74 BACTERIOLOGY 



clean as to her hands, nails, teeth, and hair, and should 

 not eat or drink in the sick room. 



She should not lower her vitality by overwork and 

 loss of sleep, but in difficult cases should have assist- 

 ance. 



Her duty to the family demands that she do every- 

 thing in her power to prevent other members of the 

 family from becoming infected, and to that end she 

 should educate them in the dangers of infection and 

 the precautions necessary to avoid it. 



Indeed, one of the greatest values of the trained nurse 

 lies in the educational value of her services, the example 

 of surgical cleanliness which she exhibits, and the con- 

 ception of sanitation and disease prevention which the 

 laity gain from her. 



Her duty to the public consists in preventing the 

 spread of the infection by insisting upon the proper ob- 

 servance of quarantine, the rigid exclusion of flies and 

 domestic pets, as cats and dogs, many infections being 

 spread by these agencies. She should demand the dis- 

 infection of milk bottles or other utensils taken from the 

 place, and in the absence of the physician or other au- 

 thority she should oversee the process of disinfection 

 and fumigation. 



After leaving a case of infectious disease the nurse 

 should, if possible, determine if her throat be free from 

 germs, that she does not become a healthy carrier of 

 germs. She should avoid for some time, if possible, 



