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

Nurses New Nurse

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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 :uhoh3:. 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:

Specializes in ED/trauma.

I was worried about this in nursing school (in addition to vomit which REALLY gets me). One of my clinical instructors suggested wearing a mask (if it's the smell that gets you). A friend of mine was recently going through a CNA program, and they point blank told her NOT to wear one because it's insulting to the patients. I asked my instructor about that, and she asked back: Well, isn't it more insulting if you gag or vomit on your patient? I figured, yup... :doh:

Other than that, you get used to it. Just sticking a foley in or cleaning a member or lady parts. It's something you'd never think of as "normal," but it truly becomes just that!

I'm convinced we become desensitized to certain sights and smells too... :trout:

Oh, and if the smell just overwhelms you, bring some menthol scent with you. My unit keeps it. If someone smells bad, they'll pour a little of the liquid on some gauze in a medicine cup and tape it on/outside of their door or set it on the nurse's desk. See if you can get away with that...

:anmllvr:

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Specializes in Home Health, ICU,Rehab,Med-Surg,Hospice.

Scared of Poop? Go for your PA, your FNP and do clinics. Sounds like you still gotta be in the trenches for your RN. I'm guessing by now you've dealt with it.

I was afraid of having to give injections. Because I got a great injection from my roommate in the nursing lab, I then learned how to give excellent IM injections - and then became an adept IV starter. I also have learned how to clean poop pretty well.

Go for it, you'll do fine!

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as much as i dislike cleaning up a mess, i dislike it even more, to see a pt laying in it.

i dislike it even more, to observe their horror and embarrassment.

i can now brag that i'm a pro at cleaning a pt quickly, thoroughly and w/ease.

the benefits of seeing your pt cleansed, and w/dignity, far outweighs the labor involved in the actual act itself.

leslie

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Specializes in My first yr. as a LVN!.

Yes I agree sometimes when they do poop-yay! when they dont then get prepared to maybe do a fecal impaction and put in a suppository ... and also another thing that is sometimes hard is when they have a colostomy, but just learn to not breath in w out passing out!

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Specializes in SICU/CVICU.

I have the same sentiments toward poop and I was scared to death of it. Fortunately I semi-got-over-it. I am in my first semester and on my SECOND day of clinical I had to assist 3 others in giving a bed bath to a 400 lb screaming woman with fecal matter all over her entire back. It looked like the amount of poop an elephant might produce.... While holding her up while someone else wiped, I was gagging and vomited in my mouth and ended up swallowing it. It was very traumatic. I think after doing that I can handle any poop now! haha

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I have the same sentiments toward poop and I was scared to death of it. Fortunately I semi-got-over-it. I am in my first semester and on my SECOND day of clinical I had to assist 3 others in giving a bed bath to a 400 lb screaming woman with fecal matter all over her entire back. It looked like the amount of poop an elephant might produce.... While holding her up while someone else wiped, I was gagging and vomited in my mouth and ended up swallowing it. It was very traumatic. I think after doing that I can handle any poop now! haha

Can you please give us an example of an RN analysis of the poop texture, which gave you insight into the patients health that ultimately leads to a proactive plan for a speedy recovery? Exact texture descriptions and play-by-play analyses please :yeah:

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Maybe its basic but a lot of nurses i work with especially new have to ask more questions. If you think us oldsters will laugh maybe we won't and so what if a few do. Specifically some pointers on cleaning crap-if it smells too bad put on a mask and use the pad or something to cover it up quickly. I also can't tell you how irritating it is for betty joe new nurse to be so immaculate in trying to clean someone perfectly who has diarrhea while i'm holding the person. I know they do this to appear so concerned but have some mercy on the other caregiver and you also get more respect when you deal with it. Crapping is a fact of life and a lot of new nurses have a tough time dealing with it. Steve

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Specializes in ED/trauma.
Crapping is a fact of life and a lot of new nurses have a tough time dealing with it.

HAHA! I love this! :yeah:

I think we become immune to our own smell though... :stone

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Specializes in Rodeo Nursing (Neuro).
HAHA! I love this! :yeah:

I think we become immune to our own smell though... :stone

While this does seem to be generally true, I've seen occassions where patients have been offended by the odor of their own BM. (They weren't alone!) Actually, at the risk of TMI, there have been times I've asked myself, "What the heck did I eat, yesterday?" and resolved to avoid it in the future.

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Hey Mike...I`ve been a nurse in geriatrics (mostly) for 25 years. It is scary (the poop thing) I never had children so I didn`t have the "diaper" experience. I think everyone after I few years develops something that basically grosses them out. We`re not saints or supernatural creatures. My thing after 25 years is pee and trach secretions. I`ve had to clean out my septic drain too many times to worry about poop. The human body is a factory you`re such diaposing of the waste products....or you can wear a mask with some Vicks under your nose. As an friend of mine does with the trach.....Good luck and welcome aboard!!:nurse:

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i am somewhat less scared of someone else's poop, but then again the first one wasn't that bad at all...although when i first smelled it, i blurted something which caught the attention of the cna, in turn illicited a not very happy response from her, as i scared her thinking the patient fell on the floor or something. anyway it was a learning experience, however here hoping to do it a few more times just to make sure i have gotten over my inordinate fear of poop. m

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On the subject of poop...it has different meanings to different patients, in different situations and it's just part of the job.

I worked neuro at a children's hospital and came across one of the ugliest RNs I've ever met.

An autistic kid, about 5 years old-didn't respond to human contact-had a BM-got into his diaper. His nurse found him laughing and happily smearing it all over himself and the crib. It was truly a mess but this kid never laughed so it was a joy to see him.

Disgusted, she said "Uh, it's like-I can't stand this kid" and was being pretty mean with him while cleaning him up. I just double-gowned and gloved up and told her I'd clean him and his bed.

Look at it from this autistic kid's point of view. He, for whatever reason, didn't respond to interaction but he finds something brown, warm, smelly, gooey-this stimulated his senses.

That RN should have been able to deal with that. She did not last long on that unit, maybe she found a cleaner, neater area to work in.

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