(1.) That it purifies the air exceedingly and freshens the wards.
(2.) That it reduces the daily accumulation of dust to a minimum.
(3.) That it dries completely within ten minutes from being wet-rubbed.
(4.) That a woman, standing, can thoroughly clean a ward with some
hours less time, and greatly less fatigue, than scrubbing.
(5.) That wet scrubbing is sometimes and ought to be always forbidden
and dry rubbing substituted, on the score of the unhealthiness of
scrubbing.
(6.) That it would relieve us of all external scrubbers in the Nurses’
own rooms. Each Nurse would sweep, wet-brush and dry-brush her bed-room
and day-room herself, daily, would once-a-week give a little extra
wash, and would wash the wooden skirting which runs along the bottom
of the walls. As the bed-room must be tiny and the day-room small
(it would be better if we could keep to one room, which would take a
quarter of an hour daily, and the grand weekly purification not more
than one hour, even to a slow performer) a short time daily and a
moderate time weekly will do it.
One disadvantage of this very simple, very efficient, and excellent
flooring is, that it shows scratches. Furniture must always be lifted,
not dragged. In a Military Hospital where men are always at hand, this
would matter less as to the wards, and the Nurses could help each other
once a week in their bed-rooms, and manage alone in their day-rooms.
There are four other examples of this flooring in Berlin Hospitals.
(1.) Bethesda Siechenhaus, a small old house, about to be rebuilt and
enlarged, in a suburb of Berlin, where three Deaconesses, with a man
and woman servant, take excellent care of about forty infirm old women
and imbecile children. These patients, of the class to be found in the
infirmary wards of our workhouses, move about little, and have few
visitors, so that the flooring, which is the same as at Bethanien, is
less used.
(2.) St. Hedwig’s Hospital, where 250 male and female medical and
surgical patients are nursed by Roman Catholic Sisters of St. Charles
Borromæus (head quarters at Nancy), with female servants and male
nurses. The house is new; the flooring the same as at Bethanien.
The Superior, an intelligent German, speaks much of its excellence
for hospital purposes; it is being introduced, though as yet very
partially, into France.
(3.) The great Charité Hospital, the town-hospital for 1,200 patients,
spite its French name. It consists of two buildings; the old one,
used in winter; and a splendid new one, into which all the patients,
except the lunatics and the small-pox and the venereal cases, are moved
for the six summer months. The flooring throughout is of the same
wood (deal) as at Bethanien, but has much more laque. The more laque
is used, the brighter the floor shines, but the sooner it requires
re-oiling and laque varnishing. The Charité floors are re-oiled with
laque every year; they are cleaned in the same way as at Bethanien,
only with more dry rubbing. On bad days, when the numerous students
have passed through, the ward floors occasionally require to be
cleaned; but, in general, even on these occasions, it is enough to
sweep them, and to clean the next morning as usual.
(4.) The principal Military Hospital, the Garnison Lazareth in the
Hirsch Allée, for 800 patients, usually not filled. The flooring is
the same as at Bethanien, except that no laque is used. It is oiled
generally, not always, yearly.
The Ober Inspector, a Landwehr civilian, who is supreme over the
Hospital, and an Ober-Stabs-Arzt, both speak very strongly as to the
superiority of this flooring over all others for Hospital use, and
in particular over flooring which requires scrubbing. It has only
been introduced of late years. They consider it equal to any amount
of hospital wear and tear. The military patients, like those of the
Charité, Bethanien, and St. Hedwig’s, wear hospital slippers, with
soles thick enough to admit of their walking in the garden, when fine;
when not fine, they are not allowed to go out. This flooring would not
stand the constant tread of nailed shoes. But often, on bad days as on
fine ones, great numbers of soldiers come to visit their sick comrades,
and leave the floor very dirty; generally it is enough to sweep the
floor after the visitors are gone, and to clean it as usual next
morning; sometimes it is necessary to clean it the same afternoon.
The flooring is cheap. Somewhat more expense attends laying it down
than the ordinary boards, and a certain expense attends the re-oiling,
but the constant outlay for soap and soda is entirely saved, except
a little soda in the grand annual purification, with hot water, in
addition to the daily one with cold; the time and labour attending
scrubbing is saved, and above all the great gain to the sick arising
from its use is secured.
The strong, decided way in which the old grey-headed Army Surgeon, and
the middle-aged business-looking Civilian, spoke of the merits of this
flooring, and of its capacities, was exceedingly satisfactory.
(5.) Two years ago the greater part of the boards in the Kaiserswerth
Institution, which are of deal, were oiled, both on sanitary grounds,
and to rid the Sisters of the drain on time and strength in scrubbing.
They are considered far preferable to the old ones, and to answer in
every respect. Yet the Kaiserswerth floorings would not answer the
English requirement of extreme cleanliness. They are substantially
clean, but, like those of the Military Hospital of Berlin, it
takes examination to ascertain that they are so, and from the same
cause--there is no “laque.” Also the colour is not at all so agreeable
as the Bethanien colour. These oiled boards last a year only. A
moderate amount of laque is required to add to their durability.
The sum of the information, condensed as much as possible, on this
subject is;--