One thing that will strike anyone who reads the stories in Victorian magazines is how often they include a family member who is bedridden, convalescing from some lengthy illness or (in the more sentimental tales) fading gracefully from life. Consumption, or tuberculosis, was a very real issue in Victorian days and not nearly as graceful an end as fiction often portrays it. Whatever the cause, having an "invalid" in the home was fairly common in Victorian days, and a great deal of health care took place in the home. It was important for any household to know how to maintain a sickroom, cook nutritious and digestible meals for an invalid, provide basic medical services - and most of all, keep up the sick person's spirits!

Bedroom Furniture for Invalids, by Henry J. Vernon (Peterson's, 1858)

Hints on Sick-Nursing (Leisure Hour, 1868)

How to Nurse the Sick, by Phillis Browne (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1875)

Domestic Nursing (Scribner's, 1879B)

On Nursing the Sick, by "Medicus"* (Girl's Own Paper, 1880)

How to Nurse and Tend the Aged, by "Medicus"* (Girl's Own Paper, 1883)

A Few Hints on Nursing for Our Girls, by a Hospital Nurse (Girl's Own Paper, 1884)

A Few Hints on Health and Nursing (Girl's Own Paper, 1886)

Among other tips, "If any of you are nursing a fever patient, recollect that you should never on any account 'take his breath,' as it is called; always stand between your patient and the window, so that the air... shall blow from you to him."

How I Nursed My Brother Back to Health (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1888)

Nursing the Sick, by Albert Westland (Girl's Own Paper, 1888)

Lengthy article on how to maintain a sick-room, including ventilation, disinfecting, cleanliness, temperature and more.

What Not to Do in a Sick-Room (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1889)

Home Hints in Illness (Girl's Own Paper, 1890)

How to make poultices and mustard plasters; how to select and mix disinfectants (including "Condy's red fluid and Condy's green fluid").

An Amateur Nurse's Mistakes, or, Look Before You Leap, by S.F.A. Caulfeild (Girl's Own Paper, 1892)

An account of a nurse's misadventures in taking an invalid abroad.

Visiting the Sick, by Sara Kime (Demorest, 1894)

On the dangers of being over-zealous in trying to help the sick.

Modern Methods of Treating The Sick, by "The New Doctor" (Girl's Own Paper, 1897)

A look at some common-sense improvements in health care (such as why one should never use a metal hot-water bottle) -- but I'm not so sure about the use of a "brain stimulant" as a cure for headaches!

Hints on Home Nursing (Girl's Own Paper, 1897, 1898)

A Ministering Angel, by Josepha Crane (Girl's Own Paper, 1898)

Tips on home nursing, disguised as a story.

A Little Advice to Amateur Nurses, by "The New Doctor" (Girl's Own Paper, 1899)

"We call a sufferer 'a patient,' but the term would be better applied to the nurse."

The Invalid's Library (Girl's Own Paper, 1900)

An intriguing venture developed by the editor of Girl's Own Paper: making texts available to invalids, printed on sateen rather than paper, so as to be easily used in a sick-bed. These were "Specially Suited for Wounded Soldiers in Hospitals," though one wonders how interested soldiers would be in titles like My Doves, or Hetty's Pretty Face.

Mental Treatment of the Sick, and Higher Qualifications of Nurses, by S.F.A. Caulfeild (Girl's Own Paper, 1900)

Providing comfort and cheer to a patient's mind is vital to the healing of the body, says this author.

Some Medical Appliances Made of Knitting, by Susan Shearman (Girl's Own Paper, 1900)

How to knit a variety of bandages and braces.

Coal Glove for Sickroom, by Nona (Girl's Own Paper, 1902)

*"Medicus" was the pen-name of Gordon Stables, M.D., R.N., health columnist for The Girl's Own Paper. Read the complete collection of Medicus Columns from 1881-1902 in chronological order.

See also

• Invalids & Convalescents for information from the patient's perspective

• Cooking for Invalids

• Victorian Careers: Nursing