Is there ANY department in nursing that I can avoid cleaning up poo?

Nurses General Nursing Nursing Q/A

Sorry for the awkwardness but I looked through previous threads and read the stories and I think I would just lose it if I walked into a bathroom where the walls were covered with diarrhea and I had to clean it all up

My mom tries to tell me not to worry and "just get the LVN/CNA to clean it up" but for some reason I don't think that it works out that easily...

Is there any department in hospitals that wouldnt have to deal with this type of situation? psychiatric ward perhaps? working a job outside a hospital?

Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated :plsebeg:

167 Answers

Specializes in ICU/CCU, Home Health/Hospice, Cath Lab,.

You might try NICU (Neo-natal Intensive Care). Most people who don't like poop, seem not to mind it when it is a baby - and they almost always are not smearing it on the wall.

Although as many have said, if you get through nursing school, trust me you will be over poop. You might never like it (I myself still get a bit queasy at vomit) but you get used to it and can work with it.

Hope this helps

Pat

Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.

If you work on the floors or ICU, you will see poo, no doubt. As far as having the CNA or LVN clean it up, I don't they would appreciate the fact that you won't do it and you might rub some people the wrong way.

The psych ward might be one of the few places where you could potentially walk into a room to find it smeared in feces!

Pretty much any department has the risk of cleaning poo, albeit some might be higher risk than others.

(I can't believe I utter these words but) Please don't listen to your Mom! I can tell you that neither the LVN (who is ALSO a NURSE) nor the CNA would apprecaite you telling them to clean poo! And you would be on many peoples "poo" list if you did.

Doctors offices, clinics, etc have little if any "poo" detail.

LOL....MMMMMM.....nope, I can't think of any. Maybe a Dotors office?

But in reality, any nursing job may include some disgusting things you have to do. But, the great thing is.....you do get over it! Things you thought you could never do, you will. You will see past the (forgive me) crap, and see the patient. You may see how you get to go the the bathroom in private and flush it all away and come out smelling like roses as different from someone who could do that yesterday and today needs you to help them. This job does grow on you and teaches you that every one of us are just one step away from being the pt. That is what nurse are :) We take care of the people who could be us.

Where I work, people tend to smear feces quite often.

More than once I've seen the aides at our facility, they are titled LST's, {Life Skills Trainers} have to clean up smeared feces, or clean it off the people themselves, where they have smeared it in their faces, hair, etc.

It's a common thing where I work. You just don gloves and start cleaning.

Life-skill trainers? That is a new one to me. What type of facility do you work in? I would love to give my CNA'S that name. Please don't take this as a joke, I have never heard of that title. I find it very interesting.

If you have ever raised a puppy you will get over this particular aversion.......(I can't say I have ever met anyone who likes to clean up human waste...)

Specializes in Family Practice.

Nope. I work in a doctor's office. People with diarrhea drop off stool cultures all the time (yipee).

Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

If you go to nursing school you will have to do plenty of cleaning up during clinicals. It is a part of the job. Don't be a nurse that is "too posh to wash".

Cardiac rehab, baby! No poo, no weekends, no holidays, no yelling Dr's....slightly lower pay (no shift diff.) but totally worth it.

Specializes in ED, Cardiac Medicine, Retail Health.

Try the OR. The patients are sleep the majority of the time they are with you, and poop very little (it does happen though).

I can deal with poop, I just have a hard time dealing with sputum (Trach care). Oh I'm starting to itch all over just thinking about sputum!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Specializes in ICU/CCU, Rehab, insurance, case manager.

I love what i do! I do not deal with patients person to person, i do not have to touch them or deal with there families. NO weekends, No holidays and normal 9-5 hours!

I work for an insurance company doing concurrant case review.

to basically explain this I am the person at the insurance company that approves inpt hospital stays for certian lengths of time, I also do pre-auths and all other sorts of nice cubicle don't have to touch the pt related things... lol

Jamie

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