I admit: when it comes to poop, whether via BM or even worse, ostomy bag, I just cannot stand the smell of it. I've only come across an ostomy a few times in my experiences and I try emptying the bag. Just couldn't do it after the first hint of smell got to me and I was getting nauseaus and almost threw up. Someone else had to do it.
Blood, sputum, etc I'm fine...
but not poop!!!!
So how do you get around that?
I remember an instructor told me that you don't have to like everything you do at work (ie poop or blood or sputum or etc...)
I am a mother of a child with an ileoostomy and I am appalled by the posts on here about having to deal with an ostomy. I think some of you need to rethink your career as a nurse. I have worked in the medical field prior to having children and was ALWAYS sensitive to what the patient was experiencing. If it smells bad to you then imagine how it feels to live with it on a daily basis as a patient. Patients with an ostomy are very aware how others feel about their "stinky poo" as you put it. I would like to think that nurses can hide their emotions around the patient and who cares if it smells????? Get over it!!! It only takes minutes before a new bag is on or its emptied. Wearing a mask just for the smell factor is down right insulting!!!! How do you think that makes the patient feel!!!
I am outraged by these comments because anyone who is searching information in regards to their ostomy has the likihood as coming across this. You all should be ashamed of yourselves and be much more professional!!!!
I'm not sure what you are on about. Ostomy output smells, it really doesn't matter what someone calls it on a message board. You feel free to go ahead and be outraged, and I'll go ahead and continue to wear a mask if I darn well feel like it. They're called standard precautions. I bet there are patients who are insulted by me wearing gloves to turn them too. Aside from that, you can't help your body's reaction to a smell.
If you're questioned, just say you want to avoid splatter droplets...
Best thing is really just to get used to it.. You will ALWAYS be around it in nursing.. so ya just get used to it over time.
Hope this helps!
That's what I did until I finally could get a grip on it and not lose my cookies. I used some Vicks vapor rub just under my nares too - the smell was worse than anything to me - especially with a bad GI bleeder.
Take the ostomy bag, hide it, take it to your car during break and emerse yourself in the guilty pleasure of playing with poop. I have to say, the first time i did this i felt naughty, but after three or four times, i had to confess. Im addicted to playing with an ostomy bag full of poop, i like it, I LOVE IT.
You don't have to like it, you just have to learn how to do it without gagging. You will become creative with that one. Lotion or vicks under the nose helps. I hate changing ostomoy bags and I hate wounds, but they no longer make me gag, so I am happy.
You don't have to like it, even though obviously you have to focus on what your doing I try not to think about it. A tip i heard of (but dont do cos I get headaches) is if your allowed (check policies and stuff) but put a spray of perfume on your collar or chest before you go in and try to inhale that instead!!! :) It might not take all the smell away but might prevent you from gagging! :)
This is a nurse message board. If someone looks up ostomy and comes to a nursing site, they will get a true nurse's experience. Many of the nurses included empathy in their post such as the nurse who changed her husband's ostomy and the colo rectal cancer nurse.
I see that you worked in the "medical field." But being a nurse, day in and day out gives you a unique perspective on the highs and lows of daily patient care. Don't judge us. You haven't walked in our shoes. And we haven't walked in yours. Do you ever vent to others about stressful things in your life? Consider this message board our vent session. It's not meant to inform people about their medical care. It's where nurses can kick off our clogs and really talk.
You might want to leave the site and never return because if you think this thread is bad...
This is a forum for nurses to vent, etc. If you were a patient with a bag, I wouldn't freak out about it but yeah, behind patients' backs, healthcare providers TALK. It may not be right but it happens, especially if you have something really funky going on. I'm sure my own providers have talked about me behind my back whether it be for being a huge sissy when it comes to IVs/blood draws or that I was ridiculously persistent in wanting a Z pack for something they thought was viral.
I'm not sure what you are on about. Ostomy output smells, it really doesn't matter what someone calls it on a message board. You feel free to go ahead and be outraged, and I'll go ahead and continue to wear a mask if I darn well feel like it. They're called standard precautions. I bet there are patients who are insulted by me wearing gloves to turn them too. Aside from that, you can't help your body's reaction to a smell.
I agree completely, redhead! I've been a nurse for 20 yrs and have most of the time worn a mask for more than one reason. First, it's required by my facility if there's the slightest chance of exposure. The second is the fact that if a nurse does have a change of facial expression, it helps to mask it.
I am sorry if the thread offended you - I don't think it was meant to try to help a nurse learn ways to perform the job they are expected to do. We do need forums like this to go in times of need or confusion, even doubt - wondering if they made a wrong choice in a decision. I don't think the OP started it to "make fun" of ostomy patients.
Just my .02, so I'll get back behind my couch now...
I am a mother of a child with an ileoostomy and I am appalled by the posts on here about having to deal with an ostomy. I think some of you need to rethink your career as a nurse. I have worked in the medical field prior to having children and was ALWAYS sensitive to what the patient was experiencing. If it smells bad to you then imagine how it feels to live with it on a daily basis as a patient. Patients with an ostomy are very aware how others feel about their "stinky poo" as you put it. I would like to think that nurses can hide their emotions around the patient and who cares if it smells????? Get over it!!! It only takes minutes before a new bag is on or its emptied. Wearing a mask just for the smell factor is down right insulting!!!! How do you think that makes the patient feel!!!
I am outraged by these comments because anyone who is searching information in regards to their ostomy has the likihood as coming across this. You all should be ashamed of yourselves and be much more professional!!!!
oh dear...
I love my infant son to the moon and back...but it still doesnt change the fact that sometimes his poopie diapers make me want to toss my cookies. Stinky stinky!
So yeah, sometimes emptying/changing a pt's bag/appliance is going to have the same effect on me. Doesn't make me any less caring as a nurse.
This is a nurse message board. If someone looks up ostomy and comes to a nursing site, they will get a true nurse's experience. Many of the nurses included empathy in their post such as the nurse who changed her husband's ostomy and the colo rectal cancer nurse.
I see that you worked in the "medical field." But being a nurse, day in and day out gives you a unique perspective on the highs and lows of daily patient care. Don't judge us. You haven't walked in our shoes. And we haven't walked in yours. Do you ever vent to others about stressful things in your life? Consider this message board our vent session. It's not meant to inform people about their medical care. It's where nurses can kick off our clogs and really talk.
You might want to leave the site and never return because if you think this thread is bad...
I'm sorry you were insulted. My husband tells me he doesn't smell the illeostomy odor. That's good for him, but I've had to teach him not to burp his bag in public, which he has done. Now he at least goes to a bathroom. I'm sorry for him, but I also don't want him to embarrass himself out in public or at church.
Changing his bag doesn't really bother me, but it does have an odor and I have used lotion under my nose and things like that to help. He doesn't even know.
I do think he needs to learn to change the bag himself. If something happened to me what would he do? He just doesn't want to learn. He'll empty the bag and look at the stoma, so I don't think that's part of it, I think it's just easier for him if I do it. I just worry that if one day I'm not there and it needs changing he'll be in a fix.
Good luck to you and your child. An illeostomy is a tough thing to have to deal with as an adult, much less a child.
:yeah:
redhead_NURSE98!, ADN, BSN
1,086 Posts
I'm not sure what you are on about. Ostomy output smells, it really doesn't matter what someone calls it on a message board. You feel free to go ahead and be outraged, and I'll go ahead and continue to wear a mask if I darn well feel like it. They're called standard precautions. I bet there are patients who are insulted by me wearing gloves to turn them too. Aside from that, you can't help your body's reaction to a smell.