Do Nurses have to do the following??

[omgodzilla]

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.

[Valerie Salva, BSN, RN]

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:

:up: Ain't it the truth?

[~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN]

Why do you find that sad? Taking care of people is a wonderful experience.

I took their post to mean "How sad" in the fact they were asking an honest question and were getting snarky replies. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that people were not justified in their responses, but I don't think he was saying how sad as in what nurses have to do. Their can be or is a pretty misconstrued ?? impression of what it is Nurses do, I won't lie, I was always under the impression that CNA's do the dirty work, before coming to this site, I have had a few friends that were CNAs and they told me that is what they did and the RN's didn't. Now finding out the truth doesn't change my mind at all, but from a non nurse reading their post, I think they really wanted to know the nitty gritty of what Nurses do to maybe see if that is a field they want to persue?? JMO

Again please don't anyone take it as me scolding for the replies because that is not what I was trying to do, just maybe share a little insight as to why the OP was asking.

[lamazeteacher]

The OP appears to have put the question to us, as he/she doesn't want the job, if it entails that. We had a similar thread some time ago, when someone posted a question about what nursing job would be poopless......

The answer is none, but some jobs have less than others.

If it was your mother or child, would you clean them up, or wait days until you could hire help?

[JazzyNursie87]

Oftentimes, yes. We usually get another nurse or some techs to help in our unit...depending on the patient's size. Poop really isn't that bad...and I'm lucky that I hvaen't really dealt with a vomiting patient yet...due to the fact that I hate vomit.

[Valerie Salva, BSN, RN]

Oftentimes, yes. We usually get another nurse or some techs to help in our unit...depending on the patient's size. Poop really isn't that bad...and I'm lucky that I hvaen't really dealt with a vomiting patient yet...due to the fact that I hate vomit.

Well, nobody actually likes it!

[miss_c]

I took their post to mean "How sad" in the fact they were asking an honest question and were getting snarky replies. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that people were not justified in their responses, but I don't think he was saying how sad as in what nurses have to do. Their can be or is a pretty misconstrued ?? impression of what it is Nurses do, I won't lie, I was always under the impression that CNA's do the dirty work, before coming to this site, I have had a few friends that were CNAs and they told me that is what they did and the RN's didn't. Now finding out the truth doesn't change my mind at all, but from a non nurse reading their post, I think they really wanted to know the nitty gritty of what Nurses do to maybe see if that is a field they want to persue?? JMO

Again please don't anyone take it as me scolding for the replies because that is not what I was trying to do, just maybe share a little insight as to why the OP was asking.

I did not take offense to your different point of view until your last paragraph about the scolding part. Now I feel as if I have been scolded and I must confess that posters like you are the reasons that I generally am a "lurker" not an active particpant.

That said, we can interpret the OP response different ways, feel free to point out what you read into the response. I felt that the poster was sad because he/she wanted to be a nurse but didn't wan't to clean up poop, pee or vomit. I was trying to point out that taking care of someone on that level is very rewarding, gross yes, but rewarding.

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

I won't lie, I was always under the impression that CNA's do the dirty work, before coming to this site, I have had a few friends that were CNAs and they told me that is what they did and the RN's didn't. Now finding out the truth doesn't change my mind at all, but from a non nurse reading their post, I think they really wanted to know the nitty gritty of what Nurses do to maybe see if that is a field they want to persue?? JMO

One thing I've learned over the years is that many people who know little about what nursing and hospitals are like believe that nurses DON'T have to do the grunt work like that. My parents thought I didn't have to do that stuff but I set them straight pretty fast. My inlaws did know Code Browns were part of the job...then again, my MIL is a nurse herself. And even some of the patients/families I've had in clinical were surprised to see nurses doing the job alongside the students and CNAs.

OP: Yes, it's part of the job. Some days you may see little to no body fluids to clean up. Other days may be so bad you will not want to eat for the rest of the day...or week.

[mama_d, BSN, RN]

You want the nitty-gritty lowdown? Truth is, cleaning up excretions is usually the easiest part of my job. When I have patients who are super-apologetic and embarrassed about being incontinent, hurling, etc. I tell them "Hey, if this is the worst thing I've gotta do tonight, it's gonna be an awesome night. Don't even worry about it!"

The things that we have to "endure" are things like this...

Jane is a frequent flyer with metastatic cancer who I've cared for repeatedly, to the point that I know what school her kids go to, have gotten paper for her to write notes to her kids on for after she dies, am on a first name basis with her husband, and know that her son plays Little League and hit a home run in the last game. I don't even need to ask her about her medical history when she's admitted, b/c I already know it by heart.

She's deteriorating rapidly, and I'm the one who sits and holds her hand as she makes the agonizing decision to let go and die. Then I have to call her family and tell them it's time for them to come in and see her, because the end is very near.

