[Anagarcia26]

Is it true that you have to clean poop no matter what? I thought if you were an RN or specialized in a certain field that cleaning poop and other cleaning up duties would not be required. (I am asking any and all questions I can think of before getting in to nursing, I appreciate any help you all can offer).
Thanks!

[JenKatt]

If you are in the room and see the poop, you clean it. If you dare to go into the hallway and ask your tech or aide to do it, they will never do anything for you again. No one is above poop except for the docs, and be glad for that because they'd just make a bigger mess

[MollyJ]

kaka happens.

There are some nursing roles where nurses do not clean poop, but poop will be inevitably part of your education.

But like someone else posted, you will get to the point where you clean it up, go eat a sweet potato casserole and talk shop, too. Really.

Focus on the person--their skin, their situation and learn to plug your nose and it can all be endured. For some of us, poop isn't as adverse as mucus or (in the ED) freshly consumed and regurgitated pizza and beer (or spaghetti--do you think people *plan* their diets before they have a MVA?)

But truly, this is a "don't rush things" issue. When the time comes, you'll make it (or you won't) but secretions are not the only thing or even the best thing about nursing. They are merely a part of it.

BTW, my hubby is a doc and he does poop and vomit when he has to--both at home and in the work place. He started as an orderly and knows the drill. However, I have known more docs who didn't.

[SAWrnp]

Originally posted by Anagarcia26:
<STRONG>Is it true that you have to clean poop no matter what? I thought if you were an RN or specialized in a certain field that cleaning poop and other cleaning up duties would not be required. (I am asking any and all questions I can think of before getting in to nursing, I appreciate any help you all can offer).
Thanks!</STRONG>

[SAWrnp]

It is very true that you will have to clean poop and other things in your nursing career. If this is a problem for you, I recommend that you try another career.

[mustangsheba]

Poop is not the worst thing. Suctioning a trach is the worst. Vomitus and diarrhea in the ER is right up there also.

[Jay-Jay]

One hospital I was at had the policy that a nurse would clean up the worst of an accident...if s.o. pooped on the floor, you would pick up what you could, if s.o. peed on the floor, you would put a towel down to soak up the worst of it. After you'd done that, it was up to housekeeping staff to clean up what was left with a mop. The only time I ever used a mop as a nurse was in a nursing home late at night when a resident peed in the hallway, and I was afraid someone would step in it and slip and hurt themselves. (I had already stepped in the puddle, skidded and come close to falling, so it was a self-protection thing more than anything else.)

As for being able to handle it, it's one of those things you have to get used to. We all have things that gross us out...see the thread on that topic! Fortunately, I have never had much trouble with poop, though I did come pretty close to losing my lunch as a student when dealing with a bedpan full of really, really foul smelling diarrhea.

[ornurse2001]

honestly, if you go into nursing with the attitude that you are never going to have to touch a persons "waste products" be that pee, poop, puke, mucous-you are going in blindfolded.There are nurses who perform office jobs, have management positions, are sales reps, etc. who perform minimal if any of these tasks, but they had to make it through the basic nursing education first, probably most obtained some bedside experience, and then higher education-mostly in that order-to obtain thoses "no poop" positions.But it is really a very minor issue once you get into the heart of nursing.It truly becomes second nature to do these things.Every area of nursing I have done-medical-surgical, geriatrics, ER, ICU, OR,OB, Pediatrics, and even Psych required some element of undesirable aspects of the job.

[PhantomRN]

I don't think there is poop patrol in something like office nursing or telephone triage.

[JenKatt]

I guess in telephone triage you can do poop patrol by osmosis or telepathy. I do telephone triage on the weekends and at night when the clinics are closed and we're the only thing open. You get the dumbest people calling with the most assinine questions at 2 am.