BY
AMANDA K. BECK, R. N.
Graduate of the Illinois Training School for Nurses
FOURTH EDITION, REVISED
PHILADELPHIA AND LONDON
W. B. SAUNDERS COMPANY
1919
Copyright, 1905, by W. B. Saunders and Company. Reprinted
August, 1905, July, 1906, June, 1907, and January, 1908.
Revised, reprinted, and recopyrighted August, 1908. Reprinted
March, 1909, February, 1910, July, 1910, March, 1911, February,
1912, and August, 1912. Revised, reprinted, and recopyrighted
February, 1913. Reprinted October, 1913, May, 1914, November,
1914, January, 1915, May, 1915, September, 1915, June, 1916,
January, 1917, July, 1917, November, 1917, April, 1918, and
August, 1918. Revised, reprinted, and recopyrighted March, 1919
Copyright, 1919, by W. B. Saunders Company
PRINTED IN AMERICA
PRESS OF
W. B. SAUNDERS COMPANY
PHILADELPHIA
TO
ISABEL McISAAC
For many years Superintendent of the
Illinois Training School for Nurses, of Chicago
AND TO
IDORA C. ROSE
Formerly her Assistant and now her Successor
THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED
In the present edition of this work a few new subjects have been addedand the text has been somewhat altered in order that certain recentadvances and changes might be noted and brought into daily service.I have not been unmindful, however, of the fact that to be of thegreatest possible use to our profession this volume must remain smalland compact.
I hear frequently that this Handbook is valued by my fellow-workers andthat it is to many of them a daily help and companion. This is a sourceof great pleasure to me, and I hope that this new edition will be foundmore useful even than any of its predecessors.
Chicago, Ill.,
March, 1919.
As a probationer doing class and hospital work and as a graduatetrained nurse I took notes of all the various formulæ, directions,etc., that might at some time be useful to me in the pursuit ofmy duties. My class work was productive of many valuable items ofinformation; these and such other items as I gathered in the course ofmy hospital work and while on private duty, and others which were theresult of my own experience and observation, I kept in a memorandumbook which soon became indispensable to me, and which I used until theleaves became worn and fell apart. I rewrote this memorandum book threetimes, and the task of its fourth rewriting made me wish that I had itscontents in a form more easily preserved. The inspiration followed thatmy notes in book form would be of general use to most nurses and ofsome use to many physicians. This little volume is the result.
To my own notes, all of which have been submitted to competentauthorities for criticism, I have added several articles by eminentphysicians and superintending nurses, which tend to round out theusefulness of the book. I have kept in mind, however, my originalintention of producing a hand-book of convenient size for quickreference.
To the authors of these articles, to the friendly crit