John is in extreme pain b/c he fell and fractured his hip. His pressures are bottoming out, no matter what I do, and I can't give him any more pain meds b/c they'll just make his pressures worse. His son is now standing in front of me, screaming at me about what a horrible nurse I am, when all I'm trying to do is make sure that we avoid a trip to the ICU.

Dan just arrived on the floor, and while doing his assessment, I notice that he's covered with bruises, which he refuses to explain. When his daughter comes into the room, he seems scared to death of her. Do I call social services or hotline her?

Mildred is a spry elderly woman who has been having some vague complaints lately; come to find out she's got a AAA. She refuses to have surgery to fix it. She seems perfectly fine, then all of a sudden, in front of her five year old grandson, it blows and she dies.

The physical parts of nursing are often the easiest parts. It's all the other stuff, the judgement calls, the balancing acts, the connections that you make that are both exhilarating and emotionally exhausting. I guarantee you that I have never come home from work and said "Geez, that shift sucked, I cleaned up so much poop last night!" (Okay, maybe once or twice, but only when I had three c-diff patients and three patients on GoLytely at the same time.) I come home and say "That shift was awful, Maria finally passed, and her family was so torn up. I just didn't even know what to do to help them, I felt so inadequate."

[omgodzilla]

^ Wow this post was very moving. (the best post in this entire thread Imo)

Thank you.

I can see very clearly now.

Nursing probably isn't the right career path for me.

[~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN]

I did not take offense to your different point of view until your last paragraph about the scolding part. Now I feel as if I have been scolded and I must confess that posters like you are the reasons that I generally am a "lurker" not an active particpant.

That said, we can interpret the OP response different ways, feel free to point out what you read into the response. I felt that the poster was sad because he/she wanted to be a nurse but didn't wan't to clean up poop, pee or vomit. I was trying to point out that taking care of someone on that level is very rewarding, gross yes, but rewarding.

Posters like me??? WOW! I am sorry you took offense to my last paragraph, it was not directed specifically to you, that is why I said, please don't ANYONE. I reread my post and I did not want the posters that were making smartalleck remarks to think I was trying to "dis" them. Reading my post it sounded to ME like I was and that wasn't my intention so I wanted to clear that up so no one took it the wrong way. I am not a Nurse so I thought maybe that is why I was reading the OPs post differently than some of the nurses were and I wanted to shed another light on it that I thought they were genuwinly wanting to know, to decide if it was the right path for them.

[Dottie, RN]

Just a short story to share: When my MIL was in the hospital last year, she needed to be cleaned up. My husband asked the RN to clean her up, and she said she will get "John Doe" (the CNA) to do it. Well, since the CNA was male, my MIL did not feel comfortable having him clean her up. So my husband told the RN that his mother did not feel comfortable with a man cleaning her, and asked the RN again if she could clean her up. I kid you not, these are her exact words: "Well that's why we have John Doe, so he can clean her up." I couldn't believe my ears!! Needless to say, I was very disappointed and disgusted with this RN. She gave me the impression that cleaning up someone's poop was beneath her. I don't want to judge, because maybe she was very busy that day, but I didn't think that was the right thing to say. Eventually, she got cleaned up...by a female CNA.

I actually think that cleaning up someone's mess would be the easiest tasks of nursing!

[Belfegor]

I, for one thing, would like to know why you are asking?

I am guessing that you are not a Nurse or you would know...right? So what is it? Are you entertaining the idea

of becoming an RN but bodily fluids churn your stomach?

Anything related to the care of a person who is sick IS the NURSE'S JOB!

I don't think it is a laughable matter or one to use as your own personal gore movie.

Am I misunderstanding your questions? your intentions?

Have you ever been a patient?

Have you ever felt so weak, and so sick that even your pride won't be enough to keep you from soiling yourself?

When your turn comes, You might understand then how important it is to clean up your patient, and to do it with a smile!

They already feel so self-conscious ! Most are so embarrassed to be dependent on you to keep them clean, that if you let them

think a second that it "ain't" your job, you just made your patient all the more miserable about something they are powerless to change!

Yes, poop stincks, and so does vomit, but I always tell my patients that I "clean butts" so often that I find it perfectly normal.

And in a sense, it is true.

I won't pretend that nothing disgusts me (personally, I have a weak stomach when there are maggots to be cleaned out of wounds) but I also know that hygiene IS DEFINITELY part of my job!

As it turns out, hygiene makes the patient feel so much more comfortable (also my job) and what better opportunity does a Nurse have to do a full assessment?!

Instead of seeing the poop you are cleaning, try seeing the person you are helping-( what if it were your mum?dad? etc...) Once you see the person and understand how they feel, you can clean the most stinky mess without having a single thought for the fact that you are indeed cleaning up poop/blood/vomit/maggets... ok not, maggots, that I can't help noticing!

B-