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??

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....

Thank you for your response to my post however, I do not believe you read it in its entirety. I referred to an acquaintance of mine from school -- not myself. Therefore, as a few previous people mentioned, I am not the one in for "a rude awakening." :)

Gee TeesGirl ~~ can I come work for you?

When I was 19, I entered a Practical Nursing program. I was giving my first patient (extremely obese, incontinent, organic brain disease) a commode shower, against her wishes (the nursing instructor INSISTED, and who was I to say "no"). I was a little princess, and after I heard a loud groan and the big giant poop plopped on the floor, I was told to clean it up, with one little paper towel. My nursing instructor had a good sense for who she was dealing with!!!! Don't worry, reality hits really fast.... .

Now I am quite a bit older, I have taken care of my own children, and I am ready to try again. I am no longer a Princess. We all learn, just some a little later than others (or we go on to become accountants....) haha.

Well your friend would think I'm weird because I'm an RN who actually likes basic care. It's not hard to do, you can't get into too much trouble doing it, you're not likely to muck it up and overdose the patient on soap and water, and everyone feels better when it's done. What's not to like about that?

Everyone in a hospital plays a role. One is not more important than the other. Every team member is vital to run the hospital. I have never worked as a CNA, but one thing I have always respected is how hard they work. Everyone pitches in, and a please and thank you goes a very long way. I really appriciate how hard they work and how they make a hospital a great place for team work.

Oh how I wish cleaning feces with gloves on would be the:nurse: worst thing that you would think about dealing with. I have been a bedside RN for 7 years. I have been peed on while rushing to a bed alarm to assist someone. I have had multiple events with mucus that I will not even comment about. I have been thrown up on. I could go on but I think I make my point. With bedside Nursing it comes with the territory. I have never met anyone in Nursing who likes this part of the job. But yes it is part of the job. A job I absolutely love for thousands of other reasons , but it comes with the territory to reap the rewards you must suffer with the down points also. Good luck to you both in your career choice. It a special career for special people and it is not for everyone. :nurse:

I was not gloved--there were none there for some reason, and my program didn't say much about gloving........

Specializes in OR, public health, dialysis, geriatrics.
But most new grads start in the clinical setting before they can get a job outside of bedside nursing...am I right ?

Most new grads start at the bedside either in the hospital, LTC, or home care.

There will be days when you feel like you have to wash in bleach when you get home.

I remember throwing away shoes that when an alcoholic patient with esophogeal varices was bleeding out and unfortunately it was all over my uniform and shoes-yep...showered at work, wore work scrubs and non-skid footie socks home that day and showered again at home.

If it can come out of a human body as a nurse you will have it on you at some point in your career.:barf01:

Thank you for your little hints I know that I will use them when I start doing my clinicals.

Specializes in Rehab, Med Surg, Home Care.

Two comments;

First, there are a fair number of times when the nurse's evaluation/ assessment does involve bodily fluids. You might not have to clean up the vomit each time but you may well have to assess if all of the patient's pills came back up, the implication being knowing if (s)he received crucial meds or if you need to try to re-administer them when your patient is able to take them. You may also need to evaluate what is being thrown up. If it's partially digested food that's a whole lot less serious than if it's blood or backed up stool.

That being said, most people do get de-sensitized to the nastiness factor much more quickly than you'd think!

I think she needs to get over herself with an attitude like that or find something else to major in. Dealing with bodily fluids is a part of nursing.

Ha! Let's hope she doesn't do labor and delivery...

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