Home Care for the Sick

The book presented to your attention was written by one of the most famous doctors of the 19th century, Theodor Billroth. In a concise and accessible form, it explains how to care for the sick at home. First published in Russia one hundred years ago, this book is still relevant today, because it summarizes the unique observations and experience of caring for the sick collected by the great surgeon over his lifetime.

The book offered to Russian readers by Prof. Billroth differs substantially from other publications of a similar kind in three distinct ways: the complete absence of any special scientific and medical didactics—there is no systematic exposition of anatomy and physiology in the book; there are no explanations of disease processes and descriptions of ways to examine them; in fact, there is nothing that could lead a caregiver to think of “playing the role of a doctor.”

Instead, all the author’s attention is focused on describing the work of a woman who set herself the goal of being a doctor’s assistant in caring for the sick. Billroth’s work says little about help during operations and dressings; much more is said about care for the patient before and after surgery. Preparations for operations and dressings are placed by Billroth in the second plan, while assistance during them is even further removed.