9. Describe the method of changing sheets and remaking a bed while the
patient is in it.

10. Why are beds and bedmaking considered so important in the care of
the sick?

FOR FURTHER READING

Notes on Nursing--Florence Nightingale, Pages 79-84.

CHAPTER VII

BATHS AND BATHING

Bathing is necessary in sickness no less than in health. It stimulates
and equalizes the circulation, is soothing in feverish conditions, is
refreshing to most people, and by affording a certain amount of exercise
it lessens the fatigue of lying in bed. Moreover, without frequent
bathing it is impossible to keep the skin in good condition, since
scales of dead skin, oily matter, and solid substances left by
perspiration collect on the surface of the body when a person is lying
still in bed as well as when he is leading an active life. The common
belief that sick people are likely to catch cold from bathing is quite
unfounded; every patient, unless his condition is such that the doctor
orders otherwise, should have one complete cleansing bath each day. In
addition to the regular cleansing bath other kinds are often prescribed
as medical treatment.

CLEANSING BATHS

A _tub bath_ if allowed by a patient's condition, is the most
satisfactory kind, but special precautions must be taken to guard her
from fatigue and chill. The bath room and everything to be used should
be made ready before she leaves her bed. Necessary clothing and toilet
articles should be collected and arranged conveniently, a chair covered
with a blanket and also a bath mat should be placed beside the tub, and
the temperature of the bath room should be regulated so that it is about
70 deg. F., or a little lower if the room is likely to become overheated
as the bath proceeds. The bath water should be drawn last. Its
temperature, tested by a thermometer, should be between 96 deg. and 100
deg. at the beginning, and may be increased if desirable.

If the patient is weak, wash and dry her face, neck, and ears, and if
necessary cut the finger and toe nails before she leaves the bed, in any
case before she enters the tub. As soon as the patient has left the bed,
strip it and leave it to air; then assist her into the bath room and
help her carefully into the tub. Do not allow her to stay in the water
more than ten minutes at most, and stop the bath at once if she shows
the slightest sign of faintness, dizziness, exhaustion, difficult
breathing, marked change of col