Do Nurses have to do the following??

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Do Nurses have to clean up after patients'?

For instance, if a patient throws up all over themselves or poops on themselves, do Nurses have to clean them up?

What is the most disgusting thing that you have done for a patient?

Give me the dirty 'lowdown' on the gritty work that some Nurses are forced to endure.

I am a fairly new nurse and one of my best friends on my floor is an aide, I know that she really appreciates that I have no problem helping clean up a patient. I think it is silly to hear a nurse who is already in the room with the patient say I will get the aide to help you, even though you are already there to help. Being on the other side too as a patient it is horrible to have to wait. Nothing is beneath me, I have absolutely no problem helping clean a pt and do the dirty work. Also where I work there is not a difference between an ADN and a BSN we all clean up poop and other not so nice things regardless of what our degree is. I don't know you and I am not going to presume that you really feel this way but if I were you I would take a long look at whether this is the right career for you especially with the kind of questions you are asking. Good luck to you and I really hope that you do well and realize that nursing is about the entire pt even the yucky stuff. sorry for the long post.

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Specializes in LTC, Subacute Rehab.
Does it matter what degree you have?

Do the lvns, and Adns do the cleaning?

Or do Bsn nurses also have to clean?

I would be awfully mad to meet another nurse - I don't care what degree - with that kind of attitude toward patient care.

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Specializes in RN, BSN, CHDN.

To be truthful the vomit fairies fly in and 'ZAP" it is all cleaned up LOL

Sorry just couldn't resist:D

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Specializes in RN, BSN, CHDN.
I am a charge nurse and I regularly deal with vomit, sputum, feces and urine, blood, puss, and so on. It doesn't matter what your degree is- if you work in pt care you will deal with these things. And any nurse who takes a non-clinical job without a solid clinical background is clueless, ineffective, and not a real nurse, imo (flame away).

As another poster said- and only experienced nurses would understand- cleaning feces and urine are the fun parts of nursing.

Do you think you could come and be a charge nurse in my place of work:yeah:

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Specializes in ortho, hospice volunteer, psych,.

Why the heck do you think I spend 6 years gettin' my nurses' larnin'?? Those big bucks?

sharpeimom:paw::paw:

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Specializes in private duty/home health, med/surg.

Whoever finds the mess, cleans it up. If you walk in on a co-worker cleaning up a patient, you roll up your sleeves and help out.

What kind of person would I be if I made a patient sit in their own vomit, stool, urine, etc. even a second longer than they needed to because I was looking for an aide to clean them up?

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Specializes in ortho, hospice volunteer, psych,.
Whoever finds the mess, cleans it up. If you walk in on a co-worker cleaning up a patient, you roll up your sleeves and help out.

What kind of person would I be if I made a patient sit in their own vomit, stool, urine, etc. even a second longer than they needed to because I was looking for an aide to clean them up?

I already posted a smart aleck answer and now I'll give a more serious answer. The above quotation can't be improved upon because that's why I (and, I suspect, most of us) became nurses to begin with. No matter how busy and rushed off our feet we are, nothing tops the feeling of satisfaction and sense of having been needed, and knowing that you made someone more comfortable when they were at their weakest and most vulnerable.

sharpeimom:paw::paw:

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Specializes in Critical Care.
Does it matter what degree you have?

Do the lvns, and Adns do the cleaning?

Or do Bsn nurses also have to clean?

I have a MSN, CCRN, and nursing is my SECOND master's degree.

I still clean up patients. No questions asked.

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Specializes in private duty/home health, med/surg.

Exactly! I am proud of the fact that any one of my co-workers, aide or fellow nurse, can ask me to help up the messiest of Code Browns, and I will go in there willingly, without batting an eye. And my co-workers and I make the patient feel okay--not ashamed--about needing our help.

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Specializes in LTC, Home Health.

Why wouldn't you clean them up? Some hospitals only have RNs, wonder who does the dirty work there?

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Specializes in Med-Surg/Oncology, Psych.
How sad..

I just really want to know what kinds of duties that a Nursing job entails.

The good, the bad, and the ugly.

I have to admit that my first inclination was to write a sarcastic response to this question. However, I don't think that it's right to give sass to someone who is asking an honest question. To the OP - I'm sure you've already gotten your answer about the poop/pee/puke from some of the other posts here. If you are, as you say, really looking to know what kinds of duties nursing entails, you are on the right site. There are a lot of experienced and intelligent people who are more than willing to offer support and information to those looking for advice and help. Moving forward though, you may want to be a little more selective about how you write things and be aware that how you phrase your questions will determine what kind of answers you get back. Good luck in your career!

-Erin

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Do you think you could come and be a charge nurse in my place of work:yeah:

If you have a good crew with a strong work ethic, and who are supportive of each other, plus reasonable work loads and good mgmt, I'd love to!

However, I've never found all these things, so I keep traveling. :)

In a lot of units I work, mgmt tell me that as charge, I spend too much time on the floor, too much time w/ pts, and too much time helping the other staff.:banghead:

I keep getting offered unit mgr positions, but admin would hate me as a mgr- I simply don't give a crap about budgets or rediculous paperwork- I only care about pts and staff.

They think they want me as a unit mgr, but they'd soon be looking to get rid of me. :)

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