A little concerned

[floridanurse1983]

I was mixing fake stool for my students to do an occult blood test out of chocolate pudding and applesauce. I was surprised it came up positive. Multiple times. I'm trying to place what would cause a positive. Any ideas? For some reason I'm blanking rationale of what would cause a positive.

[AOx1]

Just do what my nursing instructors did. Give all of them a blank test strip and tell them to collect a sample at home and bring it back to class for testing.

Why am I picturing students at the dog park pestering owners for poop? Lol. Hate to say it, but that's what I would probably do. Not bringing my own poop for show and tell :)

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

Why am I picturing students at the dog park pestering owners for poop? Lol. Hate to say it, but that's what I would probably do. Not bringing my own poop for show and tell :)

I think a lot of them will hit up their own or others' infants for said sample. That's what I'd do, and I own a dog.

[iluvivt, BSN, RN]

Mix up another batch of fake poop with another substance so that you have those that test positive and those that test negative. As a student I think it would be more helpful to see what a positive responses looks like

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

Gross. 

I don't see why testing your own poop is any more gross than testing someone else's. You come into contact with your own poop on a daily basis, no? All we did was put it on the card and bring the cards in. It wasn't gross. No more gross than when I had to do these tests for myself at home as ordered by my own MD.

[ktwlpn, LPN]

Sheesh-this is one skill I missed in school. I just had to read the directions on the package when I had to do it...

[applewhitern, BSN, RN]

Yeah, seems like a waste of time to demonstrate that in nursing school. It is pretty self-explanatory. That said, the hospitals I have worked for only allowed lab personnel to "read" the results. One hospital said it was because they could charge for it if the lab read it; another hospital said it was because you have to be sure the reader isn't color-blind. I thought that was strange because I have had to take a color-blind test at every hospital I worked for.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

Yeah, seems like a waste of time to demonstrate that in nursing school. It is pretty self-explanatory. That said, the hospitals I have worked for only allowed lab personnel to "read" the results. One hospital said it was because they could charge for it if the lab read it; another hospital said it was because you have to be sure the reader isn't color-blind. I thought that was strange because I have had to take a color-blind test at every hospital I worked for.

Interesting, I don't ever recall taking a color blindness test for any job I've had and guiaic tests when I worked in the hospital were done and read by nursing. We never so much as sent the samples to the lab, it was a point of care test. We read them and charted the results ourselves.

[xoemmylouox, ASN, RN]

Well I have learned something new today. In all of the places I have worked either the Nurse or MD did the test and recorded the results. No lab techs involved.

[laKrugRN]

This thread is hilarious! Man, I wish our instructors had been so creative! I may never eat pudding again! there might be blood!

Just kidding!!

[SouthernPoint]

It's the chocolate causing the positive results. Awesome teaching skill though. In the hospital I work for only doctors can read the result. Only time nursing is involved is to collect the sample and hand the card over. Yay us.

[blondy2061h, MSN, RN]

Our lab has to run the test ever since a nurse left the developer in the patient room and the patient thought it was his eye drops!!!

[Christy1019, ASN, RN]

In both EDs that I've worked in only the MDs or MLPs performed guiac tests and occult blood tests from vomit or NG tubes were sent to the lab. Hmm maybe they can charge more by saying the physicians are doing it.