A Handbook of Invalid Cooking

A Handbook of Invalid Cooking - For the Use of Nurses in Training, Nurses in Private Practice, and Others Who Care for the Sick

The work of the nurse is to care for her patient, to watch, to tend, and to nurture him in such a way that he shall gain and maintain sufficient strength to overcome disease, that he may finally be restored to a state of health. Her greatest allies in this work consist in the proper hygienic surroundings of good air, warmth, cleanliness, and proper nourishment. The most scrupulous cleanliness in the care and preparation of food is an important point in her work, and practically to appreciate this, some knowledge of bacteriology is necessary, for the various fermentative and putrefactive changes (often unnoticed) which take place in both cooked and uncooked foods are caused by the growth of microscopic forms of life. Most of us realize the necessity for removing all visible impurities, but that is not enough; we should also combat those unseen agents which are everywhere at work, in order that we may prevent their action upon food material or destroy the products of their growth. Often these products are of a poisonous nature, and cause grave physical disturbances when they occur in our foods. When such knowledge is more general, we shall have arrived at a state of progress in the care and preparation of foods not yet universally reached. The indications at present are that nothing of importance will be done to change for the better the[2] existing methods of housekeeping, until housekeepers are educated in the science of household affairs. They should comprehend (1) that the atmosphere is an actual thing; that it has characteristics and properties like other actual things; that it is a necessity of life, and may be made a medium for the transmission of disease; and that it is as necessary that it should be kept clean as the floor, the table, or the furniture; (2) that food is a subject which may be studied and mastered like any other subject; that the changes it undergoes in its care and preparation are governed by fixed laws; (3) they should have a knowledge of heat in order to appreciate the effects of temperature on different food materials, to regulate the ventilation of their houses, and to control fires wisely and economically; and (4) they should have some knowledge of bacteriology, that milk and water, flesh, fruit, and vegetables may be kept, or rendered, absolutely free from disease-giving properties, and that perfect cleanliness may be exercised in preparing all materials that enter the body as nutrients. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 54568
Author: Boland, Mary A.
Release Date: Apr 18, 2017
Format: eBook
Language: English