How much poop/puke/cleaning of bodily fluids is there in nursing school?

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Hey all. I'm starting in September and just want to know what I should be preparing myself mentally for. How much poop/puke/pee etc is involved? Is it a daily basis thing or just once in a while?

I'm not totally averse to it, just want to start getting prepared. =)

Specializes in critcal care, CRNA.
The point about the saturated market is a good one. Not everyone who plans to go to NP or CRNA school will actually go; not everyone who goes to NP or CRNA school will actually get work as one. Therefore your Plan B should ALWAYS be to return to bedside, because it's unrealistic to expect otherwise.

In most states a PMHNP has to have a signed agreement for collaboration with a licensed MD psychiatrist. How many of those will accommodate a slew of newly-minted (plus experienced) NPs?

The other thing that struck me was your request to have a specific number, although since no one could give you one you did back off on that. If you are the kind of person who puts great stock in your personal efficacy and expertise and cherishes precision and control, being an NP may not give you what you need. Being an RN certainly won't :) -- humans are messy, unpredictable, and believe it or not, not always grateful for your expertise and care. Do not go into being a PMHNP with a focus on holistic care/med mgmt/etc and think that you will be able to set it all right for all, or even a few, of your clientele. Just sayin' you might want to spend some quality time shadowing a real PMHNP to get a better feel for it in the concrete to go with your goals in the abstract.

Haven't met a CRNA yet that couldn't find a job. It might not be at home or their favorite city but they will have a job. I can't speak for NPs though.

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Specializes in Hospice.
I mean, I don't plan to work as an RN much. Some people go to BSN school because they want to work in policy, CRNA or NP or PA. I never said anything about getting an aide to do any work. I just wanted to know an accurate, specific estimate of how often cleaning poop comes up in nursing ​school.

How can that possibly be answered? That's like saying how many accident victims will I see, or overdoses, or assaults, or on and on....... You just have to expect the worst and hope for the best! That's my plan, anyway.

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I was thinking the same thing. Do people not get that being a nurse (or student) is going to require coming in contact with pee/poop/puke?

I know!! It's kind of ridiculous!

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Specializes in public health, women's health, reproductive health.

What you want to do after nursing school is pretty much irrelevant to your nursing school experience. At least that is how I have found it in my first semester. No one at the clinical site (or in lecture, for that matter) gives a crap (excuse the pun) what you think you'll do after you graduate. You are a nursing student. That is all...no more or less special than the next student. You will clean up poop at the rate fate, the nurse or your instructor assigns it to you.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
How many times do you have to wipe a butt to be a good NP? You guys act like ppl who go straight on to NP are somehow manipulating the system. Again I will say that no one in their right mind likes cleaning poop.

Of course no one likes cleaning excrement.....I think that when becoming a nurse one should consider/know what is involved....it has always amazed me when people go into a profession that deals with humans 24/7 and want no part of what that really means....which includes dealing with sick humans and their excrement evenings, nights, weekends and holidays.

For the record.....I am opposed to all of these direct entry NP programs and any NP programs that teach advanced nursing without a requirement of 3 years experience at the bedside. I think all advanced practice degrees should require a minimum experience of 3 years......like most GOOD CRNA programs.

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Specializes in critcal care, CRNA.

Of course no one likes cleaning excrement.....I think that when becoming a nurse one should consider/know what is involved....it has always amazed me when people go into a profession that deals with humans 24/7 and want no part of what that really means....which includes dealing with sick humans and their excrement evenings, nights, weekends and holidays.

For the record.....I am opposed to all of these direct entry NP programs and any NP programs that teach advanced nursing without a requirement of 3 years experience at the bedside. I think all advanced practice degrees should require a minimum experience of 3 years......like most GOOD CRNA programs.

Well that's the way they set up advance practice programs. I know many GOOD CRNA programs that require 1-2 yrs and many are starting to do 2+ minimum. I also believe that NP programs should require at least 1-2 yrs of practice.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
Haven't met a CRNA yet that couldn't find a job. It might not be at home or their favorite city but they will have a job. I can't speak for NPs though.

The KEY WORD here is the word YET. No one would have believed that the "nursing shortage" would have ended so abruptly assisted by a poor economy and the rapid proliferation of these for profit schools......I think we have just begun to see the impact of the proliferation of the advanced schools.

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Look, I'm definitely not opposed to working at the bedside, cleaning poop, etc, in the context of providing patient care and helping a person in need. I think it's very important, and I would return to the bedside even as an NP if my economic situation demanded it.

I think there's kind of a controversy within the nursing field on how much emphasis to place on "intimate" patient care as a necessary prerequisite to all other types of patient care... including providing anesthesia, prescribing psychiatric meds, etc.

I realize that as a psych NP I'm not going to affect systematic change or anything. I just want to be a good teacher to young children's parents, to inform them of their options in a way that sometimes general practitioners don't. Maybe if I do policy work someday, I will create change, and I'll have the personal background as a PMHNP to vouch for my views.

A couple years ago, I actually had a panic attack one night and went to urgent care the next day because I felt I was having breathing issues. The general practitioner tried to give me Xanax and didn't even suggest any type of psychotherapy or workbooks or anything! I want to minimize those kinds of occurrences.

Side note: Neither Yale or UPenn require any RN background for their NP programs.

Anyway, replying to this thread is getting to be a waste of my day. I appreciate that there are different opinions out there, now I need to go get some work done. See y'all later.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.

The KEY WORD here is the word YET. No one would have believed that the "nursing shortage" would have ended so abruptly assisted by a poor economy and the rapid proliferation of these for profit schools......I think we have just begun to see the impact of the proliferation of the advanced schools.

And that's something we should be fearful of...one of the TOP respected professions. The expectation is to be a competent individual, able to handle the holistic individual. It doesn't do ANYONE any good with the proliferation of these schools. I don't want to see the dilution of competence in our profession-it truly has an impact on patient outcomes...the REAL basis of our practice. :yes:

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Specializes in Emergency.

A lot...

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I am reminded of a fellow student in the LPN program I attended. Her philosophy was: "I'm going to medical school. I'm not going to wipe s****y a***s , I'm just in the program as a stepping stone to med school." I so hope she didn't make it that far, nor is working as a nurse, either. She had the most arrogant attitude of anyone I ever met. I felt the same about several fellow students in the ADN program I attended. . .

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Specializes in Trauma, Orthopedics.

A couple years ago, I actually had a panic attack one night and went to urgent care the next day because I felt I was having breathing issues. The general practitioner tried to give me Xanax and didn't even suggest any type of psychotherapy or workbooks or anything! I want to minimize those kinds of occurrences.

Side note: Neither Yale or UPenn require any RN background for their NP programs.

Nevermind on what I originally said on this comment.

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