someone tell me it gets better after RN school???

kool-aide, RN · Nov 5, 2010

Bed sores and bed baths, incontinent patients, feces and urine everywhere, It was all I could do not to have an anxiety attack right there.

If this is how you truly feel, I don't think you deserved to get that coveted seat in your nursing program.

Unless you get a change of heart, I think you should not pursue nursing. If you DO become a nurse and ever work in a field where you occasionally or frequently get an incontinent pt, guess what, they will be able to SENSE your disgust with them while you're cleaning them. That's not fair to your pts at all.

None of us love peri-care but we do it because it makes the pt feel better. If you can not see the bigger picture of nursing, I don't think you should continue in this field.

ChristaRN · Nov 5, 2010

Not sure how to respond best to this.... yes, I think things get better in some ways after nursing school but not really in the way you are hoping for. You'll be hard pressed to find a job in the hospital (or most places in my opinion) if you aren't willing to get your hands dirty. I have worked Peds and med-surg/float in my career and have needed to do the dirty work in all of my jobs - actually my first Peds job 4 years ago was an all RN unit so we answered EVERY call bell and changed EVERY diaper. Now before you think "babies butts aren't the same" as many people do, remember it's not all cute little babies, we have many total care bedbound MRCP patients who can provide a mess as big as any adult with all their antibiotics and tube feeds. I will in a week and a half be transferring to PICU which again is primarily an all RN staff and will once again be doing pretty much every bit of patient care. I'm looking forward to it. Now of course I would never say that I am exempt from finding some things in those diapers pretty disgusting (we all have those moments) but our feelings have to come in a distant second to the patient's need for good care. Imagine also how embarassed and degraded some of those patients, especially adults or even teens in my case feel that they need someone to do that care for them. I have worked on medsurg, peds, postpartum, rehab, Geri-psych, ED and all had their yucky moments (Mom-baby can involve cleaning alot of lochia and clots before mom is able to get up and do it herself). Geri-psych patients didn't always have the best hygiene and many times I assisted CNAs with showering patients for the safety of everyone involved. Even back in my home health rotation I did some bathing and colostomy changes (that can get messy). I THINK in the hospital you may be most likely to avoid diapers and baths working in the OR but anyone who works there please correct me if I'm wrong, I know the OR is certainly not for the weak of stomach or easily disgusted and has their own set of body fluids and tissues to deal with. If you are dead set against patient care I think you'll need to look at places like doctor's offices (but I'm sure they have their moments too, having never worked in one). Try in your practice to see things from the patient's perspective and realize that everyone sees something that grosses them out at some point but NEVER let the patient see it on your face or hear it in your voice and NEVER NEVER become one of those RNs who feel that call bells, baths and changing patients are the CNAs job, you certainly won't make too many fans at work that way. I hope that when you get out of school you are able to find a job which you love but remember in this current economy that you will very likely have to start out in a job you don't love to gain the experience for the one you will. Best of luck to you!

RedXIII_ · Nov 5, 2010

I don't mind all that stuff. If dealing with nursing school will get me into the ER, then i don't care. I'll do it, and I am doing it :)

biblepoet · Nov 5, 2010

bodily fluids and nakedness is part of the job discription. it may be awkward at first, but you do get over it and you just learn to deal. i'm finishing up my last semester of nursing school and i still come across new things that are kind of gross like rectal tubes, but you just suck it up, hold your breath and get the job done with a smile on your face. the patients don't like it any more than you do. if you don't think you can deal with it then you may really want to consider doing something else.

i agree rectal tubes are the worst. i still cannot get used to them. i don't think anyone likes cleaning poop but if it was your family member then wouldn't you want someone to do it for them. i always think of that when we are stuck with a less desirable chore. it does get better hang through the first semester. i just think some of it is a shock at first.

Cobweb · Nov 5, 2010

I hate to break this to you, but LTC is by far not the grossest place you can work, and plastic surgery can be absolutely horrifying, at times. You are gonna need to develop a pretty strong stomach to work in that field. Don't forget, plastic surgeons don't just do nose reductions. They work on burn victims and all kinds of trauma patients, plus some wounds. Dermatologists work on some pretty nasty situations, too--I'm not very familiar with their work, either, but google up some scleroderma pictures, eczema, psoriasis, discoid lupus, or skin cancer and see what you think about that.

Moreover, there are huge benefits to being able to do personal care for your patients. For one thing, I'm of the strong belief that you should never ask your aides to do anything you can't do yourself. How can you supervise people when you don't know their job? And performing personal care is your best chance to assess your patients and see how they are really doing. At least once a week for every patient, I try to change them or walk them to the bathroom or whatever, just so I can eyeball them for myself.

