Recognizing Illness
The nursing care required by a sick person is
directly related to the nature and severity of his
illness. The symptoms of illness are the home nurse’s
guide to what needs to be done for the patient until the
doctor gives specific instructions. The better informed
the home nurse is, the more likely it is that her
judgment will be right.
The ability to observe and to weigh the evidences of
illness increases with practice and experience.
Judgments made by the home nurse are influenced by her
knowledge of the patient’s personality and the
individual manner in which he reacts to illness and to
anxiety or stress. Her observations combined with
factual information, such as temperature or pulse rate,
are essentials that assist the doctor in planning the
care and treatment of the patient.
Some of the symptoms of illness are subjective
(evident only to the sufferer), while others are
objective (evident to someone else). Since babies and
small children are not able to describe their feelings,
parents or the home nurse in the family must learn to
recognize the location of pain or discomfort in the
child by his behavior.
Many symptoms of illness can be detected only by
scientific laboratory procedures, but even laboratory
test do not always provide sufficient evidence for the
doctor to make the right diagnosis. Therefore, the
results of such tests together with the sick person’s
description of his pain or discomfort, the history of
his past illnesses, and the observations and judgments
of the home nurse must be studied before a diagnosis is
made.
Also, in making a diagnosis the doctor depends
as much on the absence of certain signs as on the
presence of other. For all these reasons, the keen
observation of symptoms is an important responsibility
of the home nurse. Frequently, the earlier the symptoms
are noticed and the sooner the patient is placed under
medical care, the more rapid will be is recovery.
However, children and many adults who know that their
physical condition is being carefully watched are likely
to exaggerate every little ache or pain. Usually they do
not intend to mislead but are only unconsciously
attempting to get satisfaction from special attention.
If possible, symptoms of illness should be observed
without the patient’s knowledge and without too much
obvious concern so that his interest or anxiety may not
be aroused.
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