I'm not "WIPING BUTTS"

Nurses General Nursing

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I know there have been numerous threads about this already, but this is more for a "vent" then a discussion/debate. I have a friend who is currently a medical assistant. She wants to go to nursing school, to make more money. I have no problem with anyone wanting to make a better living. I suggested to her the other day that she consider working in a hospital to gain some experience and see what the "real world" of nursing is about. She replied that she would love to but she "doesn't want to wipe butts for a fulltime job." I told her she better not go to nursing school :rotfl:

She claims that she will deal with the "butt wiping" for school, but not as a fulltime job! I mean WHAT DO YOU THINK NURSES DO!?!?!??!?! Prance around in cute uniforms and hand out meds?????? This is NOT the glamorous life!!! It is dirty, filthy, smelly, sometimes just plan disgusting, but it is HUMANITY. She seems to think that once she is a nurse she doesn't have to assist patients with ADL's because thats "not her job." I can't tell you how many bedpans and "butts I have wiped" in the past week. No, its not my priority, but am I going to walk away from a patient when they ask for a bedpan when it only takes 2 seconds??? NO! I'm SORRY but I don't think we need people in nursing with this mentality of being "above that." If you can't see passed the BUTT WIPING and see it for what really is...which is giving a human being their DIGNITY and RESPECT than you DO NOT BELONG HERE!!!!!!!

I guess I should just let it go and let her be ignorant. I doubt she'll make it passed the first semester with that attitude anyway.

I totally agree with all of you! I mean if an RN (or student)doesn't want to wipe a butt because "they are too good" I think they should get over themselves! It just a natural part of life... everyone does it. Those patients can't help it's a natural function of thier body! It's just part of teh job, may not be the greatest part but you are still helping someone who can't help themselves for the moment.

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I have had patients that were surprised that as a nurse I would help them to the toilet or empty the urinal or clean up after they have been incontinent. They have said "nurses don't do this" and I have a few CNAs that are surprised when I clean up a patient and tell them that the patient had a BM and I cleaned it up for them. I am saddened by the rep we nurses are getting because of the ones that can't do patient care. It is about more then passing pills and paperwork. It is patient care, as areas.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.

On the other hand, aren't you guys tired of people thinking that's all we do is wipe butts.

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after she finishes school, she may not have to do bedside nursing. some finsih their degree (bsn) and never have any patient contact. it is so many opportunities if you market yourself correctly.

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No, its not my priority, but am I going to walk away from a patient when they ask for a bedpan when it only takes 2 seconds??? NO! I'm SORRY but I don't think we need people in nursing with this mentality of being "above that."

When my mom was hospitalized with CHF and after receiving IM Lasix, she needed the bed pan so badly and asked the med nurse to hand her the bedpan from her bedside cabinet. The nurse said, "It's not my job" and walked away with her med cart. Mom had to wet the bed because she had no one to get her the bed pan. Believe me she wasn't incontinent and said she was never so humiliated in all her life. She never told me about it until she was home after about three weeks because she knew I would have had that nurses job!!! :angryfire What kind of nurse would have the gall to even say that to a patient??? Please, get over yourself!

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Specializes in Community, OB, Nursery.

To respond to Tweety (whom I agree with more times than not):

I don't like it that all people think we do is wipe butts. But golly if I'm going to say I'm doing this because I care about people and then walk away from them while they're sitting in urine, or stool, or (where I am) postpartum lochia. When my pt is 4hrs post c/s and can't move her legs yet from her epidural, I am not going to just let her sit in her own blood. I think it is wrong for me (or anyone else) to think they are too good to deal with certain body fluids/functions.

As to the public's perception, I don't really need people's validation of me one way or the other, as long as I know I do a good job. It's nice to get a pat on the back. But usually once I've helped that mom breastfeed a few times, or keep her from bleeding to death after a PP hemorrhage, or had the "how's my NICU baby doing" talk, they realize that I know a lot more than just how to wipe a bum. This goes for any field of nursing.

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Specializes in ED, ICU, MS/MT, PCU, CM, House Sup, Frontline mgr.

I love these threads! A year or two ago if anyone ever said I would be OK with wiping butts and looking at snot in nursing school, I would have told them there is no way they were right! No, I never thought it as beneath me. I used to imagine that I would vomit at the sight and smell of poo or urine or imagine trying to clean it up and getting stuff all over me in the process (I could be clumsy at times).

Reading this board, talking to many nurses about "nursing", and studying/discussing A&P and the nursing process has desensitized me to bodily fluids. With that said, I do not think many of you have to worry about every student that states that he/she will not wipe butts for a living. The negative student can end up like me; enjoying the nursing process and appreciating bodily fluids because they are an essential part.

I do not doubt those of you whom experienced Registered Nurses who will not assist with basic ADLs. However, I cannot imagine that this is the majority of bedside nurses.

Most of the students in my class whom are very "princess-like" in nature are the first to offer to wipe a butts or help out in clinicals. In fact, I think my entire class, who admit attending nursing school for the money as well as the opportunity to help people, have a positive attitude about doing his/her part in clinicals. Of course I am not finished with my first semester yet, so who knows? Maybe there are some students hiding out and will be exposed later on? :paw:

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Hear this everyday from the younger nurses. Just smile and remember, every dog has it's day.

This is too broad a statement-and one that is not always true! I am a younger nurse and have seen nurses both with little experience and some with 15 to 20 plus years experiience walk out of a room and page a cna to clean the patient while they go about doing most the time nothing-but seriously enough on the younger nurses thing! Believe it or not their is some of us who care and do our job to the absolute best of our ability-that includes cleaning my own patients!

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Specializes in cardiac med-surg.

my hospital is an "all r.n." hospital

so yes we do

no one to delegate to !!!!!!

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I'm a nursing student and wiping butts is one of the things I make sure I do. I'm paranoid that nobody else is going to do this. If this doesn't get done then there are some major problems that may occur becuase of this. I know alot of people don't like to do this so I actually take pride in the fact that I make sure that this I get this done and totally clean the area. Afterall we are all people and that is a natural body function. I don't understand what the big deal is.

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There are some types of Nursing that don't require much hands-on.

Offices, clinics, schools, teaching, research, NP, Psychiatry, Surgery (blood, yes, butts, generally not). If she can get through school, she can do one of these.

Ok...I have to admit here...that is a huge reason why I want to work with infants...to me, baby diapers, throw up, etc. are different than adult. It's just a "hang-up" of mine...and I am hoping, very sincerely to get over it.

However, knowing this, if I worked with adults, I also would never, ever accept a job, and expect this task to be 100% delegated to CNA's or especially ask another RN to do it! If you don't expect to do all tasks of the job, then you shouldn't take it.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, MS, ICU.

RN Here...I just finished a shift and had a patient who needed the bed pan 8 times for bowel movements...I cleaned/wiped a BUTT over the course of 13 hours last night. I had someone hold the patient on their side so that I could clean their BUTT 8 different times! Oh wait...make that 9 times...HS hygiene/bath. Lots of protective cream used and that behind looked very CLEAN when I left today! I never once thought to myself..."Where is that CNA, so she can clean this butt"? This is a part of my job and I had no problem taking care of this for my patient. Poor thing is on a vent and knows enough to ring for assistance, how could I possibly say "Let me get someone else to help you with that, I don't do that or, that is not my job".

GEEZ...who cares...It is only poop! Get over it. I can only hope that GOD forbid I ever needed my butt wiped that a nurse will be there for me.

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