Poop in nursing

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I am an RN. My niece is 18 and hoping to go to nursing school. Recently she told me that there will be no poop cleaning at her nursing school or in the hospital she plans to work in. "I am not going to be THAT kind of nurse. I won't have to change adult diapers."

I was shocked when I heard this! Why had I and all of my nursing coworkers chosen "poop" nursing schools! Where is this special poop free hospital?

What do you do IcySage? I'm close to graduation and still trying to figure out which direction to head... I don't think I will want to be in a hospital forever....I know that's where I'll start but maybe not end

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Specializes in NICU.

Sorry to get off topic

Esme, I see your dog listening to music on the headphones. Is it's favorite singer Snoop Dogg? and it's favorite song "Who let the dogs out"?

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Lets be honest..RN's don't deal with poop as much. They do but not like cnas and lvns

True IME. I am in LPN school now, have been a CNA for years. In all those years I have never seen an RN change a diaper, and I have only seen an LPN assist with a diaper change (as in restrain the [dementia] patient or pass wipes). In school I hear a lot of teachers talking about how they "love their techs and help them out." Then I hear them relate stories that are supposed to shock the class. Example: "I once saw a dementia patient playing with his feces!!". That she is even surprised indicates this RN has indeed not changed a diaper or seen much poop.

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I take back what I said StudentRN313

I appreciate you for doing that:yes:

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We have this same discussion every week, and people get up in arms every week when some people say "Some RNs don't deal with poop." Welp, the truth is that most nursing jobs require some interaction with feces. Another truth is that some nurses avoid this interaction like the plague. Heck, we even had a thread on AN last week where a nurse was looking for a job that didn't deal with poop, and she even described how she avoided dealing with poop in nursing school and at work by getting someone else to do the job for her. Unfortunately, everyone is not this super helpful and diligent nurse in real life. The reality is that some people suck as nurses because they'd rather pout and scurry from unpleasant situations than to help their patients in their time of need. YOU might be that nurse that will clean up persistent c-diff throughout a 12 hour shift, but some nurses certainly won't and have no problem saying so.

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Poop happens, deal with it

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Specializes in Transitional Nursing.

This has got me thinking. What is societies problem with poop? For god sakes, everyone does it! Why is it such a big freaking deal? We all work in nursing on some level (me, a CNA) and we're used to it so to us, its not a big deal. To my husband, sister, the average person.....they cant say bowel movement without blushing. I wish there wasn't this big stigma surrounding it. Everyone does it, some people enjoy it (i know im gross) and some people need help after they do it. Who gives a flying pineapple? :-) You wipe it off and move on. Are they like this in other countries do you think? Shhhh can't talk about it its private!!

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Although I have only completed my first semester of nursing school and so far my clinicals have been in LTC and acute rehab, I can say that I really don't mind cleaning up poop. I have never worked with patients hands-on before this (have been a pharmacy technician for many years) but poop really doesn't bother me. What bothers me is the fact that a certain nurse in one of the facilities that I've been in made a patient (c-diff with a fresh leg amputation) wait for hours in their own mess for the students to come in and take care of it because the CNA was out sick for that shift and this particular "seasoned" nurse "didn't do that". The nurse told the patient that and that they had to wait until 0645 when the students come, which made me so angry, but of course I can't say anything. I'm glad to see from previous posts that this is not the general consensus of most nurses. I actually don't mind cleaning poop because I get to close the door/curtain and focus on only that patient for a while. Since I don't get much uninterrupted time with a patient, it's nice to be able to get that once in a while.

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True IME. I am in LPN school now, have been a CNA for years. In all those years I have never seen an RN change a diaper, and I have only seen an LPN assist with a diaper change (as in restrain the [dementia] patient or pass wipes). In school I hear a lot of teachers talking about how they "love their techs and help them out." Then I hear them relate stories that are supposed to shock the class. Example: "I once saw a dementia patient playing with his feces!!". That she is even surprised indicates this RN has indeed not changed a diaper or seen much poop.

Actually, all that means is that she hasn't seen many patients play with their own poop. That has no bearing on whether or not she's assisted with changes.

I was a CNA before I was a nurse. I think my contact with poop and bodily fluids in general increased when I got my license because in the end, I was responsible for the patient. Skin assessments of a person's back and bottom during a diaper change are indispensable. My CNAs knew how I felt about this and would make a point of calling me in when the patient's diaper needed a change if I wasn't there with them already.

I have seen RNs, LPNs and CNAs alike shirk their duties. I have known CNAs who refused to wipe butts and answer call bells. I have known RNs who did the same. Irresponsible behavior isn't confined to one role vs. another.

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Dealing with poop is not THAT bad. It pays the bills. ;)

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Specializes in Med Surg.

Ha! Maybe she was joking around with you.

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Nope. She is a princess. Lol

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