Don't like to clean pee & poop: Can I still be a nurse?

Nurses Nurse Beth

Updated:   Published

Dear Doesn't Like Poop,

Thanks for a really good question. I'm thinking it may draw fire, but it's not a bad thing to hear different points of view. Hopefully you will get a lot of responses here to help you decide if nursing is for you.

Nursing does give more opportunities than almost any career I can think of. The possibilities are numerous. You can go into sales, informatics, advanced practice, school nursing...many of which require little or no patient contact.

Your nursing training, however, will require direct patient care, and you must never convey distaste, or shame a patient. Can you matter of factly clean up a patient who vomited over everything without wrinkling your nose, and with a sincere desire to make them clean and warm and comfortable?

Patients by definition, are sick...and sick people are not at their best. Can you look past their behavior and be therapeutic towards them? Patient and kind, when they are not?

Once I hired a nurse who was smart, proficient, reliable.. a good worker. But he didn't have that warm, personal touch with patients that most of the other nurses and CNAs had. Rob's focus was technical over personal. It just wasn't a good fit, he really wasn't happy, and we both acknowledged that.

Years later, I had surgery in a different hospital, and who was my CRNA but….Rob! Looking happy and relaxed, whereas before he had been wound a bit tight. As a patient, he made me feel safe and I went into surgery knowing I was in good hands. He had found his nursing niche.

Later I talked to one of the PACU nurses who said Rob was the nurses' number one choice for anesthesia provider at that hospital. High praise.You've identified what you don't like about nursing. As you make your career choice, also identify what you do like and what brings you joy. It's a matter of knowing yourself and finding your path.

Found a great post for you to read For Those Considering a Career in Nursing by Ruby Vee.

I think the crux of your dilemma is more that you have never been interested in nursing, so why pursue a career in this area? I have seen so many young nursing graduates who did nursing because they thought it 'something to do'. They are quickly disillusioned when the reality of having to do 'hands on' patient hits them. If you are keen to get a job within the medical field, why not look at other allied professions which don't require you to handle excrement, urine and vomit?

When I first started nursing school I was a little uneasy about that sort of stuff..but then I was shocked to see it didn't bother me at all...I didn't mind helping my patients, because Imagine how they feel? What if that were you? You need to provide patients with dignity and respect, they deserve it. I love helping people and nursing involves every aspect of patient care.

I had a student in my class who was so rude to patients when he had to clean them up and the things he said were profound. Thank god he has dropped out of nursing, it broke my heart the way he treated patients. And yes most of us did report him to our instructor.

Good luck to you in whatever you choose OP!

Specializes in MICU, SICU, CICU.

OP said ".......the part that a nurse cleans pees and poops"

I have a question. When did it become acceptable for adult students and professional nurses to use baby talk to describe body fluids?

I was going to keep my opinion to myself, but I have to say, it is really annoying to see this baby talk in bold on the article page.

Specializes in Tele, ICU, Staff Development.
OP said ".......the part that a nurse cleans pees and poops"

I have a question. When did it become acceptable for adult students and professional nurses to use baby talk to describe body fluids?

I was going to keep my opinion to myself, but I have to say, it is really annoying to see this baby talk in bold on the article page.

Point well taken, thank you

No nurse "likes" fecal excrement nor the smells. You do eventually "get used" to smells. My advice carry Vicks in your pocketfor application under your nose and Ozium spray. ((HUGS))

Glad to see you back!

Many threads on this. Infants fundamental activities are eating, peeing, pooping, and emesis. Does this conversation come up when talking about having children?

For some people, it does.

Specializes in Emergency.

If you think urine & feces smell bad, just wait for necrosis & fromunda cheese.

Specializes in Registered Nurse.
No nurse "likes" fecal excrement nor the smells. You do eventually "get used" to smells. My advice carry Vicks in your pocketfor application under your nose and Ozium spray. ((HUGS))

Yes....what nurse *likes dealing with bowel movements and urine? 25+ years....and I really don't think I got "use" to it. :nailbiting: But I do get through it....

Specializes in OB/women's Health, Pharm.
I think when it comes down to it, there is a kind of a missing link that exists between what you think it would be like to clean a patient and what it actually ends up being like. As Nurse Beth said, you must genuinely desire that end point: making the patient comfortable once more.

When you learn that we have the opportunity to do this for people in a way that helps minimize their embarrassment (and, really, it's not about you, it's about the patient), you don't mind it at all. . . . You just do it because you must and your patient needs you to.

I could not have said this better. Nursing is NOT about us; it is all about our fellow human being who are in a vulnerable position and who need us. Think of it this way--if it was one of your parents and you could do something that made them more comfortable, would you do it? Of course you would.

While yes, there are many areas where you can avoid this issue, you cannot get there without mastering what this is really about: deep caring and concern for the well-being of others. That is a core nursing value. As while it would be nice to acquire it by a more pleasant means, it may be more realistic for you to understand that you can handle it, will do whatever is necessary, and will do it based on a deep commitment to the well-being of others. Especially if done in a matter-of-fact way that preserves dignity, this can be a very meaningful act, for which your patients will be very grateful.

In my experience, most nurses have 'that thing' that they can't (or refuse to) handle. For me, it's ortho/trauma; if I see an exposed bone, I feel like I'm going to pass out. For others it might be sputum, draining stool, wounds, or lady partss. Not every nurse needs to be cut out for every single specialty, and that's ok. I'm never going to be an ortho/trauma nurse; I'm sure there are ortho/trauma nurses out there who would never be caught dead in women's health.

In general, as PPs have said, it all gets easier with time. You either get used to the 'yuck,' or you find tricks to deal with it. You'll learn what you can and can't handle during school, and there are definitely specialties that you can avoid if certain bodily functions/fluids freak you out. That said, you may have to put up with a unit like that in rotations or during your first job if new grad positions are hard to come by.

If you have the 'heart of a nurse' and truly care for your patients, that makes it easier, too. I had the most darling 10 year old cancer patient during my peds rotation. She was taking a med that caused her to have pungent diarrhea every 30 minutes that I had to measure and dispose of. Even though I was occasionally gagging behind my isolation mask, I never showed the patient/family my discomfort and I still consider it an honor and a pleasure to have worked with her and her family. We sometimes have to get our hands dirty, but the impact that we have on our patients' lives makes it all worth it.

Become a psych nurse. There is no poop cleaning here. At least in a setting where all patients are responsible for and capable of doing their own ADLs. Only once in my 1 year have I had to help clean an incontinent patients bedding. He was a rare admission for our floor because the medical psych floor was full.

When a patient 'paints' his wall with his poop, we call housekeeping for cleanup

Become a psych nurse. There is no poop cleaning here. At least in a setting where all patients are responsible for and capable of doing their own ADLs. Only once in my 1 year have I had to help clean an incontinent patients bedding. He was a rare admission for our floor because the medical psych floor was full.

When a patient 'paints' his wall with his poop, we call housekeeping for cleanup

Just don't work in a locked unit, for those with autism, MR, and other intellectual disabilities... Poop was kinda their thing... At least once per day someone was covered in head to toe with poop. All over the walls and the floor too.

One time a patient was running after me trying to smear his poop all over me :)

I've never ever encountered more poop in my life lol.

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