I'm not "WIPING BUTTS"

lovejana22 · Mar 30, 2007

me being a nursing student i knew going in that i would have to wipe some ones butt other than my baby! :) i thought every one going in knew this was a possibility, i guess not. she will learn very quick, and then what will she do? :chair:

Dinith88 · Mar 30, 2007

I'm the first to go chasing after a CNA/NAT when a code-brown developes...or run and hide if someone needs help with one. I abuse cna's/students/nats at times...and do my best to avoid cleaning slop/boogers/etc. whenever possible ...call me a bad nurse. I dont care.

It's funny, but i can recall at least 3 funny situations related to people in other areas that dont 'deal' with code-browns...

1) surgical team came and swiped a patient from my unit in a hurry..anesthiologist was jumpy and didnt want to wait around. Found out later the lady exploded all over the table and nearly floated away...poor surgical team.

2)an RT who was one minute happily saying that she doesnt deal with anything 'below the chest' (meaning poop...this is a popular 'theme' with RT's...who tell themselves this to alleviate their inferiority complex around nurses)...I walked out of the room as she was in the process of suctioning noxious brown booger-snot from a rotten-tooth filled smelly guy. Ummm...

3)lastly, 2 paramedics came to transport a patient from our unit to another...lady started having continuous watery diahrrea(i still cant spell this). On the way out, the guys were arguing about who was going to drive and who would stay in the back of the rig...(they may have arm-wreestled over rig clean-up!)

I guess the moral of the story is that unless you work in a nice tidy office-type situation, you cant get away from these (unfortunately necessary) biological processes. You can run...but you cant hide. (though i do my best!)

KayceeLeeRN, BSN, RN · Mar 30, 2007

thank you x3 tweety. i take good care of my patients, but i don't consider "wiping butts" as part of my job description. it just comes with bed side nursing. i am an educated professional. i think it is demeaning for any of us (CNA's included) to consider "wiping butts" as an actual job. the statement "WHAT DO YOU THINK NURSES DO!?" is a little irritating to me because we already have a hard enough time just trying to educated the public about our profession. little do people know "wiping butts" is the easy part.

Well, I'm sure you know that I completely agree with you. It's the idea that "wiping butts" is just THAT and nothing more. We as nurses all know that not only is this for comfort, hygeine and dignity, but a very important part of perserving ones skin integrity. I'm coming to terms with the fact that the general population does not understand this. Unfortunately, perineal care is viewed simply and ignorantly as, "WIPING BUTTS". Thus the point of my thread

fultzymom · Mar 30, 2007

Sounds like she will be one of those nurses who think they are above what they call "aide work" et will always call the NA when something needs done no matter how busy the NA is. Man those nurses really drive me crazy. You need to tell her about having to do impaction removal when that happens. That is not wiping butts but something that the NA can not do. I would rather wipe a butt any day over doing a manual fecal removal!!

Nurse2bducky86 · Mar 30, 2007

I had a nurse who was to above me do wipe butts few weeks back, we had a pt that had explosive watery diahrrea and I and a float tech (first time we had one of those) was in there 6 hours of the 12 hour shift cleaning her up. I asked him to help me turn her so that i can get her cleaned up after realizing that i could not do this by myself and he then told me to call the float tech (who was getting admits) and then asked me how long I had been working i told him a few months and he then proceded to hunt down the float tech and told her to give ME some pointers on becomming a better nurse!!!:angryfire

Roy Fokker, BSN, RN · Mar 30, 2007

I have a bad feeling that patients get conditioned so that the sight of a nurse entering the room stimulates peristalsis.

I know that when patients get admitted to the hospital, their pee/BM schedule re-adjust to nursing shift times. Hence why everyone wants to pee/poop right around shift time.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it! :chuckle

withasmilelpn · Mar 30, 2007

I work in LTC, the bulk of primary care falls on the CNAs because the nurses simply don't have alot of time (meds, treatments and paperwork for about 30 patients takes alot of time.) But if I can, I don't mind at all. It gives me time to really get to know my patient, ADL skills level, assessment and above all personally, which is why I wanted to be a nurse in the first place!

semperfi8688 · Mar 30, 2007

Yeah, isnt that strange. I will be graduating in May. I work in a nursing home part time and had an RN say to me, "are you glad to be graduating, because then you wont have to do this anymore", clearly referring to the not so appealing aspects of nursing. I was absolutely stunned, speechless to say the least and with my mouth on the floor. I dont think she's ever worked in a hospital, not to mention at least helping out when we are short staffed.

ED-Adrenaline · Mar 30, 2007

If you are a NURSE...you should have HUMANITY in your profile.

Aparently, many nurses are driven by earnings and position.

If you "dont want to wipe butts"...you dont deserve to be "NURSE"!

MsLady06 · Mar 31, 2007

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.

Lots of them make it through the program. majority of nurses feel they dont have to wipe, or lift and also bathe. How do we know you dont feel this same way? Everyone comes on here posting the same ish but you might be a terrible nurse yourself. No one wants to wipe ass...please dont tell me your wiping a patients bottom with a smile...YOUR NOT! its okay for her to feel that way but as long as she gets it done thats all that matters. Yes my job is passing meds but sometimes the other care nurses are not available and me the nurse has to step in but I do not spend the majority of my job doing patient care.

Sorry but im just a little worn out on seeing people post this same issue and then a bunch of nurses tailgating pretending they have the "mcdonalds happy face" when they are cleaning patients up. No i dont look mean but please people its not pleasure. LoL I just get my job done!

Same rules apply when we have kids...you love em to death and you want them but when it comes time for messy clean ups...its no fun! but you gotta do it

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Mar 31, 2007

I'm the first to go chasing after a CNA/NAT when a code-brown developes...or run and hide if someone needs help with one. I abuse cna's/students/nats at times...and do my best to avoid cleaning slop/boogers/etc. whenever possible ...call me a bad nurse. I dont care.

Anyone who had this attitude in my dept. would become enemy #1 in only a few minutes.

psychnurse37 · Mar 31, 2007

Psych nurses do wipe butts!

We have many patients unable to care for themselves: seriously mentally ill patients, Alzheimers patients, unco-operative patients, 5 year old ADD/ADHD or "crack baby" unpotty trained children, overdoses, etc.

In fact, when I interview prospective employees, I always mention that changing diapers (depends or pull ups) is a minor part of the job, but required if they are going to treat the patient as they want to be cared for (who wants to stay in wet or dirty pants or diapers?)

I had one person walk out at that part of the interview saying "I don't change diapers on adults".

I'm the DON and once had to ask a PhD (program director) to help me change a diaper. We all "do windows" at our facility!

Nurses have to be prepared to care for any and everything.