Did the title catch your attention? Good, I was hoping it would.
I've seen people talk about this attitude on allnurses quite a bit, and I find the reactions fascinating. I'm amazed at the passion, care and professionalism of the nurses on this board and really about every nurse I've ever met.
BUT, everyone-from the most seasoned nurse to the student- knows that nursing is changing and will probably continue to change dramatically over the years to come. There are CNAs and MAs who seem to have an increasing role in the healthcare system and nurses themselves have more responsibility (all the charting etc.) and demanding jobs as new diseases, new medicines and standards of care make their way into our lives.
My question is, do you think their should be a change in what nurses do? Will there come a time when basic hygiene and certain other tasks often done by nurses in the past will be the responsibility of CNAs and others in similar roles? Would this be a good thing for nurses? Is there really anything wrong with nurses who feel that four years of education + all of their other demands and responsibilities should mean that they shouldn't have to do these tasks?
Specializes in MR Peds, geris, psych, DON,ADON,SSD.
I don't have a problem with cleaning up patients. What I do have a problem with is non-stop diarrhea with multiple cleanups where you can't get any other work done because as soon as you do clean them up they go again. After the third cleanup in less than an hour, I start to get really frustrated.
I wish more hospitals would use these flexible plastic fecal bags which are really great for preventing skin breakdown, not to mention saving the staff a lot of time and trouble. But I've only seen these fecal bags used in only one ICU unit.
They constantly give the patients all of these drugs that cause non-stop diarrhea, but they don't give you effective tools to deal with it while you've got a million other things to do. And then they wonder why people don't want to do cleanups, and why they can't keep CNA's.
To me, the problem isn't cleanups themselves but the vast multitude of cleanups that have to be done. I'm sorry but to me, that's what burns you out on poop more than anything else. It's like bailing out the ocean, at times.
:typing
i'm not sure how long you've been a nurse but you sound kinda lazy
Look at it another way when i am performing clients hygiene perfect time to assess skin condition peripheral vascular integrity and build a therapuetic relationship with client granted not the most exciting activity but often the most appreciated by client, i know because i have at both ends as the giver of care and the reciever of that care.
Thanks so much for putting that in the context you did. You were right on the money.
Wiping behinds is the responsibility of whoever is part of the team that can get it done.
I was never taught as a nurse that I should expect it to be the sole responsibility of the Certified Nursing Assistant to get it done, rather it was everyone's responsibility to do it.
For all the whiney nurses who think they are above wiping butts, you're right. Get out of the field and find a new line of work. The real nurses who know the realities are so over hearing you bicker.
i'm not sure how long you've been a nurse but you sound kinda lazy
Our facility actually carries the fecal containment device Lizz is talking about. I also think you've come to wrong conclusion.
I've seen one too many red, raw, and bleeding behinds from frequent diarrhea, I can only imagine the pain these people experience each and every time they are cleaned, and I always hear their cries. A fecal containment device prevents this kind of skin breakdown, it also is attached to a dependant drainage bag, which also saves the staff time by eliminating the frequent clean ups involved in this type of situation. Lizz brought up a good point, it is very time consuming to be constantly clean a patient 5-6 times a shift, it's also a situation that affects the care of all patients on a unit. It's not about the patient being an inconvenience, unfortunately frequent diarrhea is not something they plan on having. It's not about the nurse being too lazy when it comes to a situation involving frequent clean ups, it's about already operating under limited time conditions, and still getting everything done. First and foremost it is always about preventing skin breakdown and the potential for infection that accompanies that breakdown.
I'm all for fecal containment devices, most importantly because of the skin breakdown and the pain/discomfort associated with frequent diarrhea that it can prevent.
Thanks so much for putting that in the context you did. You were right on the money.
Wiping behinds is the responsibility of whoever is part of the team that can get it done.
I was never taught as a nurse that I should expect it to be the sole responsibility of the Certified Nursing Assistant to get it done, rather itwas everyone's responsibility to do it.
For all the whiney nurses who think they are above wiping butts, you're right. Get out of the field and find a new line of work. The real nurses who know the realities are so over hearing you bicker.
I'm one month into my LPN program. There is a girl in my class who from the first night of class told us that she already works as a nurse ("I do everything except IVs, blood draws, and give meds") at her dad's urgent care center. Last week she was working on a digestive module and found out that nurses have to do things like enemas, fecal ocult tests, and feeling for/removing fecal impactions. She went ballistic and said "No way am I doing that. My CNA is going to be doing all that kind of work." She went on to say that she made it through her CNA training without ever wiping someone's butt and would not be wiping people's butts or cleaning up puke when she became a nurse. What she didn't know was that our instructor was standing in the doorway and heard everything and let her know on no uncertain terms that a good nurse does whatever the patient needs and that delegating something to a CNA just because you don't want to do something, or giving them something that is outside their scope of practice, or walking away from a patient who needs help and sending in someone else was NOT going to happen. I also heard her tell one of the other instructors later that she would make sure this girl got all the training she needed on cleaning up bodily functions when we get to clinical! :lol2:
By the way...how does someone actually make it through CNA training without changing/cleaning up patients?
I think she made it through her training by neglecting the people who needed help with toileting. It sounds like she needs to find another profession, because puke and poop is something that every nurse and CNA has to deal with to care for the patient. It sounds like the instructor is really going to train her----extensively!!
Again, there are lazy nurses, AND lazy nursing assistants. Can them. Aren't you glad Im not in management?
Now, back to us really wonderful types.
It has fallen on the shoulders of nurses {with the advent of the nursing shortage and the use (sometimes over use) of techs and aides** to take leadership in developing teams on the job to best serve the needs of the patients. That means: yes, you need to delegate butt wiping if the time it takes uses time that is needed to complete more pressing tasks that the techs are not qualified to complete. This has nothing to do with being too good to do it, and definitely you should when you have to, or you need to assess the patient in that way. But any aide that is put out because you are doing your paper work, or passing meds or doing treatments needs to be informed of the bigger picture. I love nurses who do a change "cause they were in there anyway, and were glad to do it" but I also am not offended it they are up to their elbows and the holler for me....
That's why I am for permanent assignments for aides and nurses, so they can develope this team, and weed out the lazies....
And nobody forced you or anyone else to become a CNA/LPN or whatever you are.
You need to zip your lips, grow up and be what you were supposed to be "a real nurse who has a bit of compassion". If you think you are so superior, then get out of the field...
That works both ways.
....
(part of quote removed due to TOS violations)
If you think that signing out and registering a different name will mean that this alter ego you are posting under now is the only one that will be banned from posting and you can sign back under your old name and carry on as you desire, think again. The system registers your computer.
Hopefully when get my "little" ADN, I will be working somewhere that's more about team work.
:lol2: 
supernurse65
87 Posts