The Republican., 1925-09-03
The Public Health Nurse and Tu-
berculOSiS,

Because tuberculosis causes more
deaths than any other communicable
disease, in Maryland, every year, care
and prevention of the great white
plague have an important part in the
work Of the public heath nurses thru
out the State.
- "The activities of the public health
nurse, in the fight against tuberculo-
sis, are largely educational" said Miss
c. Ethel Monroe, the advisory nurse
of the State Department of Health, in
a recent interview, "for only through
a well grounded knowledge of the dis
ease can individuals help to combat it.
Although the program may vary in
some of the localities, the general pro-
cedure in this particular field is as
follows:
"The State law requires physicians
to report to the State Department Of
Health all cases they diagnose as tu-
berculosis. The nurse in the county
in which the patient resides is not
fed that this patient has been regis
tered as a tb case, and she is asked to
visit him. She first interviews the at
tending physician, obtaining his per-
mission to visit the case. When she
goes to the home, she talks to the pa
tient and tells him that cure is pos
sible if he plays the game and
carries out to the letter the rules laid
down by his physician.
"She tells him that the germs caus-
ing the disease are in the sputum and
the discharge from the nose, and that
they are scattered by coughing and
sneezing. She shows him that by the
simple method of coughing, sneezing,
or splitting into paper napkin and
placing the napkin in a paper bag
that can be burned, the germs are
destroyed and his loved ones protec-
ted.
"The nurse also points out the ne
cessity for providing separate dishes
for the patient and for having these
dishes boiled after each meal; for
having the patient sleep alone in a
room that is well ventilated; and for
having him remain as much as possi-
BILE in the open air. She explains the
danger in kissing; she urges the ne
cessity for cleanliness by careful
sweeping and dusting by some damp
method and she advises as to the
proper disinfection Of the bed linen,
floor, walls, etc. She leaves at the
home a supply of the disinfectant
distributed by the State Department
of Health and demonstrates its use.
"The nurse impresses upon the pa
tient the necessity of rest, as ordered
by his physician, and if the doctor has
recommended that the patient be
treated in a sanatOrium, she makes
the necessary arrangements for the
patient to go, often helping to provide
the clothes required, if the case is a
needy one.
"After the patient has been taken
to the sanatorium, the nurse has an
equally important uutH 70 peIIOEI'
for the members of the patient S
family or the household in which he
has been living. Unless great care
is taken, there is always danger Of
the spread of the disease to the other
membes of the family, especially to
those who have been nursing the
patient. To be sure that no unsuspec-
ted cases have developed, the nurse
arranges with the family doctor. Of
at the neacst tuberculosis clinic, for
those who have been in contact with
the patient to be given a careful
medical examination Under the
joint auspices of the State Depart
ment of Health, and the Maryland
tuberculosis Association clinics for
the examination Of persons threatened
with, or suffering from tuberculosis,
are held in eyey county in the state,
so that service Of this sort is readily
available in every section. From Jan
uary to July Of this year, $50 cases of
Tuberculosis wcre registered from
these clinics.
Taking it All in all the work Of the
public health nurse IN connection with
tuberculosis is full Of h-lpfulacss and
hope