ICU yuck - Page 2

Gina-
You can totally despise PCT work and still enjoy nursing and be a fantastic nurse!! In order to be accepted into nursing school we had to be CNAs. I took the course and hated every single moment of it. Truly. Got my certification and never worked a day as a CNA.

I never want anything to do with ADLs....ever. Just the way I am. I raised three children and my days of toileting, bathing and oral care are OVER!! You DO NOT have to do these things in nursing if you don't want to. I work as both a school nurse and a recovery room nurse. Haven't wiped a butt yet and I don't anticipate having to anytime soon. If the need arose, however, I would take care of it with a smile on my face.

For me the interesting part of nursing is managing care....which I do at the school. The recovery room is exactly the same, only on a very short term basis. Both of these jobs offer tons of autonomy without what I consider the "yuck" factor.

There are tons of different things out there to do with nursing- not all of them are in hospitals. I think you could find something you would enjoy a whole lot!!

well put. No one like doing any of these things. Its when you think that its someones family, or imagine it was your mother/ father ect you view it a bit differently.

There will always be lots of 'old people' as patients. Increasingly, even. If you don't like working with old people or have a really hard time with gross, you should think twice...

That said, I wouldn't want to work in ICU or LTC either (but not because of the elderlyness or the grossness). If your gut says nursing is a good choice, try another department. If not, maybe teaching is better for you. It's really great you're being honest with yourself and thinking hard before investing tons of money in nursing school.

Good luck!

Hats off to the peds nurses out there.

I work in a neuro ICU in a trauma center and in another highly specialized unit and all the things that go with don't bother me in the least.

But not long ago I had to treat a sick kid who was about a month short of his third birthday.

After I assessed him and sent him back to his unit I had to go in my office, turn off the lights and blubber for a bit.

No thanks. I'm not tough enough to be a peds nurse.

In April I started as an aide in an ICU step down unit - it was ok and I do see the patients as someones mother/father etc...but much like yourself I didn't LOVE the job...I'm now in OB (which is what I really want to do) and I absolutely love it - weird demanding parents and all...

I think if you can get into the mindset that there are so many other facets of nursing, and age groups then your time spent in ICU will be a learning experience...

I don't jump for joy either, but (to be blunt) at least you're getting paid to wipe butts- and if you work in peds, you'll be wiping butts too...and if you end up with a patient like my 17 month old (she's not a patient, she's just fine) you're going to be in for a wild time- flopping, rolling, grabbing poopy areas, "finger painting" and yanking the diaper right back off and handing it to you with a smile.

I worked Pediatric ICU for over 6 years at a large teaching hospital. We did not have CNA's or "patient care techs" in that unit~only RN's and we did it all, including bathing the deceased and preparing them for the morgue. We took up to age 18. I don't know what you expected nursing to be. This is all part of it. I wonder why you didn't stay in teaching, since the pay and benefits would surely be better than that of the nursing assistant job. Also, someone mentioned "social work." You might not clean old people's butts as a social worker, but that is a very heartbreaking job.

Sound like you like the idea of nursing, but not the reality of it. What people think nurses do versus what we actually do. There is a big difference. I'd look a little deeper into other options of health careers.

I do all those things as an RN.

The way your write, I instantly think, "No nursing is not for that person". BUt you seem to want to defend yourself, and say "I don't like this or that" Our ICU does not allow PCT's to work there. Guess who does all the stocking the post mortem care, the movign of bodies to the morgue, and indeed, all the wiping of poopy old behinds? The nurses.

Curious as to why you decided not to be a teacher?

"wiping old peoples asses to be blunt!"
-x-
sorry, this is probably not the right job for you then! maybe try a desk job or something. rns do everything that pcts do and more! maybe try going into a field that doesn't contain too many old people who need their ass cleaned (i.e. mom/baby, l&d, psych, clinic).
hmmm - good luck.