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

myelin · Jul 13, 2013

Chrisrn, I know I can handle it. I mean, I don't know, I feel your tone is a little judgmental/dismissive (it could just be the effect of the interwebs). I just was looking for factual information--how often does poop cleaning come up in nursing school (not everyone who goes to RN school plans to work as an RN for an extended period of time in an inpatient setting). Like once every clinical, twice every clinical, twice every other clinical.

OP - since I am also in school to become a PMHNP, I absolutely understand what you're getting at. Dealing with lots of bodily fluids during RN school was definitely not daily. I did deal with "grossness" during clinical but it wasn't too frequent and my preceptor and/or PCAs would often help me. It was completely manageable. You will be fine.

Also - remember to take what people say on here with a grain of salt. There is lot of judgement and "if you don't do it my way you're doing it wrong" in nursing, especially here at allnurses. If PMHNP is your career goal then go for it. Some people think the only way to be a good NP is to work as a floor nurse for X numbers of years, I personally think this is an extremely biased and myopic view to have. Though I plan on working as a RN while in NP school, I do not believe it will be essential to my practice and neither do the PMHNPs (and PMHNP students) I know. In fact, I think the NP field would be greatly improved if it focused on more clinical training in the NP role (including more hours and residencies) instead of relying on RN experience. There is such a thing as having relevant experience in a field that is not floor nursing experience. Focus on your goals, it's gonna be great. :)

SlyFoxRN, BSN, RN · Jul 13, 2013

Good advice is helping out your fellow nursing students! Then they will help you clean up your patients too and that will make it go by much faster. You also have someone to talk to to get your mind off of it.

manusko · Jul 13, 2013

Alcohol wipe in a mask.

chrisrn24 · Jul 13, 2013

OP urgent care is not the place to deal with anxiety. They'll just give you a pill and ship you out. Same with the ER. If you want more serious help you need to make an appointment.

If the ER gave everyone a workbook and therapy they'd be backed up for days.

Editorial Team / Admin · Jul 13, 2013

I just wanted to know an accurate, specific estimate of how often cleaning poop comes up in nursing school.

Hold on, let me consult my crystal ball.

But seriously, there is absolutely no way one can predict how much it happens. It will depend on the type of facility, type of unit, and type of patient. Some are better than others, some have primarily independent patients, and some have completely dependent patients who will rely on nurses/nursing students for ADLs. It just isn't possible to give you an accurate specific estimate.

Editorial Team / Admin · Jul 13, 2013

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.

The purpose of urgent care is to treat the immediate condition (anxiety attack/breathing issues). Psychotherapy requires an ongoing relationship with a single provider/group of providers and does not fall under the umbrella/purpose of urgent care treatment.

myelin · Jul 13, 2013

The purpose of urgent care is to treat the immediate condition (anxiety attack/breathing issues). Psychotherapy requires an ongoing relationship with a single provider/group of providers and does not fall under the umbrella/purpose of urgent care treatment.

Obviously urgent care is not the place to seek therapy, but they could at least have given the OP a referral.

krwrnbsn · Jul 13, 2013

It just cracks me up the number of pre-nursing students who post this question. I mean "wow"! If they are so worried about all of the "gross stuff" they are going to have to possibly do I think they should do something that doesn't involve direct patient care. I never even thought to ask something like that. Although I'm not trying to offend OP it just seems silly.

psu_213, BSN, RN · Jul 14, 2013

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.
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.

I realize based on the latter statement above that you may not be around for this, but could you please elaborate on the other statement in this quote? Specifically, what is the controversy (not saying that you are wrong, but I am really not sure what you are talking about here)?

SlyFoxRN, BSN, RN · Jul 14, 2013

Why does everyone think that if you don't want to clean poop you shouldn't be an NP!?

As I said, physicians become providers without a desire to clean up poop. I know A LOT of very bright minds, people who are wonderful physicians and contribute to their profession, would NOT be a physician if someone said they had to clean up poop daily for a few years first.

A lot of people simply want to be NPs. So what? Not everyone has to love being a bedside nurse to be an NP - they're very different careers. There's nothing wrong with using a BSN-RN as a "stepping stone" to going on to be an NP/CRNA as long as you provide quality care to your patients while you're working them, regardless of your future plans. Doesn't mean you can't hate it.

But, again, I think bedside experience is good for getting patient interactions and learning to trust intuition. I think RN experience is helpful to being an NP, but not required if you don't want to clean bodily fluids. I, for one, am focusing on bedside for a while before I go on.

LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN · Jul 14, 2013

Why does everyone think that if you don't want to clean poop you shouldn't be an NP!?
As I said, physicians become providers without a desire to clean up poop. I know A LOT of very bright minds, people who are wonderful physicians and contribute to their profession, would NOT be a physician if someone said they had to clean up poop daily for a few years first.
A lot of people simply want to be NPs. So what? Not everyone has to love being a bedside nurse to be an NP - they're very different careers. There's nothing wrong with using a BSN-RN as a "stepping stone" to going on to be an NP/CRNA as long as you provide quality care to your patients while you're working them, regardless of your future plans. Doesn't mean you can't hate it.

^Welp, the OP can go through a DE NP program; yet may still encounter body fluids. She is free to do that.

The point is, if you are going to go through becoming a NP, you are going to deal with body fluids; it's just that simple. The Psychiatrist I saw rotated in Med School; encountered body fluids as well, not on the level of nursing, obviously; but the OP wants to become an NP.

No matter what level of nursing you want to reach, our practice revolves being involved with intimate closeness in body fluids, occasionally; history teaches is that our upper echelon of nursing care was grown from the seed of bedside nursing. The people posting pro bedside has at least YEARS combined beyond the decades of modern nursing...let's respect that fact.

The OP is entitled to pave her path; and that will include excrement along the way, and she is ok with that. *shrugs*

joanna73, BSN, RN · Jul 14, 2013

OP, the more bedside experience you have, the more competent you will become as an NP. It's as simple as that. How do you expect to accurately assess, diagnose and treat with 1 year of experience? School and clinical rotations count for very little. The real learning occurs through trial and error at the bedside.