You can get used to this stuff--the question is, do you want to? That's a question only you can answer. You might watch some of the surgeries and shows on Discovery Health or poke around on the Internet and see what nursing is really about, not what TV shows seem to teach people nowadays. I hope that helps :)

PACNWNURSING · Nov 5, 2010

Just do what most want to be nurses do to avoid those aspects of adult care, head to NICU, just kidding... With the current and future market the LTC maybe your only choice upon graduation. Really it is all about attitude, this is the reality of nursing, the choice is yours.

bustthewave · Nov 5, 2010

Im half way through my 1st semester of 4 and Im hating nursing school! Is this normal??? For one, our clinicals are being done in LTC rehab and I HATE it. Bed sores and bed baths, incontinent patients, feces and urine everywhere, It was all I could do not to have an anxiety attack right there. Its not that I dont empathize with these patients, I do, but If this is what my job is going to be about when I graduate then I dont think I want to graduate. Im hoping that someone will tell me that LTC is where you see the worst part of the job and that there are other areas I can go into that dont deal with these issues. Im sorry but cleaning up someone else's feces and urine and bathing their genitals and whatnot is disgusting and Im not ashamed to admit that. Alot of the students try to pretend like they have no issue with it whatsoever but I think thats a load of baloney and they just dont want to admit that bc its 'taboo' for a nurse of all people to think such a thing much less say it out loud (as if we're saints). We are nurses and yes we care but come one, be real, some of the things nurses have to do is gross! SO, I would like to know, does this sound like a normal reaction to the beginning of nursing school or am I looking at a job that Im going to hate??

I'm getting ready to start CNA clinicals next semester to go on to my nursing program. I am fully aware that I'll be knee deep in all forms of excrement. Honestly, I have no idea how I'll react. I know part of my is screaming the very things you are, but I also work as a vet tech and every day I go home with feces, blood, urine, ear wax...... ... on my scrubs.

What I've learned? It's all mental and in your head. So just as there is a loud screaming part of you that says "This could not be ANY grosser!" There is the rational part of you that knows how to do a job, zone out the gross stuff, and enjoy the fact that you are contributing positively to the world.

If you can't find that part of your noggin, and you can't find a way to zone out your gut reactions, than yes... I would imagine you are going into the wrong field.

Barbara Hessinger · Nov 5, 2010

Beside that it takes some time to get used to it, it really opened my eyes about being old one day and on the receiving end.

It is hard to imagine though when you are just in your 20's.

VanLpn · Nov 5, 2010

Beside that it takes some time to get used to it, it really opened my eyes about being old one day and on the receiving end.
It is hard to imagine though when you are just in your 20's.

This happend to me as well, during my clinicals in LTC, I actually saw my life flash before my eyes. I looked at allthe pictures that were on the wall of my residents when they were young and then I looked at the old frail person lying in front of me needing my help. I saw that one day I could be in that same position. Then one of my residents asked if I was "happy" I said yes and she seemed pleased. She said "good becuse you need to enjoy it now becuase before you know it, you might end up confused and relying on other people for everything and it will feel like it all passed you by in the blink of an eye".

General E. Speaking, RN, RN · Nov 5, 2010

I agree rectal tubes are the worst.

Personally, I love rectal tubes! Well, "love" may be too strong of a word. I would much rather mark a line on the outside of a self contained bag the amount of smelly green C Diff poop than have to worry about constantly cleaning it out of the skin folds of my poor bed bound pt. Soooo much better for all parties involved!

If you try and remember that these body fluids are coming out of a human being who has feelings and probably would rather not suffer the humiliation of having to have a total stranger expose them, roll them over, wipe every crease may help. :) Thats the way I try to approach the subject.

Nursing means nursing the whole person, body fluids and all...

JenRN30, BSN · Nov 5, 2010

Ha, no. Unless you also want to clean up the feces that's been smeared in their hair while they're delusional. Or have someone going through DTs wave their member at you like a sword, while trying to bat you away, all the time you're trying to administer an IM injection. Seriously--all true.

Seriously, LOL :lol2:

klone, MSN, RN · Nov 5, 2010

my thinking going into nursing was to be a plastic surgery or derma nurse. Ive also toyed with the idea of maternity. Do these sound like they would be a better fit?

If you don't like poop, pee, vomit and genitals, then I would advise you NOT to get into "maternity"