Enema bag at school nurse’s office?

In the UK night nurse checks were a regular highlight!

@fantasypatient Was it à boarding school?

Was growing in Soviet Union era, but never seen enema bag or bulb in the school nurse / medical cabinet, unless that was hidden.

But since I was attending kindergarten I was given an enema in there. In fact it happened in the toilet. And I have seen red enema bulb in kindergarten nurse cabinet, displayed upside down in a big glass cabinet. Actually there was more then 1….

Next to that was a tube of vaseline and some old fashioned mercury glass thermometer, but not sure if it was used rectally.

In the UK night nurse checks were a regular highlight!

@andy_c Did you have school medicals?

Probably around 1973 - 1974, large Pennsylvania high school on the border between suburban and rural with a lot of resources. I was always getting suspended for skipping classes and especially study hall.

Ms.Trexler the school nurse took an interest in me and made a deal with the assistant principal that in lieu of suspension I become the receptionist in her waiting room where she could keep an eye on me. It was an odd job, most patients were girls with ‘cramps’ and just wanted to lay down for a while. The office was also a hang out for the athletic crowd, the ‘jocks’ and the cheerleaders who often relied on the school nurse to cover them with late slips.

One day I'm there alone and bored so I start opening drawers in the medical cabinet, drawers of bandages, splints the usual but the bottom two drawers were full of a HUGE assortment of enema equipment. Red rubber bags of a variety of sizes, colon tubes and different nozzles of different shapes and sizes. The other drawer had large rubber sheets and extra tubing and unopened tubes of lubricant but one with most of its contents gone. Wasn't at all dried out either. I was stunned, could not imagine the circumstances where this equipment would be used but it obviously was.

Although in three years never saw anyone open the drawers let alone use its content. There was an IV pole in the corner that never got used but I then realized it was probably not an IV pole.

There was the occasional enema conversation, usually revolved around ‘cramps’ and periods. One specific time a girl brazenly telling the nurse and her friends how she had to get an enema at home for an IVP test, she went into graphic detail about her Mom giving it to her. She said, ‘I’m laying there with this tube in my ass and eventually asked my Mom, ‘Well, are you going to start it ?’ and her Mom's response was, ‘Honey, it’s already done now just hold it in'. Rose goes on to say, ‘And I drifted off to sleep with a two quart enema inside me!’

Being the only guy in the room I must have blushed terribly because Ms.Trexler the nurse said, ‘Oh Rose, you’re turning Greg's face red with this talk' . . . .

@Greg ..What a find with so many “goodies”..😁

The schools I attended had no medical office let alone any medically trained staff.

I'm thinking of plausible reasons for this bag.

• It may have been there for a very long time but never discarded “just in case”. When I was in junior highschool I recall we had some old teaching equipment laying around that used only exceptionally, but the school kept it.
• There may have been a student with encopresis or other specific issue with a medical prescription for enemas, thus the equipment.
• The nurse douched as part of a contraceptive method (diaphragm) and found it easier to leave a bag for her own use there. (If I understand correctly the full protocol for diaphragm, it involves removing it 8 hours after and douching, which means that if you have sex during the night it makes sense to remove it during the day.) Or she used enemas on herself.

If there had not been a hose, I would have thought “hot water bottle”.

In the 1950s and early 1960s, I'm certain that enemas were given by the school nurse. As I've written in another post I didn't feel good one day and went to the school nurse's office to lay down for a while. While I was there the nurse prepared a large volume enema. I saw her carry it to another cubical and heard her give it to another student. A few minutes later I heard the student rush to the toilet and almost immediately heard the enema working. From what I remember the enema worked powerfully and the student needed it badly because he passed many lumps of poo.

I think we had several students that habitually withheld their poo and when they needed to poo, but could not, went to the nurse for relief. I nearly did a couple of times, but was able to hold it until I got home. The toilets the school had for students had no doors so if you needed to poo there was no privacy at all. The toilets were against one wall with half-height partitions between them and the urinals were on the opposite wall. As one walked to a urinal, one had a full view of anyone sitting on a toilet. The lack of privacy was not conducive to pooing.

@Sean, This is off topic but I think there is here a similarity worth mentioning.

