4 ‘Hurting and caring’
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Barbara Brodie
Abstract
This chapter is a narrative history of the injured children, their families and the medical staff, particularly the nurses, who closely cared for them after a devastating school fire in Chicago. It examines the physical and the emotional care given to the younger patients and their families as they struggled with the devastating reality of the death toll of ninety-five victims and the immense suffering of many of the survivors. The success of burn therapy, both then and now, depends on the protection of the wounds from infections. Scrupulous nursing care required all personnel to wear sterile gloves, gowns and masks when caring for or visiting patients. The critically injured children received their initial burn care in the surgical suite where surgeons determined if the young patients required resuscitation and burn shock therapy, what percentage of their bodies was injured and whether they had sustained degree burns.
Abstract
This chapter is a narrative history of the injured children, their families and the medical staff, particularly the nurses, who closely cared for them after a devastating school fire in Chicago. It examines the physical and the emotional care given to the younger patients and their families as they struggled with the devastating reality of the death toll of ninety-five victims and the immense suffering of many of the survivors. The success of burn therapy, both then and now, depends on the protection of the wounds from infections. Scrupulous nursing care required all personnel to wear sterile gloves, gowns and masks when caring for or visiting patients. The critically injured children received their initial burn care in the surgical suite where surgeons determined if the young patients required resuscitation and burn shock therapy, what percentage of their bodies was injured and whether they had sustained degree burns.
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Preface xiv
- Introduction 1
-
Part I Care and cure in nursing work
- 1 Baby and infant healthcare in Dresden, 1897–1930 21
- 2 The taste of war 35
- 3 ‘In the company of those similarly afflicted’ 52
- 4 ‘Hurting and caring’ 69
- 5 A poverty of leadership 82
- 6 Beyond the cuckoo’s nest 100
-
Part II Public health and nursing work
- 7 The cholera epidemic of 1892 and its impact on modernising public health and nursing in Hamburg 123
- 8 ‘Some kindred form of medical social work’ 144
- 9 ‘Community healthcare’ 163
- 10 Nurses in schools, coal towns and migrant camps 180
- Index 200
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Preface xiv
- Introduction 1
-
Part I Care and cure in nursing work
- 1 Baby and infant healthcare in Dresden, 1897–1930 21
- 2 The taste of war 35
- 3 ‘In the company of those similarly afflicted’ 52
- 4 ‘Hurting and caring’ 69
- 5 A poverty of leadership 82
- 6 Beyond the cuckoo’s nest 100
-
Part II Public health and nursing work
- 7 The cholera epidemic of 1892 and its impact on modernising public health and nursing in Hamburg 123
- 8 ‘Some kindred form of medical social work’ 144
- 9 ‘Community healthcare’ 163
- 10 Nurses in schools, coal towns and migrant camps 180
- Index 200
