A Pre-nursing Student who believes...

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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... 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??

Specializes in ER, PEDS, CASE MANAGEMENT.

yep, icky, stinky, sticky, yucky bodily fluids. When I started out in nursing, we had 1 CNA on the floor. I learned how to do ALOT on my own that first year. Still like that now. I won't call them unless I really do need help. Wouldn't it be a perfect world if all us nurses had to do was chart and push meds??? bahhahahahahahahahahaaa.

Boy is she in for a rude awakening!!!

Specializes in respiratory,hospice,discharge planning,c.

are you kidding me, she will not make it. i am a believer that one should have to be a cna to go to the next level. primary care nursing either makes you or breaks you. if ya cant sling a bedpan then you cant be a real nurse!

This is funny! I worked with a nurse who would actually tell people: "I am a professional. I don't change, clean, or turn patients."

You can imagine how this became problematic when I was the only CNA on the Med/Surg floor with a full census of 38 and I needed some help with some of her patients.

She wouldn't answer lights either. Ever.

I often wonder if she's still in bedside nursing, or if she did her co-workers and patients a favor by moving on to pushing papers at an insurance company or something.

We as RNs are expected to clean up after our own patients and assist with cleaning up other patients as needed. We are a team. Everyone gets dirty. In a doctor's office you get dirty. I am a school nurse and I still deal with emesis, blood and the occasional other bodily fluid. It is the nature of the job. Yes you can get an office job somewhere eventually, but many other people are after that same job, they are few and far between. And you have to get experience first. I am already sad to hear of that terrible attitude. How is she going to suction a trach?

Specializes in none yet.

She is just innocent. But when she is a bedside nurse and she walks in on one of her confused pts on fall precautions who has watery poop all over her and the bed and is trying to get out of bed to go to the bathroom, the innocent nurse will find herself cleaning the poop off everything (with gloves on and pathogen precautions), helping the pt to the bedside commode and feeling grateful that she came in the room at that time so the pt didn't fall. Somehow icky fluids seem unimportant to clean up when you know what could have happened to the pt if she had fallen or had gotten a skin infection because of poor cleaning.

The icky feeling toward bodily fluids stops soon after getting in the real world when the new nurse has her own pts who need her and without her they would be in trouble. My first week on the job, the CNA taught me how to give a pt a complete bed bath. If I ever need to, I can now. There is a lot the new nurse will learn which was never taught in school or clinicals. She is innocent, so go easy on her. She will soon learn.

Well, unless your friend plans on going in to some kind of office position she is in for a rude awakening. Nursing is about total patient care and if she is going to be primadonna about it she won't get very far. Trust me.

Specializes in L&D, CCU, ICU, PCU, RICU, PCICU, & LTC..
You should focus on finding a job post graduation and not on some silly student in your class.

She is in PRE-nursing. She has a few years before worrying about a job. Her question was one of curiosity. I believe that IS one of the purposes of this forum. :smackingf

Makes me chuckle.....A new RN we were training in our LTC facility was "astounded" to learn that she was expected immediately answer tab alarms and call lights, toilet residents, give a bath now and then, etc. etc. along with her other responsibilities- she thought "I only had to do these things to get through school!" A rude surprise to her! I explained to her that even though I was the ADON, I still answer lights, toilet, bathe, clean up emesis, blood, sputum etc.- whatever needs done to help out- Can't lead a team if you can't be an example to them! Besides, paperwork is boring! My residents are what make it worth going to work everyday, bodily fluids and all!

Well... I will tell you that I am not a nurse yet, however I know that I will have to clean up bodily fluids when I do become one. When I worked at Sacred Heart ER I saw nurses that had to clean up bodily fluid all the time. Yes we did have the Emergency Room Department Aid which did clean up too, but they were meant more for the deep cleaning of the Trauma rooms, rooms that had patients with scabies, AIDs, chicken pox, etc... So if anyone nursing student believes that they will not have to clean up, well, sorry to say that yes you will. (and that is with hospital nurses i am not sure about clinics though).

:rolleyes: there are so many nursing students that say this and either learn really quick to deal with the "icky stuff" or they decide to move on to a different major. Nursing is not as glamorous as some may believe. It's a lot of hard work and getting your hands dirty is part of the job description especially in Nursing School. :nurse:

Its great that you are mentally preparing your self with the possibilities of what you may encounter and when you do enter a program and begin clinicals don't be discouraged if you become squeamish every now and then it happens a lot on the beginning. Some pointers that I have learn along the way:

  • Mints, mint gum, and flavored lip gloss helps when you need to wear a mask
  • Double glove when cleaning bodily fluids, this will save you time.

Just to name a few things, Good Luck...

In my opinion, a prudent nurse will do any thing for her patient, regardless of your title, LPN, or RN, CNA's are not our slaves, they are team members and deserve the same respect as a LPN or RN... just because they are our assistants doesnt mean we give them all the dirty work.... If you are a healthcare professional you will have to clean up vomit, or feces at one point or another.... so please wake up, cause u are in for a rude awakeing... if you think for one min that all you will have to do is pass meds and do paperwork, a REAL NURSE does it all with no complaints..... if you want a sit down job, I suggest you find another profession....

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