The matron's course : an introduction to hospital and private nursing / by Miss S.E. Orme.

  • Orme, S. E.
Date:
1897
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The matron's course : an introduction to hospital and private nursing / by Miss S.E. Orme. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by University of Bristol Library. The original may be consulted at University of Bristol Library.

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    hibited, also all cereals, peas, potatoes, parsnips, carrots, and beetroot. The first sign of improvement is a moist skin and an abatement of thirst ; less urine is passed, and it contains less sugar, the specific gravity also being lessened ; and the patient gains weight. If the disease does not yield to treat- ment the symptoms usually become aggravated, the sight becomes dim, complications take place, pneumonia comes on, and the patient sinks under diabetic coma or by gradual exhaustion. A person in health, as a rule, passes about fifty ounces of urine in twenty-four hours, but if suffer- ing from diabetes may pass as much as forty pints in the same time, and it will be the nurse's duty to measure this daily, and to report the quantity, the specific gravity, and the amount of sugar. She will also have to weigh the patient week by week. People suffering from this com- plaint should alwa}'s avoid wet and cold, and wear flannel underclothing, which should be frequently changed. When the amount of sugar has to be estimated daily, perhaps the simplest method of doing so is by yeast. Some of the urine taken from the total amount collected in the twenty-four hours is placed in a specimen glass, its specific gravity is taken and noted, and a piece of German yeast about the size of a pigeon's egg is placed in it ; the height of the urine in the glass should then