sickroom. A thermometer should be consulted. Those who have
the care of the sick, being often deprived of sleep or awakened in
the night to attend to the patient, are likely to feel chilly and are not
good judges of a healthful temperature.
Diet
An important part of the duty of those who attend the sick is
to supervise the patient’s diet. The patient should not be allowed
to become unduly weak through lack of nourishment, nor should
the enfeebled digestive powers be overtaxed. Care should be taken
to prepare and serve food that will be palatable, but wise judgment
should be used in adapting it to the needs of the patient, both in
quantity and quality. In times of convalescence especially, when the
appetite is keen, before the digestive organs have recovered strength,
there is great danger of injury from errors in diet.
Duties of Attendants
Nurses, and all who have to do with the sickroom, should be
cheerful, calm, and self-possessed. All hurry, excitement, or confu-
sion should be avoided. Doors should be opened and shut with care,
and the whole household be kept quiet. In cases of fever, special care
is needed when the crisis comes and the fever is passing away. Then
constant watching is often necessary. Ignorance, forgetfulness, and
recklessness have caused the death of many who might have lived
had they received proper care from judicious, thoughtful nurses.