my first poop/ nasty experience... just wanna share

Nursing Students General Students

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Ok...

I was assign a client c/ esophageal cancer, liver disfunctions, obese, pej tube, acute/chronical renal failure and so on...

Well... i got in the room early am, and OMG that room stunk so bad, but no like poop, or that "disease" smell, it was a nasty, sweaty, dry lack of hygiene smell...

so i washed my hands, put my gloves on... and took my vitals, then came back to gime him a partial bad bath and told him to wash his genitals, well... as soon as the pct started it, what a stench :barf02:

so i just kept on handing him new wash cloths, and they were coming back full of loose dead skin, and that smell was terrible!!!!

I almost vomited!

.... well we got over that part, made the bed, changed him, and everything was better... none had given him a bath in the longest!!! and he had poop under the nails:barf02:!!!

after everything set up, a colleague came and asked me for help doing peri care on a man, since it was her first time, so i went over there and washed my hands, got my gloves on....

the room was so warm it was like 90 in there, no kidding! then we got him ready, all supplies and it all, then i went to lift his testicles that were stuck on the midle (close to his knees) of his legs, and i was talking to him and my frind... when i lifted it, surprise :D i just noticed that cloud of smell right up my nose... and my hands were full of poop since he had poop on the back of his testicles...:barf02:

well, i turned around real quick, since i dod not want to make a face!!!! took a deep breath, told my friend change of plans, let me go get supplies!!!!

the smell was nasty, real nasty, and warm!!!!

so i got back on the room with everything, and we cleaned him, changed the bed, and rotated him... OMG there was so much poop!!! yuck!

we were able to keep it down c/ a straight face... but it was chalenging!

we got it all done, and we had to put ointment on him since he was getting sore, and stage 1 pressure wounds, we finished it up, and even gave him a back rub!!!

it was a great experience since it was the first time for both of us, and we did such a fine job... and i did not through up...!!!!

blah, vicks on my pocket for next time!

Can I just say...I read this story yesterday and it takes a lot to get to me, but this dang story has been in my head all day!!! I want to force people to read it to have the same visual I do...haha

On the other side, nice work handling that, I am sure I will have plenty of times myself...start school in Aug...you were just so descriptive!

..and now I am going to re-read it...AGHHH :)

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I typically keep the vicks in my pocket and if I go to check on a patient and find that a change and/or clean up is necessary, I'll just dab a little under my nose when I go to gather the supplies I need for the change/clean up. I would NEVER put it on in front of the patient. It would probably hurt their feelings and I would not want to do that EVER!

I have to say that I am just shocked about the story in the string here about the student who told the patient they were stinky. This is supposed to be a caring profession and that means caring for a lot more that just the physical aspect of things! Especially in LTC, these people don't want you to have to clean them up, they were once fully functional people who didn't require someone to clean their bottom and change their diaper....imagine how you would feel to be that way - that's what I do. If you can't have compassion for your patients, you are in the wrong career!!!

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Specializes in Telemetry/Med Surg.

welcome to nursing is right. LOL

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I typically keep the vicks in my pocket and if I go to check on a patient and find that a change and/or clean up is necessary, I'll just dab a little under my nose when I go to gather the supplies I need for the change/clean up. I would NEVER put it on in front of the patient. It would probably hurt their feelings and I would not want to do that EVER!

I have to say that I am just shocked about the story in the string here about the student who told the patient they were stinky. This is supposed to be a caring profession and that means caring for a lot more that just the physical aspect of things! Especially in LTC, these people don't want you to have to clean them up, they were once fully functional people who didn't require someone to clean their bottom and change their diaper....imagine how you would feel to be that way - that's what I do. If you can't have compassion for your patients, you are in the wrong career!!!

I just want to clarify that it was not me who said it and I can tell you the person that did say it is no longer in this profession and she didn't pass the class, THANK GOD. She should have been immediately removed from the clinical site in my opinion and failed right there. Just wanted to share this as an eye opener that everything that we do has an effect on our patients. I also agree that I wouldn't put Vicks under my nose right in front of the patient either.

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CalebMommy - I didn't mean to imply that I thought you had said those things! I am immensely glad to hear that the student involved is no longer in the profession. It is unfortunate though that there are people who are not compassionate and still make it through.

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Oh, no, I know that you didn't mean to imply I said those things, sh1901. I just wanted to clarify for anyone else reading the thread. I'm glad she didn't make it through the program either as she was talking about becoming a nurse. I'm so glad she decided against it! She said that she didn't like people...I said what the heck are you doing here then? Craziness!

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So.. Im assuming Vicks blocks the smell of poop?.....I didnt know that!!! Does that work for everything or just poop?

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Specializes in SNU/SNF/MedSurg, SPCU Ortho/Neuro/Spine.

well it smells pretty darn strong...so...! whatever smells less strong than it should be covered!

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Regarding the Vicks -- what product do you use? I am only familiar with Vicks in a jar, which wouldn't fit in a pocket. Does it come in a tube, too?

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Specializes in ICU.

Ditto to the above post? I was just about to ask the same thing....curious?????

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Specializes in PICU/Pedi.

Yeah...enquiring minds want to know:)

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.

I just bought some for my daughter last week at the drug store and they had small jars of it like the carmex jars.

To the other poster, it's not designed to block the smell of poop but it has a very strong eucalyptus smell so I would imagine your nose would focus on that instead of the other smells. I will for sure do this tip and I agree that I would NEVER embarrass the patient in any sort of way by putting it on in front of them or making any kind of comments, when I was in the hospital I was mortified and angry I wasn't allowed to go pee on my own and had to use a bed pan, I can't imagine how i would have felt had it been more than that.

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