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Hi everyone
I am currently studying to become an RN I am on my first placement in a nursing home which i am absolutely loving
however i do have one issue.... i GAG when i have to wipe feces from a bum on a patient that uses pads aka adult nappies but if they have done that themselves and i need to do the extra clean wipe then i am fine with that:uhoh3: Anyway i am just wondering if you have any ways i could deal with this? I have tried breathing thru my mouth but that makes it worse and i have tried sucking on a mint but it only works for a little bit
I know people say if you cant handle poo then you shouldn't be a nurse but the fact is i know you get used to it and i have already been told by many nurses on placement that i will be a great nurse
Thank you all for your time :redbeathe
The replies have lightened my day. Poop -- what would we do without it!
This reminds me of a story: my very elderly mom is bedbound but able to transfer to a bedside comode. My younger sister wanted my mom to live with her and her family. She has 4 teens. She discussed the fact that mom could have her own bedroom and the bathroom was just across the hall. I mentioned that mom used the bedside comode and I could move the comode with mom. When sis realized she had to dump the contents of the comode, she quickly changed her mind and invitation. Quite honestly, I don't understand her attitude after all she changed the diapers for her 4 kids. She must have gotten accustomed to poop by now. It has been 2 years and mom still lives with me. Sis has never again discussed mom living with her family....
The replies have lightened my day. Poop -- what would we do without it!This reminds me of a story: my very elderly mom is bedbound but able to transfer to a bedside comode. My younger sister wanted my mom to live with her and her family. She has 4 teens. She discussed the fact that mom could have her own bedroom and the bathroom was just across the hall. I mentioned that mom used the bedside comode and I could move the comode with mom. When sis realized she had to dump the contents of the comode, she quickly changed her mind and invitation. Quite honestly, I don't understand her attitude after all she changed the diapers for her 4 kids. She must have gotten accustomed to poop by now.
It has been 2 years and mom still lives with me. Sis has never again discussed mom living with her family....
While this story caused me to smile at first, I then had the thought that I hope your sister does not live to regret passing up the opportunity to spend more time with Mom. The day will come when the opportunity will not be there. Then people get sad. Be sure to suggest your sister visit as often as she can.
vomit is mine.....if i know someone is about to vomit my first instinct is to RUN....as a student nurse i had to look thru a puke bag for a pill.....OMG!!!....i then ate lunch after..hehe....but still the thought of knowing someone is about to freaks me right 0ut....and when i hear someone had the 24 hr stomach bug i obsess over it...i wait and wait and wonder if its going to hit our house....like now....my sons girlfriend had it a few days ago and now i am waiting for him to get it.....AND she was around my grandson(son and her were at daughters house) and now i am abscessing about him getting it cause i have him thurs - sun....
how do i get over that....my family thinks i am nuts....and i really think i am....it is the worst phobia ever....
As nurses, we all have that one thing that grosses us out. For most people in my nursing class, it's suctioning an airway. For me, it's dealing with colostomies and stomas. Feces has never bothered me, so I've never had to learn to deal with it, per se. I do know nurses, and nursing students, who have struggled with dealing with it, and you do begin to get used to it with time. If all you do is gag, then you are doing pretty well. I've seen my fellow students run from the room at the first sign of stool or a bowel movement. That being said, most of them learned to live with seeing feces, and they do fine with it now. I found that rubbing Vicks Vapor Rub on your upper lip helps a lot. It takes the smell away, and you don't gag. If you use it, you can get used to seeing and dealing with feces, and then you can opt not to apply it and see how you fair. If you gradually introduce yourself to it, then you should be fine. I know nurses who carry jars of Vicks Vapor Rub with them and they apply it EVERY time they go into a room to deal with feces. Other nurses used it when they first started, and stopped using it once they got used to the sight and smell. No matter what, don't let it discourage you!
i feel you. i walked into a pts room to start clinical at 7am to have a pt vomit splatter on my feet. once i made sure that the pt was okay (and had a basin in hand) i had to walk out in hallway and take deep breaths. i was fine the rest of the day, and am usually okay with vomit - but learned that when it is unexpected i am not. at least my clinical instructor had a good laugh once she realized that i was okay and not going to pass out.
what really gags me: spongy heels i cannot explain it but they get me every time
bsyrn, ASN, RN
810 Posts
try a little vicks vapor rub under your nose...works wonders :)