Scared Of Poop!!!!!!!!! Help!!!!!!!

RedWeasel, RN · Dec 7, 2008

my thing I was afraid of was blood and wounds-turned out to be not so bad. Now, Phlegm is another thing. I don't work on pulmonary (probably couldn't) but we do suction a lot of patients -- here is one thing to remember...for a pt who is very um...productive...shut the door when suctioning...really your coworkers will thank you...And I think what got me to the phobia I have was the idea of cold sputum sitting in a emesis basin...(because this particular patient will only let you empty it once a day (I know)...and the smell oooohh yuck....but I manage....and have never gagged....You can do it....but I will NEVER forget that patient.....couldn't find my Vicks anywhere that week....sheez

RedWeasel, RN · Dec 7, 2008

One thing I like to tell pts (if appropriate for that pt) when they say they hate to have someone clean them up is "I am sure in the past you have helped people out when they were temporarily unable to help themselves...now we are helping you. Its what people do and we are here to get you back to where you are stronger." Its a rehab thing I guess.

RedWeasel, RN · Dec 7, 2008

Well, I would argue with that. What you are smelling are the various amine compounds and various other organic chemicals like skatol.

Some nights I come home and actually suddenly smell the poop (it can be very distinctive per each pt as you all know) I had cleaned up earlier....I am sure it is in my head, as I have showered and changed clothes...(not that I had got any on my clothes earlier-I am careful-but just to be clear here--so no one says it is probably my clothes....).but that post about inhaling poop just creeped me out knowing how I can still smell it sometimes.....:zzzzz

RedWeasel, RN · Dec 7, 2008

I was told by another nurse that after doing a bowel program (supp + digital stimulation -which is manually inserting a finger and rotating it along the rectal wall to stimulate defecation for SCI pts) a patient had asked to be checked again and she inserted her finger only to realize she forgot she had removed her gloves already and was gloveless. It is always good to double glove too-not to protect yourself but sometimes you just need a clean glove and it is not advisable to let go of a leg - it is just easier to peel a layer. I also suggest wearing gloves when EVER touching ointment or lotion or powder or soap bottles in the room. Just think when those are usually used. During garment changing time. People are usually handling them with dirty gloves. I always wash them off afterwards with soap and water but not everyone does. Also it is of course correct to use clean gloves when it comes to the time to apply ointments, but once you wipe on the first layer your hand is 'dirty' so when you put the cap back on at least one dirty glove is touching it....just something to remember.....and keep you up at night...

maura_smiles · Dec 15, 2008

HAH...Poop's got nothing on a Colon CA patient w/ a moderate to severe GI bleed. I do fine while I'm in the patient's presence, but when I go into the bathroom...I dry heave every time...lol.

Footballnut · Dec 17, 2008

First of all, wear gloves. If you can't stand the smell, wear a mask. You can even spray a little scent in the mask if it helps you. Then think of how comfortable you are making someone who cannot toilet as well as you. All that sticky stuff really is bad for the skin. Good luck!

redheadedvixen · Dec 18, 2008

When I was a nursing student I was doing a round in ICU, the director of the unit came out of a room and said we really need you in here, we have a code brown!!! I had no clue what that was even though I was in my last semester... He held my chin and swiped under my nose with a very minty lip balm and gently pushed me into the room. My heavens it was everywhere, poop on the bed, the floor, the patient....everywhere. The lip balm kept me from getting the full impact of the smell and I was soon joined by three other students. We looked at each other with that where do we start look. Weakly from the bed the patient said "Oh girls I am so sorry!" Immediately it was apparent what we had to do, just clean it up like it was an everyday occurance, reassuring the patient that it was nothing to be sorry for that it was OUR JOB. I've always treated doing unpleasant tasks just exactly that way ever since it's just part of the job right along with the other tasks that I love doing.

Quilter0225 · Dec 18, 2008

I'm starting my nursing program on Jan.25th, and i'm really, really excited. Ever since I can remember I've always dreamed about being a nurse. I'm a medical assitant at a cardiologist office and I love working hands on and I love my patients to the point that I can't wait until I become a RN and work at a hospital. During orientation we were told that our first practice cite will be at a nursing home . One thing I'm actually not looking forward to doing is looking at poop!!! I could deal with blood, I can deal with pee, but i'm actually scared of my reaction to looking at poop and changing patients, I'm scared I might:barf01:
I've changed a childs diaper before and i've had no problem...but I have never changed a adults diaper nor smelled or been up close and personal to it. I'm so afraid of how i'm going to react to it...does anyone ever felt this way? Does anyone have some advice or suggestions??? Is it true that it's just like changing a child. I'm scared of the smell and how i would react to it. HELP!!!! i feel recidiculous...:trout:

I feel the same way about large quantities of sputum (suction canisters, etc.) I think everyone has something that grosses them out. I have talked to experienced nurses about this. They say that everyone has something that is harder for them to deal with, and you just learn to cope with it as you get more experience. It is like changing a baby, only there's lots more of it! Just think back to the years before gloves were commonly used! Ick! I think you will do fine! :specs:

Flare, ASN, BSN · Dec 19, 2008

after a while they all just become part of the norm to you. Granted - There are times when it will hit you wrong and you are trying to suppress your gag reflex but for the most part as long as i am gloved (or in some cases gowned and masked too) i just take a moment to center myself and then get to work.

xlilchatonx · Dec 20, 2008

]Okay, I have a quick question. I noticed in this post (and a couple stories from elsewhere on the board) that basically a patient had gone to the bathroom (literally, walked to the bathroom) to have a BM and when the nurse walked in the bathroom they saw that there was poop everywhere, like on the walls, all over the patient, on the sink, the floor, the soap dispenser, everywhere. My question is.. HOW, just HOW does that even happen? I really don't understand how that happens simply because whenever I or anyone I know has ever gone to the bathroom, it's NEVER happened, it's never even had a possibility of happening because you sit on the toilet and it goes into the the toilet, it's not going in, coming back up and pushing you out of the way to land on whatever, so .... how exactly does the poop end up all over? lol

nursemike, ASN, RN · Dec 21, 2008

]Okay, I have a quick question. I noticed in this post (and a couple stories from elsewhere on the board) that basically a patient had gone to the bathroom (literally, walked to the bathroom) to have a BM and when the nurse walked in the bathroom they saw that there was poop everywhere, like on the walls, all over the patient, on the sink, the floor, the soap dispenser, everywhere. My question is.. HOW, just HOW does that even happen? I really don't understand how that happens simply because whenever I or anyone I know has ever gone to the bathroom, it's NEVER happened, it's never even had a possibility of happening because you sit on the toilet and it goes into the the toilet, it's not going in, coming back up and pushing you out of the way to land on whatever, so .... how exactly does the poop end up all over? lol

Ever heard of projectile vomitting? Well, poop can do the same thing, typically before you reach the toilet. It isn't something you see every day, but when you do see it, you don't forget it. I suppose we ought to be glad that it's inevitably liquid, because it's terrible to imagine what a formed stool might do, expelled with that much force.

Atheos · Dec 21, 2008

Hey! Projectile Pooping!!! ROFL

That happens in the hospital I imagine.

In LTC we also have people that I lovingly refer to as 'finger painters.'

Ever see kids finger painting? Imagine that on a LARGER scale with poop as paint.

Always good fun.