cleaning poop

SueBee RN-BSN · Apr 25, 2006

i want to become a nurse..i am doing my pre reqs..the only thing i am worried about is to stomach nursing..i love to help people..but certain things i cant stomach..especially cleaning poop...did anyone had trouble with this and then got use to it..is there a dept you can go in that doesnt require this...[/quo
I had a patient puke poop. He had cancer, it was the worst.
Frankly, OB is not poopless, but it's not as bad as a med-surg floor.

chadash · Apr 25, 2006

i want to become a nurse..i am doing my pre reqs..the only thing i am worried about is to stomach nursing..i love to help people..but certain things i cant stomach..especially cleaning poop...did anyone had trouble with this and then got use to it..is there a dept you can go in that doesnt require this...[/quo
I had a patient puke poop. He had cancer, it was the worst.
Frankly, OB is not poopless, but it's not as bad as a med-surg floor.
Yep. Seen that, bowel obstruction. Poor pt.

bigwavedave · Apr 25, 2006

my wife is a nicu (neonatal) nurse, of course they do their share of cleaning poo. the upside is that it is contained to a diaper and in much less quantity than an adult patient. it also only takes a couple of wipes to clean it. the smells may not be as bad either. if you don't like smells- do not go to trauma- (blood, vomit, poo, sweat, halitosis, down right nasty funk, you name it- we smell it!) just something to think about.

pickledpepperRN · Apr 25, 2006

Where else can we find a 50+ post discussion of this?

I've cleaned it in five decades. It is part of nursing. I like to keep my patients clean. We do use rectal bags or tubes (#39 F/C) to gravity for diarrhea.

Alert patients on Kayexalate or Lactulose have thanked me for using these.

The worst to me is all the call lights on at the same time, a patient crashing with too little staff, or no empty ICU beds. What if there is an in house code?

chadash · Apr 26, 2006

It seems fitting somehow that my last post should be on the poop page. Sort of finishing where I started, so to speak. :)

SmilingBluEyes · Apr 26, 2006

Poop happens.

I know bad cliche but oh so true. You can't get away from it, no matter what area of bedside nursing you do choose.