The nurse in hot climates / by Edward Henderson.

  • Edward Henderson
Date:
1903
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The nurse in hot climates / by Edward Henderson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    in no way materially affecting the details of the work to be done. In view, however, of the fact that a high atmospheric temperature favours early decom- position, it is advisable that the nurse practising in the East should give a little extra attention to the washing of the patient, and the changing of the pads used to absorb discharges. In hot weather the labour may with advantage be conducted under a punkah pulled from the out- side, usually from a verandah on the ground-floor. When possible an entirely fresh bed should be provided for the patient when labour is completed ; this arrangement has many advantages, and the patient, who has probably been perspiring profusely for several hours, will welcome her complete and easily effected removal from wet and soiled sur- roundings. In midwifery cases the less use there is made of bed-pans the better; in all natural cases the bladder and bowel, if ordinary care be taken, can be safely emptied in the sitting position on a suitable receptacle placed at the bedside. In ordinary cases when the necessary care has been bestowed by the physician in the use of anti- septics during labour, the cleansing of the external parts should be sufficient ; and a solution of carbolic acid, the 5 per cent. solution diluted with an equal quantity of warm water, is perhaps as good a lotion as any to employ for the purpose. When antiseptic washings have to be extended to the vagina or uterine cavity the use of carbolic acid is not free from danger, and another antiseptic, such as chino- sol, should be substituted; a suitable chinosol solu- tion is easily prepared from the tablets supplied by the chemist. Perchloride of mercury, which, among other things, is a convenient antiseptic for the purifi- cation of the accoucheur’s hands, is another antiseptic which cannot be safely used as a wash for the vagina or uterus. Absorbent cotton impregnated with sali- eylic acid is one of the best materials to use for the pads applied to the vulva to absorb discharges; it is
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