check for poopy pants???

[Ilovegiraffes]

Hi All,

Besides a week of floundering in ISTEP hell, today a little guy (kdg) was sent to me with a note; "please check for poopy pants"

I didn't detect an odor (but admittedly my sense of smell isnt very acute) and asked him., "Do you think maybe you had an 'accident' ? and he said NO. So I very sweetly asked him if I could just "check" to be sure, and he shook his adamantly, backing away ...and again said NO.

Well, I'm not pulling a kids pants down, even a little bit, when he is able to voice refusal loud & clear. At this point I told him to go into the restroom and "check to be sure he's ok"

I ask the child "is it ok if ......" for pretty much everything, but especially things that may involve exposure of private parts. Am I being overly cautious???

Oh, please - can summer break be hurried up???

[coughdrop.2.go, BSN, RN]

Hey if a student doesn't want me to check I don't check. Students have rights and sometimes staff feel that their psychological well-being can overwrite the rights of students. Nope, nope, nope. It's okay, summer is almost here! Spring Break is closer! But I know for some of the fellow nurses back east there's less break for them due to the snow days. Just hang in there! *insert kitten poster*

[Wave Watcher]

Smelling for poopy pants is not a nursing issue for me. If you have a nose that works....you are just as qualified. I can't believe they sent a child down to you for that. I'm sure you have better things to do with your time than start checking butts for poop. Anything below the waist that requires pants to be dropped or unbuttoned I don't go near. I think you did exactly what you should have done (and more).

[amoLucia]

Maybe the little guy just passed gas - you know the kind, SILENT BUT DEADLY pharts !!!

[feelix, RN]

I work in an elementary school. The parents never send clothing changes. The principal has ordered that all kids who pee and poop stay in the clinic till picked up/changed. Even if the parents send clothes and it is just a peeing, the teacher sends them to the clinic to be changed, though they have attached bathrooms. There is a little 4 year old who kept coming pooped/peed in pants till I demanded mom put a diaper on her. Now she comes to me for diaper change daily. First I had to sit through the hell of poopy pants all day, now I keep a couple of chairs outside the door where they can stink up all day if they want. Parents either don't come, or come in a couple of hours. I never thought of this going to nursing school.

[AdobeRN]

I always ask too - if a student doesn't want me to check I don't check. I do offer the use of wipes to clean self, most of the time the kid will go in the bathroom and wipe self again. If it is an issue that happens often I will let the parents know.