Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-01-08

take, I nearly always find that the!
sweep the room with damp broom In
set of dishes for the patients specia
use. But that is not always the case
Sometimes I find cases where the patient
is forced to sleep with some one else.
say forced. as l suppose an insufficient,
supply of cover and even beds is the
principal cause, rather than a stubborn
disregard for their improvement, not to
mention the safety of the rest of the
household. There are times when the
condition of the house in which a pa
t1ent lives is such as to prevent his re-
covery Whenever we can we send tu-
bercular cases to the hospital"
But perhaps worst of all are the trou-
bles which confront the nurses on infant
mortality.
Il sometimes have a hard time" re-
marked one nurse. making mother
understand that coffee, cabbage and such
things are not the proper food for very
young baby. They seem to think he
should have anything he can see and
cry for. We have cards that we distrib-
ute to the mothers. On them are fifteen
rules which should be followed in caring
for the baby. On the back is a list OF
the various dfspensarieS in the city, the
milk stations, and also recipes for making
barley water. This Is made attractive
with the pictures of five little babies
heads. l find the card an aid in my
work, as In many cases l see it tackled
to the wall or in some other convenient
place. Most Of the mothers are anxious
to have US look after their babies. and
are quick to send postal card or to tele-
phone. asking one of the nurses to come
SICK
X *
AS to the work which confronts a nurse
each morning, it can best be described by
one of them.
Il began my daily round Of visits about
$3.50. carrying in as small space as pos
sible all those things which / would be
likely to need, and proceeded to my first
case. 1t was visit to an old man lying
in bed with his right side entirely par
alyzed. His wife had gone to work.
after having tdied the room. There was
no fire. and the man said he had had
no breakfast. I sent boy to the diet
kitchen for pint of soup and referred
the case to the Associated Charities.
They sent fuel and food. Next l Wis
tied a convalescing pneumonia patient.
I bathed the patient, changed the cotton
jacket. recorded temperature, pulse and
respiration.
81 next visited a case where the pa
tient had an abrasion on the neck He
was receiving treatment from one of the
dispensaries, and I showed him how to
carry out the prescribed treatment of
the doctor. and had milk and eggs sup
piled. Saw three children i'll with
measles. and one convalescing from
typhoid. With assistance Of mother,
baths were given all four. Recorded
temperature and pulse. Instructed moth
err, and had eggs, beef tea and linen from
the loan closet supplied.
"Theu came the daily call to the police
station to get the new calls from the
physicians to the poor. It was row
about 100. I then went to the ONCE
and got what new cases had been re-
corded there. After looking over the
contents Of my bag and adding what was
needed, I left for my afternoons calls.
I saw young girl dying with consump-
ton, suffering intensely with pain. short
ness of breath and high fever. Alcohol
bath given. patient rubbed, and milk
punch given.
Next came a walk Of fourteen blocks
to the northern limit Of my district. to
the case Of a young girl. aged twelve.
typhoid patient. Very feverish and Sc
we're pain in back of head: ice bag ap-
piled to head. and alcohol bath given:
clean linen loaned: noted general con-
dition and instructed mother. Car ride
of ten blocks to a new case. Here a
sick child Of five years was found. High
fever and catarrhal symptoms. Mother
was told that disease was highly con-
tagious, and that child must be kept in