A dictionary of domestic medicine and household surgery / by Spencer Thomson.
- Thomson Spencer, -1886.
- Date:
- 1883
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A dictionary of domestic medicine and household surgery / by Spencer Thomson. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
710/736 page 690
![may be an-angod to intercept the water in most cases; and in others, a oasin with a semilunar part of its brim cut out, so as to fit the limb, or the side, or other part of the patient's body, ought to be used when much of this bathing has to be done every day. Basins of this kind made of metal, porcelain, and vulcanite, are sold by the instrument makers, and are so con- trived as to fit the irregularities of the surface of the various parts of the body. Anyone who tries to bathe a part with the ordinary basin and with such a basin as that described will appreciate the difference. In the one case the bed is probably deluged, and in the other, even though used by inexperienced hands, not a drop of water is spilt. MANAGEMENT OF DIFFERENT DISEASES.-It would be impossible, within the limits of an article like this, and even if it were possible, it would not be desirable, to enter into the management of the sick-room, in all the different diseases which flesh is heir to. It must be well known to all who have any experience of illness, that no two cases, even of the same disease, are ever quite alike, and that the management and treatment must also vary according to the symptoms presented by, and the peculiarities of, each particular case. Take, for instance, two cases of inflammation of the lungs, always an anxious, and sometimes a highly dangerous affection—one will proceed from beginning to end without any unfavourable symp- toms, and so long as he remains confined to bed, with scarcely any feeling of discomfort to the patient. In fact, so long as he remains quiet in bed, it is difficult to persuade him that he is ill at all, and, much more so, that he is the subject of a disease which oftentimes proves fatal. But another case of the same disease, under apparently the same external conditions, and in a person of, perhaps, the same constitution, will be accompanied from first to last by symptoms of the most distressing kind, both to the patient and to those by whom he is surrounded. Pain the most urgent, difficulty of breathing, and delirium, may be present during the greater part of the progress of the disease. The greatest uneasiness, suffering, and distress may be felt by the patient, and he may either, after great care and long anxiety on the part of his physician and attendants, make a slow recovery, or death may put] an end to the struggle. It will be obvious how, in such a case, and, indeed, in all cases, the treatment and attention required will be as different as possible in the one case and in the other. Disease assumes very different aspects also when it attacks persons of diverse constitutions and in varying climates. Children are affected differently from adults, and many other difficulties might be mentioned, which prevent one from generalising upon the treatment of different diseases to a non-professional reader. Throughout the body of this article we have endeavoured to place before the reader some of the main points to be attended to in the management of the sick-room during the course of diseases of a general kind, and in the treatment of injuries and wounds. Attention has also been directed to what will be required in the conduct of cases requiring surgical operations, yet it has not been attempted to follow out the steps of management necessary during the course of any particular disease or even class of diseases. It may not be out of place, however, to take one or two instances or examples, which may serve as typical illustrations of their class, and to indicate, however imperfectly, the course of treatment re- quired. If one were to attempt anything like a classification of diseases, so far as their nursing was concerned, it would be found that it wUl agree pretty closely with the practical allotment of diseases which obtains in our general hospitals. Besides the great subdivisions of acute and chronic diseases, we would classify by themselves, medical and surgical cases ; fevers, and con- tagious diseases; cases of mental diseases; special diseases of women ; and diseases of children. Every medical man knows that in each and all of these departments are to be found nurses whose experience and skill is of great value, but yet who, for the management of any other disease, not falling under the class to which they have been specially trained and accustomed, are little better adapted than those who are comparatively inexperienced. The proof of this is, that when an experienced nurse in a surgical ward is changed to a medical one, and instead of managing patients with wounds and broken limbs, undertakes the charge of those with acute 690 a](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21713650_0710.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