When I went to elementary school the toilets were squat toilets (they used to be commonplace in France in public restrooms, for they are easier to keep clean). Squat toilets are uncomfortable for pooping (and for anything for females, though I heard some mention they prefer them in public restrooms because they minimize contact between skin and possibly unclean equipment). Furthermore, there was one big roll of toilet paper at the entrance and you had to bring the paper to the stall.

For all these reasons I tended to avoid pooping at school unless absolutely necessary (I think I did it once in 5 years, though it may have happened more often).

I believe this withholding was one reason why I got constipated, I would not say chronically or extremely frequently but certainly a number of times during those years. Such constipation largely disappeared in middle school, which had modern toilets.

I've heard that insufficient or unwelcoming toilet facilities in middle school and high school are a cause for medical problems with students, including students that don't drink anything during the day to avoid having to pee (which can lead to kidney problems).

@Pecan_nutjob

While my school didn't have squat toilets they do have advantages. First their problems and there are mainly two. The squatting position is hard on the knees, especially if you have not done it all your life. Also, pants management is a problem. If not done properly and you don't get the pants positioned correctly, it is quite possible to poo a load into them, which kinda defeats the purpose of going to the toilet.

When I used one in Japan I chickened out and removed my pants and underpants to allow a completely clear field of fire.

But squat toilets do have their advantages. Most notable is, IMO, they are strongly laxative. I distinctly remember having a mild urge to poo and deciding to try the squat toilet in a major department store on the Ginza. I went in and it was spotlessly clean. There were two stalls, one squat one western and I chose the squat. After removing my pants and underpants I squatted over the slot and was quite surprised that my prior mild urge to poo suddenly became much stronger and within a couple of seconds I was pooing. The poo was very complete too, IMO far more than normal for me. I think the position a squat toilet makes you assume it puts added pressure on you abdomen, sort of pushing the poo out.

A couple of other things I noticed was the poo was not under water so I could get a really good look at what I'd done, but the odor was more noticeable. The poo just lies on the dry china until the toilet is flushed. I'm not sure a squat toilet is a good place to expel a large volume enema because of the splashing possibilities. But the Asians use the minis.

If I were to build a fantasy clinic I would strongly consider having a squat toilet. Among other things, everything can be easily seen.

Perhaps it was at school as a fire extinguisher.

My educational career was pretty varied and unique because of my dad's propensity to move us around seemingly on a whim. I attended six different US public elementary and middle schools in the 60's and 70's. My memory of the school nurse in all these places was as the provider of first aid for recess boo-boos, nosebleeds, to dispense the occasional aspirin, and as the first line of defense when a kid got sick at school while awaiting a parent to come get them. We probably all have memories of some kid (or being that kid) that threw up in class and got sent to the nurses office. Being “the kid that threw up” is one of those embarrassing kid social faux pas that you have to live with for awhile.

My high school had a “nurses office” which seemed to be limited to a place where teenage girls with cramps can go to lie down. I had a vague notion that sometimes girls got enemas for menstrual cramps, so maybe the nurse's office was a hotbed of enema activity right there under my nose. I wonder how many of my female classmates were getting enemas, how many liked them, and how many wanted a boyfriend that would give enemas to them. Maybe I'll ask at my next reunion 😁

I went to elementary school in Texas in the 1960's and never got an enema at school and never saw any equipment either. I certainly could have used one since the toilets had no doors and were usually filthy, kids peeing allover the seats, etc. I would never poop at school hence I was frequently constipated, also I take after my Mom who was constipated most of her adult life I think.

Went through school in the 90's. did see a bag occasionally in the nurses office but always with a plug so I assume it was used mainly as a hot water bag.

I went to elementary school in Texas in the 1960's and never got an enema at school and never saw any equipment either. I certainly could have used one since the toilets had no doors and were usually filthy, kids peeing allover the seats, etc. I would never poop at school hence I was frequently constipated, also I take after my Mom who was constipated most of her adult life I think.

Since the toilets were open and gross , if you got an enema at school, where would you go?

@Rigel

Generally, the ‘boys room’ toilets were as I described… open front half height, partitions (no doors) facing the urinals. It was impossible to poo in private. Everything was exposed to anyone who took a pee.

The nurse's infirmary was quite different. There were three ‘treatment areas’, each with a cot, sink, IV stand attached to the cot and some cabinetry with things like bandage jars.

As I think about it now, it's pretty much impossible the nurse ever did IVs, so the stand must have been for enemas. There was a curtain across the front of each area that could be drawn for privacy.

