Lectures on gynecological nursing / delivered by Edward J. Ill M.D., to the Nurses of St. Barnabas Hospital of Newark, New Jersey, ; reported by Ellen F. Connington.
- Ill, Edward J.
- Date:
- 1901
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Lectures on gynecological nursing / delivered by Edward J. Ill M.D., to the Nurses of St. Barnabas Hospital of Newark, New Jersey, ; reported by Ellen F. Connington. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University Libraries/Information Services, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University.
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![* Since we know from the anatomy of the vagina that this canal is but three inches long, it is only necessary to introduce the tube but a short distance. This is especially the case when we have been careful to pjace the patient in the posture I have just explained to you. When the douche is used for cleansing it should consist of soapsuds in water at about the body temperature, and should not consist of less than two quarts (2 liters), allowing the liquid to flow freely. This will occasion a loss of from three to five degrees temperature from the time that the fluid leaves the receptacle until it reaches the patient. Tt should be fol- lowed by clean water or an antiseptic solution as may be directed. The quantity of water used in a douche depends entirely on its object and may be from a pint to several gallons (8 liters or more.) The time consumed is an important factor. The slower the flow of water the greater wil,l be its value when a hot douche is ordered. The temperature also is of importance as a very hot douche will not cleanse the parts, but simply produce a powerful contraction of the muscular coat and blood vessels of the vagina. You will, therefore, when you prepare a patient for exami- nation or operation not use a very hot douche, but one at a temperature of from 95 to 100 degrees. You will often be called upon to give medicated douches. Be sure never to mix the medicine with the water in the irri- gator. I have again and again seen nurses prepare a car- bolized douche by fiilling the irrigator with the water and then pouring the carbolic acid into the water. The first part of the douche is x>ure carbolic acid and the result is a frightfully burned patient and a summarily discharged nurse. LECTUEE III. RECTAL INJECTIONS. By a rectal injection, enema, or clyster, we mean an opera- tion by which fluid is carried through the anus into the rectum and colon. We divide the enema into low and high enemas. By a low enema we mean the introduction of fluid by means of a small nozzle into the lower part of the rectum. By a high enema we mean the introduction of the fluid high up into the bowel, either by a long rubber tube called a rectal catheter or by such posture as will be s])()k('n of later on.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21217774_0013.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
