Different levels of nursing?

DBall · Apr 14, 2012

Urine and poop wouldn't be a problem. I am also thinking of being a lab tech assistant, and those deal with those and I wouldn't have a problem. Vomit isn't a problem either, I'm just saying, if I had a choice, I wouldn't want to work with that stuff everyday. None of us would want to.

I'm not set on becoming a nurse, just trying to figure things out

Bortaz, MSN, RN · Apr 14, 2012

Why do you think you want to be a nurse?I could say I want to teach kindergarten but not have to deal with little kids.

Heh, excellent post.

Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN · Apr 14, 2012

Urine and poop wouldn't be a problem. I am also thinking of being a lab tech assistant, and those deal with those and I wouldn't have a problem. Vomit isn't a problem either, I'm just saying, if I had a choice, I wouldn't want to work with that stuff everyday. None of us would want to.
I'm not set on becoming a nurse, just trying to figure things out

At least you're honest. I can respect honesty.

I can't tell you which specialties have the least body fluids involved: most specialties have the potential for them. I have to say I don't see anywhere as much of body fluids in psych as I would have in med/surg or ED...then again, when I do get to see body fluids in psych, I REALLY get to see them. Detox, of course: loads of vomiting, infected injection sites and other stuff...and then a few of the psychotic patients get, shall we say, creative :) But the latter isn't too common, thank goodness.

I imagine your chances of running across body fluids are lower in community settings, administration, informatics and settings generally away from the bedside. But unless you're lucky to land one of these jobs right out of the gate, you'll have to put in your time for a few years at the bedside first.

There's a lot more areas to nursing than you think. If you want to see what nurses do, wander throughout the forum. If you're curious about a particular specialty, we have sub-forums for almost all specialties.

One thing to keep in mind though...it may seem like you're running across a lot of venting/downer threads. Well, that's because a lot of members come here to vent. That doesn't mean there's anything good in nursing because there are a lot of great things...but sometimes it's more cathartic to vent in a safe place (read: here) about nursing than to sing its praises. Keep that in mind.

Good luck whatever you decide to do.

KelRN215, BSN, RN · Apr 15, 2012

Thanks for the information! Where would someone work if they don't want to work in a hospital and see all the nasty bodily fluids? Do LVNs work in doctor offices? What other specialities of nursing don't have to see nasty fluids like that?

Well you've asked 2 different questions here.

Where would someone work if they don't want to work in a hospital? There are infinite possibilities... doctor's offices, outpatient surgery centers, schools, jails, home health.

Where would you work if you don't want to work with bodily fluids? There are several threads about this but if you don't want to work with bodily fluids, I would say you should really consider whether you want to be a nurse. Nurses work with bodily fluids- period.

If you work in a doctor's office, you'll be doing U/As, stool guiaics, possibly throat cultures, possibly finger sticks/lab draws (depending on the office) and if a mom comes in with a vomiting kid, you'll have to deal with that too. And there may be patients who have tracheostomies and you could have to do sputum cultures and the like on them. You'd have to do this on patients with patent airways during the winter months, too. If you work in outpatient surgery, well post-op patients vomit. If you work in a jail, you never know what will happen.

The only nursing occupations I could think of that don't involve bodily fluids are things like management that do not involve patient care. But you need actual nursing experience before you can do that.

KelRN215, BSN, RN · Apr 15, 2012

Urine and poop wouldn't be a problem. I am also thinking of being a lab tech assistant, and those deal with those and I wouldn't have a problem. Vomit isn't a problem either, I'm just saying, if I had a choice, I wouldn't want to work with that stuff everyday. None of us would want to.
I'm not set on becoming a nurse, just trying to figure things out

Or, those of us who are nurses and like our profession realize that dealing with bodily fluids is a necessary part of the job and we don't think twice about it because it's a small part of what we do. I've been projectile vomited on before and what did I do? I cleaned it off, cleaned the patient and went on with my day.

loriangel14, RN · Apr 15, 2012

I really don't think you want to be a nurse.Maybe a receptionist?

MPKH, BSN, RN · Apr 15, 2012

Bodily fluids are part of a nurse's work. There are nursing jobs where there are zero exposure to bodily fluids (management, research...basically anything that's not bedside care), but you need the bedside experience for those jobs. Nobody LOVES being puked on, or cleaning up stool at 3 in the morning, but we do it and move on. It's part of what nurses do, and we do it with pride.

Maybe you need to rethink nursing as a possible career path for you.

allnurses Guide · Apr 15, 2012

If you don't want to deal with bodily fluids you probably don't want to be a nurse, a teacher or a parent.

DBall · Apr 15, 2012

Good thing there are forums like this that people like you can snap me back into reality! You all have my respect in what you do.

If nursing isn't meant to be, what other healthcare positions do you think are wise with decent pay? I want nothing to do with medical school.

MPKH, BSN, RN · Apr 15, 2012

How bout tech positions? Lab/XRay techs pay decent. Dental Hygienists also make good salary, but I heard there's a glut of DH grads like nursing grads.

Or maybe you don't have to be IN healthcare to work FOR healthcare...I have friends who work as accountants/office jobs/auditing with healthcare authorities.

SHGR, MSN, RN, CNS · Apr 15, 2012

Good thing there are forums like this that people like you can snap me back into reality! You all have my respect in what you do.
If nursing isn't meant to be, what other healthcare positions do you think are wise with decent pay? I want nothing to do with medical school.

Medical assistants really don't do anything having to do with personal care, though they do lots of immunizations and other injections, help with pelvic exams, and learn phlebotomy. It's pretty "dry," if you know what I mean. The pay seems to be pretty good.

Anything like a CNA is going to be all personal care, all the time.

Fiona59 · Apr 15, 2012

Regarding LPNs. They are nurses with a few exceptions. They cannot hang IVs on central lines. No blood transfusions either. An RN must cover for an LPN. Also, during shift change, an LPN cannot follow an LPN.
A RN has at least one more year of schooling, an associates (2yr degree). An LPN does not have a 2 year degree. I believe its a certificate program "(I could be wrong about this.) BUT an LPN must pass NCLEX just like an RN in order to obtain a nursing license.
(I'm an RN working in Chicago who works with LPN in an acute long term care facility.)

Hmm, won't go near a lot of what you've posted but that's because we live and work in different places.

We can and o hand on central lines. No RN "covers" for me, I work under my own practice permit and malpractice insuranace. LPNs can and do follow LPNs and/or RNs.

RNs require a 4 year degree, and LPN attends college for 2+years and graduates with a diploma.

The US is different but from what I've read here, there are differences from state to state. We don't know where the OP lives and plans to work.