Cleaning up poop

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Specializes in Neuro/Med-Surg/Oncology.

Sometimes I'll tell the aide to come get me when a pt is incontinent. Like someone else said, it makes my assessment easier. I can get a look at the pt's skin and make sure the stool is WNL. I also tell the aide to come get me if they need help cleaning up the difficult ones. If I'm in the middle of something I can't always do it, but I really do try.

Daytonite, BSN, RN

1 Article; 14,603 Posts

Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.
Sometimes I'll tell the aide to come get me when a pt is incontinent. Like someone else said, it makes my assessment easier. I can get a look at the pt's skin and make sure the stool is WNL.

And then there's the very RN decision making of deciding right then and there to check a sample of poop for occult blood based on what you might be seeing or smelling. I can't tell you how many times an aide has come to me describing a BM they cleaned up that I wished a sample had been checked. It is not within the scope of their job to make that kind of decision. It's a plus if they do, but the responsibility is really with us RNs.

Specializes in Neuro/Med-Surg/Oncology.
And then there's the very RN decision making of deciding right then and there to check a sample of poop for occult blood based on what you might be seeing or smelling. I can't tell you how many times an aide has come to me describing a BM they cleaned up that I wished a sample had been checked. It is not within the scope of their job to make that kind of decision. It's a plus if they do, but the responsibility is really with us RNs.

:yeahthat:

tookewlandy

727 Posts

I think that is the hardest thing I am going to deal with because I gag easily with strong smells but I hear the vix works great. I'm going to definitely keep that trick in mind.

I was worried like that at first because stuff like that used to make me gag just thinking about it, but once you have been at it for a while you get used to it, and then after while you wont even think of gagging

Trauma Columnist

traumaRUs, MSN, APRN

88 Articles; 21,249 Posts

Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Poo is the least of your worries. You will have much grosser things to do. However, it is just part of nursing. For some of us (I work ER) poo cleaning is a daily occurrence. For others, (not sure who), it occurs less frequently.

I would much rather clean poo than tell parents that their drunk and driving teen died! There are many worse things to deal with.

Roy Fokker, BSN, RN

1 Article; 2,011 Posts

Specializes in ER/Trauma.
I would much rather clean poo than tell parents that their drunk and driving teen died! There are many worse things to deal with.
Or trying to deal with a drunk. Period. :uhoh3:

They don't wanna be there.

You don't want them there.

But there's nothing either of you can do about it.

Helping combative drunks sober up is about as much fun as :banghead:

Speaking of poop, reminded me of an incident today. I thought it was pretty funny - though for nurses, it might be quite routine.

I saw one of my patients in the ER get up to go to the bathroom. Thinking ahead, I grabbed wipes and a sample container and literally ran to catch up with her. Breathlessly I told her to wait because we'd very much like some of her pee :lol2:

When I got back to the nurses station, I was feeling pretty chuffed that I saved myself time and effort by catching her in the nick of time and getting some of her pee. And then I started giggling --- running upto a perfect stranger and announcing that you'd appreciate it if they gave you some of their pee.

Try doing that to a perfect stranger out on the street! :rolleyes: :roll

Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

I'd rather deal with poo, than a drunk with a bloody mouth anyday (the breath is beyond rank).

I really don't mind the cleaning part. (It is the moving someone who is heavy, stiff and/or in pain that is the hard part, but then I'm very small and not very strong.)

To me, keeping a sick person clean is one of the greatest things you can do because it is one of the worst things for them. Lying in your own filth is depressing and dehumanizing.

When I am cleaning the crap off a patient I feel like I am really doing something for them -- there was crap, not there's none. That's not necessarily the case when I'm doing things like assessing and monitoring and charting...

Well, even if they can get to the commode/toilet by themselves, they often can't do an adequate job of cleaning their bottoms. As a student nurse I've caught almost every other patient of mine with Stage II DU's beginning because their bottoms weren't properly cleaned and dried.

I'm the pee and poop gestapo.

maxm

14 Posts

Get used to it...unless you take a desk job, you will still be cleaning up poop!!! and not just the physical stuff either...sometimes I think that is easier to clean up than the other. cleaning up poop gives you an excellent opportunity to chat with the patient...something I really enjoy doing.

Logos

229 Posts

When I am cleaning the crap off a patient I feel like I am really doing something for them -- there was crap, not there's none.

:hehe: I like that. Very concrete way of looking at it. Problem solved right? Crap be gone! Poop has never bothered me, we were watching a newborn assessment video in class and an infant pooped -one of my classmates actually went eww- I was like ***, you think baby poop is gross and you want to be a nurse. Poop? I say bring it on. If I've got gloves, the poo has not got a chance.

Specializes in Psychiatry.
I think that is the hardest thing I am going to deal with because I gag easily with strong smells but I hear the vix works great. I'm going to definitely keep that trick in mind.

Vicks is a good idea, but I think you'll be surprised by how fast you get used to it.

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