The nurse's area toilet was at the end of the hall. It was in a three-sided area with a curtain across the front. Like the boy's room, the seat was distinctive. I've never seen another like it. It was black plastic, but very minimal. It was like two kidney basins, positioned to support the use's thighs and nothing else. When sitting your whole butt was hanging in space. It was not uncomfortable as I remember, but I only sat on it once or twice. There was also a basin in the toilet area and a curtain across the front. Because there were no doors, anything that happened in the toilet compartment could be head in the other rooms. The sounds of an enema working are unmistakable.

Enemas were always given and the recipient pood in the nurse's area, which was waaay removed from the boy's room.

@Sean Or they installed generic hospital equipment with IV stands attached even though these stands were not used.

I spent three days in the infirmary of our community college long ago and while so confined did view an enema syringe in a rectangular box in the linen supply closet when the duty nurse procured some clean towels for me.

She must have seen my 'gaze’ and just smiled. I recall her to be a ‘no nonsense matronly’ LPN, and no she did not give me an enema .

I never saw any at school but I do remember getting a couple at scout camp. They were given using a can.

Does anyone have similar fantasies or real life experience seeing the supplies or receiving an enema at public school?

I do not remember seeing one in the nurse's office in elementary (70's) or the high school nurses office (early 80's). Not saying there wasn't one as it could have been in a cupboard or drawer - for lack of use.

@Pecan_nutjob

The IV poles were certainly used for enemas. I don't know about IVs.

I attended Texas public schools and graduated from high school in the early seventies. The individual schools didn't have nurses. There were two nurses and a hearing specialist employed by the school district. The nurses were more or less on call by the individual schools, although they would speak in front of health classes or assemblies.

In college, I did have a sorority sister, who was given a couple of enemas as a patient in the infirmary. I don't recall why she was severely constipated but she told me that she was given a series of enemas. The first of which was a warm oil enema. I remember her telling me that she had never had anything like it.

I believe School nurses today need written permission (in the US) to give out medication - even Tylenol etc.. I find it hard to believe that even in years past nurses would treat constipation with an enema/suppository or any other type of drug. Maybe send a note home with a recommendation. Children and young adults can refuse medical treatment even though they may be conditioned to accept medical “authority” and not put up a fuss. Even if it's offered (as @Ddell mentioned at the college infirmary) - one doesn't have to accept it (at least by todays standard).

Sadly another fantasy posting

Sadly another fantasy posting

Yup - but to be fair - this thread is tagged as “Medical ”Fantasy" and even the OP asks if anyone has fantasies or real life experience with this.

What I posted was not fantasy It was very real. The 1950s were different times. Kids didn't have lawyers or sue. Teachers could spank students without any permissions. Teachers ruled and kids learnt.

@Public Enema

Tell us about the enemas at scout camp. I went to scout camp in the hot and humid summers of East Texas. Constipation was very common among the campers because of the awful food, filthy open pit latrines and dehydration. I remember one year the camp ranger addressed all the boys at lunch about mid-way through the week. He told anyone who had yet to have a bowel movement to report to the camp nurse. I had not pooped but did not report. I figured whatever awaited a boy at the nurse's office was not going to be pleasant. My tentmate was having bad stomach aches by that point and decided to go see the nurse. There were a number of boys there, all of whom were given a salty laxative concoction to drink followed by several glasses of water. His laxative kicked in with a vengeance in the middle of the night and he made multiple quick dashes from the tent into the adjacent woods to relieve himself. All in all, a miserable night for him.

All of this happened in the 1960s and I have often wondered whether that camp nurse also had an enema bag. Given the amount of laxatives she administered, one would think there was an enema bag in the picture for those times when the laxative failed to work. I discretely asked a few boys whether they knew anyone who had gotten an enema from the nurse, but it certainly seems possible that it happened.

By the way, I did not poop the entire week at camp. My mom gave me an enema as soon as I got home.

The 1950s were different times. Kids didn't have lawyers or sue. Teachers could spank students without any permissions.

And often without any real justifiable reason either.

Never saw or heard of any enemas given at school,if the kid was constipated or sick they would be sent home.

They had to be in the medical offices of schools, and any nurse was trained in this. I got it once from a school nurse. Before visiting the doctor, it was necessary to empty the intestines. Mom asked the nurse to give me an enema. The nurse was not surprised. Although other examples I do not know and have not heard. My sister took me.