A Pre-nursing Student who believes...

[digoe74]

... that she will NEVER have to clean, feces, vomit, urine, blood, etc.! Here's what happened: So, today I was chatting with one of my fellow pre-nursing students while at school. I do not know this girl very well, in fact it was only the second time we spoke as we have no classes together. Today we strike up a conversation and I got a little bit of a squeamish vibe from her -- so I asked her "Have you given any thought to the fact that you will be cleaning bodily fluids, etc. and how do you feel about that?" She replied with this: "As an RN I will NEVER have to do that! That is what CNAs are for." So, I tried to explain to her that as far as I know and IMO EVERY RN has to do that at one time or another. She refuses to believe this and is convinced that I am wrong. Well, to all the nurses out there -- is there such a thing as a 'bodily fluid free' existence in nursing? I, personally, do NOT believe this and have already prepared myself (as much as one can w/o the actual experience) for having to do such things. Thoughts anyone??

[anne220]

WOW!! Maybe a TV nurse never does this, but I've never met a "real" nurse who doesn't! It doesn't matter what your degree is - I'm working on my doctorate and am one of the APRNs for my area and I still clean up any and everything. Isn't that part of basic care???

[l150]

LOL. :lol2: . This so hilarious. When I was in school a lot of my fellow thought the same. There were people like you and I who tried to warn them. People think it's like on t.v. Well, guess what? Half of my class dropped during 1st clinical rotations. I do mean half. Some were even angry that they would have to actually touch a patient. Your classmate is in for a real shocker. Unless she works in a MD office or clinic, she is going to have to do it, AND even then it depends on what duties they expect from her. Does she think that she will have to never start an I.V. or get a urine specimen ? what will she do if the aide is tied up with another pt? Let them sit in thier pee, vomit, or poop until the aide can finally come around? Let her know where I live , it's considered neglect and depending where you live, her license will be suspended or taken. We have had new grads say that on our unit and guess what? They were warned that thier hands aren't any better than the aides and if you don't like , find another job. At least you have a grip on reality. I am sick of people like this coming into nursing.

[Fuzzy]

One of my classmates in vet tech school didn't like cats. He thought that they were evil and refused to work with them. One of the small animal instructors took him aside one day when he refused to take a cat from a cage. She told him that when he got out of school he could choose a job where he did not have to work with felines. There are many large animal medicine jobs out there. But until then he will work with cats in this program. He will also attend to their needs and treat them with kindness. And he would do it with a smile on his face or he would be gone. He managed to get through the program. He now has a good job in equine medicine with no cats to be found.

Sounds like this student needs the same type of pep talk.

Fuzzy

[jrbl77, RN]

Having been a nurse for more years than anything else I have done, I can say that I have cleaned up messes of just about every type. Some how the pts with a fecal impaction always wait for the day that I am working to have a bowel problem. Some how other nurses don't notice that the pt hasn't had a bm now for 4, 5 6...days. Body fluids go with the job. As long as you are dealing with people, their fluids will be present.

[ppfd, BSN, EMT-P]

She hasn't made it past the "pre" stage. Little early to be making predictions on what her job will entail.

[squirtcatt]

Thank you for that! I WISH that was a requirement for acceptance into a nursing program. Then maybe they could weed out some of people who arent really cut out for it and the rest of us wouldnt have to wait a million years to get into the program!

I am one of those nurses that did not work as a CNA prior to nursing school!! But have no worries, cuz I help with the clean ups!! Oh i sometimes have my moments when it smells really bad, but I do it. I work straight nocs and our CNA's sometimes have 16 or more patients, how are they to do it alone? I do know that we have had some nurses that would rather run after the CNA with the bedpan rather than help, but they are few and far between. It is called TEAMWORK!

[anne220]

I started to say "at least I do peds" but teenagers are adult size so I guess that doesn't work either. Few things compare to vomit running down both legs and into your shoes (refluxing baby)! Unless she becomes something that doesn't interact with people on an "intimate" type level (i.e. not a school teacher, bus driver, nurse, etc.), she's never going to be able to avoid the body fluid thing. What happens when she needs to care for her own family?

[ginnymerc]

I'm just winding up my 1st semester in nursing school, and the little bit I know so far is that the nature of the "poop" is important to assess, as is the color and quality of the urine. Intimate knowledge about the patient comes in many forms. Wear gloves, and a mask/gown if you must, but get in there and assess! Keep the pt clean and dry

[ednurse17, BSN, MSN, RN, NP]

She'd better think about a career change. Exposure to bodily fluids will be on a daily basis if she chooses bedside nursing.

[cosmicsun]

There will be PLENTY of poop and icky stuff you will be emersed in. In fact, the CNAs have a funny way of always having someone else in the shower when you call them for help. You'll be on your own cleaning it up.

[billyboblewis]

When there is some urgency in cleaning up any of these fluids I have seen everyone including the CNO jump in to help make the patient comfortable. The nurse to be will learn that many days will come up in her career when no cna's are oresent.

[cosmicsun]

yes, many days...