Do nurses have to clean up vomit?

Rick68fl · Mar 4, 2012

Too funny!

Vomit is one of the least offensive things we have to clean up on a regular basis.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Mar 4, 2012

We, as nurses, have to deal with:

1. Vomit

2. Blood

3. Urine

4. Feces

5. Sputum / Phlegm

6. Perspiration

7. Body oils

8. lady partsl secretions

9. Penile secretions

10. Any substance that can be found on or inside the human body

Sparrowhawk · Mar 4, 2012

Just hold your breath and power through...think of flowers and sunshine..think of something else besides the puke. I'll be honest, I'd rather wipe butt all day then deal with throw up... Weirdly enough, cat puke doesn't bother me as much as human puke.

cindyloowho · Mar 4, 2012

He who finds it, cleans it! That's the rule.

One Flew Over · Mar 4, 2012

And if your patient begins to complain of nausea/stomach ache.. etc.. make sure that basin is front and center! And I mean a real basin (label it for 'oral use only'), not one of those tiny emesis basins, the elderly simply cannot aim into those little things! :)

exnavygirl-RN · Mar 4, 2012

I've cleaned up vomit and diarrhea (head to toe) so many times it doesn't phase me anymore.

GitanoRN, BSN, MSN, RN · Mar 4, 2012

as you know by now from previous post the answer to your question is yes. ironically enough, i'm one of those nurses that nothing bothers me, with the exception of suctioning phelgm and getting a culture of it. trust me, after a while you'll get use to it specially if you decide to work in icu or ccu where we hardly have any help to assist us. having said that, wishing you the very best in all of your future endeavors..aloha~ :cool:

Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN · Mar 4, 2012

From my knowledge, they do have to wipe behinds every now and then and perform injections, but do nurses also have to clean up vomit? Sorry for asking this or if it may seem like a "duh" question because I'm leaning more towards the answer being 'yes', but I want a definite answer. Preferalbe from nurses who have had to do it. How was the experience? How to you deal with it? I think I would vomit myself just from the sight of it, let alone the smell

I can guarantee you that in almost all specialties you will encounter vomit, among other body products. In addition, you may not always have someone there to help clean it up for you...besides, as the nurse it's ultimately your responsibility anyway.

It's something you will have to learn to get used to...and never fear, there's a few tricks to getting used to it. I spent summers on a dairy farm so I'm pretty good at switching off some of the senses in order to get the job of cleaning up done. In addition, your squeamish factor will improve with time.

Amounts of body products encountered may vary between specialities. For example, in psych I encounter far less body products than someone in say, med-surg or LTC. However, what some of my patients like to do with said body products is another story...

allnurses Guide · Mar 4, 2012

Sometimes you have to clean up stuff that came out of the human body that was never intended to be or stay IN the human body. That stuff has a bad smell too.

iceCiel · Mar 4, 2012

i did it in hospital and nursing home as well

just give a small rubbish bag to patient to prevent patient vomit again and we clean again :uhoh3:

iceCiel · Mar 4, 2012

i don't know which country you are stay now

actully , we do a lot of basic care in Singapore

like help patient bathing , change diaper or feed patient

but in China , we only do nursing care like change dressing , insert iv ect:nurse:

Guttercat, ASN, RN · Mar 4, 2012

Oooh!

Wait 'till they projectile "vomit" 300 ml of fresh blood from an intractable epistaxis (nosebleed) event.

Cool! :)