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Show I If the Doctor Ordered It, W3ULDt)u Know How i SN'F. of the things which the war I QJj I-. i much as an: mmM for ill ness a! horn : W hile a trained nurse has always been considered something some-thing of a luxury for nennlemf limited means, even those who canJfTord to pay a nurse's salary when there is illness ill-ness in the home will find that these women arc very hard to obtain. And so it seems timely that a few words on ohcying the doctor's orders should be i given to those of the household who must take the place of a nurse dirring sickness, whether it be light or serious, short or long. And the very first thing that the home nurse remember is this to really obey the doctor's orders. It is surprising whal a nuniber of people there arc (thil i" a doctor's own statement) who mauler a doctor worth consulting and paying for his advice and thn ahso-. ahso-. lutcly ignore his orders. If the doctor prescribes a certain medicine, pive it by .-ill means and do not switch off to something suggested by a friendly caller. call-er. Now the ideal home nurse will keep fc' ttbtf Sit ihow the d -y! tor each time he calls. While it rna not be as professional as the charts of the trained nurse it will answer the purpose pur-pose for most eases of home illness; where (he case is a very serious one trie hi p tal i- always better than the ad m -iistrations of an amateur nurse Usually the doctor will ask for the hourly record of the pulse, temperature, r mration. and an account of the con-ditioti con-ditioti of the bowel, and vomiting it tint is a symptom of the illness Don t trust your memory for these details, hut write them down epch hour If there is medicine to be administered, keep some ort of a reminder of this and give it on the minute specified. Keep note of any other directions which the doctor may give. Disease, even the slightest touch of it. is too serious a thing to be treated treat-ed lightly, and the best of human memories mem-ories is faulty Now suppose the doctor told you to kfcp a record of the pulse, would you know how to do it' It is laughable to see the amateur grab the wrist and try to feel the pulsations of the artery with a tight thumb The wrist of the patient I' ADOPTION W U IrXj PON in ve -tig.il ton ou'll find that ; A I III ' I ll try. and Sl certain p-" ing the past century', there ) BH .fr-' '""'T" been "epidemic " r.f adopting children i . .' 'c -,',A ' ..- .' JWPW It has been done here not rml y IwBBSW. HHB& wartime, but by many hi- ! per- IfHHBV. A , " ' :?V''" sons who have "more and more to VBBsBEH I pnrr i'.i! t'-.e . r r-1 1 i - vi .'vi' - jf ' I ' , fortunate little girl or boy who lacks a A parent's care s " L$-: ' J A western woman was heard to r. YBBHji Ai- " mark that children are the greatest as- 'fi'V-j .: . - set that a ranch owner ran have ' ' They are useful in the development N - ' Sj of the country as it grows older, and " they do away with the awful lonesome- , Al I ft ress of the plains and of the isolated , y-y r -- (fc"rr2Z dZ9 w" - 'v. wVvJ II VP rancher's shack OjeJ p "SV llJf They are an encouragemer t L Z, 7J,,Zc2 P SZJ?S,Z?SS4 Z S OS? - 5!S2 C farmer to build with an id i of coi Jj? , m for his little familv flpWM nKfJ is held very loosely while the two first fingers of the nurse's hand are allowed to fall very" lightly over the artery, which beats just below the thumb The puKe should never be counted while the patient pa-tient is excited, that 1. why doctors usually make it as casual a process as possible, so as to ret the pulsations under un-der normal conditions The normal pulse of a healthy person runs from 78 to 86 Keats a minute In recording the pulsations. Mate whether thev are regular regu-lar or "stringy." strong or week fast or slow. Can yon tell whether a person ' fever without a thermometer' Many persons can by simplv feeling tnc face with the palm of the hand If the face is dry and burning, that is a sign of fever, fe-ver, of course. Another wav to test the patient for fever without a thermometer is to frl under the armnit wh the hand. This p?rt of the bodv will ofte-register ofte-register fever while the face is gill cool. Lots of doctors nlaee the thermometer ther-mometer u-ider the armpit if the patient is a child or delirious and apt to hite the gl.-'s tube T' is wc! h nvever, to have a thermometer in (he home medicine chest and to know how to use it. Be sure that it is nbsolutelv clean before "ii put it in the patten s mou'h. and that the mercurv does not register nior: than normal about 83o degrees, usually mr-rkerl on the thermometer with a red line or marl: of some sort Leave the tube in the patient's mouth for a few minutes and then record what M router'. The respiration is vers important in many diseases, especially those of the chest and lungs The normal respira-fon respira-fon runs from 18 to 24 a minute The nee and fall of the chest can sometimes he ourted with the naked eve. bur it i' often neccssarv to lay the head very trenily on the chest and listen for the breathing. You can tell in this way whether it is labored or weak, too fast or too slow, winch should all be recorded record-ed The doctor often asks you to note the condition of the tongue Vou should then rrcord whether it is coated and dry', of a brownish color, or red and glossy A mustard plaster seems like a very simple order, and probably a doctor would never dream that any woman did not know how to make one, yet, I am sure, that a great many do not knoiv how to prepare the mustard plaster properly. A doctor of experience recommends rec-ommends that two parts of flaxseed be mixed with one part of dry mustard ; the flaxseed where most people use flour proves less sticky and brings better bet-ter results A paste is made of the flaxseed and mustard and cold water, which is spread on a thick piece of muihn and covered with a piece of chee-ecloth. The plaster is applied with the cheesecloth next to the skin. Thil should be left on from ten to twenty minutes. It should not be allowed ti. blister the skin, but should it irritate too much, .ipply cold cream or the while of an egg afterwards. Occasionally, as in the case of severe se-vere headaches, high fever and chrome appe:id;r.tis cold compresses are ordered or-dered These may be prepared in several sev-eral waj s. but perhaps the best is to place .1 block of ice in a basin with a small amount of water around it and I olding old linen to two or three thicknesses, thick-nesses, apply one compress while the other is getting cold on the ice. A hot footbath is best given to the patient as she is seated on the side of the bed, well protected from draught otid cold. The water should be kept as hot as possible by adding to it from time to time The we,ht of an ice cap should never be allowed to fail on the head of the patient -Make a bandage around the csp and pin it to the pdlow, so that it just touches the head without resting rest-ing on it These are some r( the most common things which the doctor will order and probably not think it necessary to explain. ex-plain. For anything more involved he v. ill most likely give more explicit directions. di-rections. The home nurse should al-s al-s remember these things, too. that in the case of sickness there can not be any ?u.:h thing as too much cleanliness, too much fresh air or too much quiet for the sick person. reus |