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?
However 'white-collar' nursing eventually becomes, there will be 'blue' stains that no amount of education will ever wash clean.
Simply put, if you don't want the 'side-effects' that come with intimately dealing w/ people; there are plenty of jobs out there that don't require it.
I'm going to step into the line of fire and admit that I don't like wiping butts!
I would never let someone lay in a mess, but I sure won't push anyone out of the way to clean up BM, either.
Not a single one of us said we like doing it either. The point is, it comes with the job and we don't just wait for an available aide to do it. If it needs to be done, it gets done. It is not just the aide's job, it's EVERYBODY'S job.
Im not above performing personal care however I think it does somewhat distract the patients view of our ability to asses, and assist in their care plans. if a patient sees us changing their briefs and then admin IVs they tend to doubt our ability
I was always taught in nursing school that a nurse can and should use hands -on tasks as an oppourtunity to assess their patient. As a student I went in to change a patient's brief and found that whoever had put his foley in(done in the ER) had neglected to put the foreskin back in place. If I had just worried about meds, charting etc that patient could have ended up with a phimosis. I mop floors when needed at work though so I'm not the prissy princess type to begin with.....
I feel sorry for that pt. who was looking from one nurse to the other hoping that one of them would put her on the bedpan. I can't imagine how humiliating that might have been.
I was a CNA at a LTC facility and that was my job, apart from taking vitals. We only had 3-4 techs at night and about 20 patients each, and anywhere from 8-10 people to get up in the morning. It is really hard to bathe, dress, change, brush hair, brush teeth, get up 10 people in an hour and a half (we had to start at 5:30 and be done by 7 am).
Whenever we would ask the nurses to help us, we would get "It's not my job, it's yours, and if you can't do it, maybe you're not cut out for this proffesion." And the DON agreed!
Now, I loved being a CNA, but when you have 20 patients, it's so very hard to keep them clean, bathed, and happy like they should be.
But needless to say I don't work at that LTC facility anymore. lol.
Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.
I was always taught in nursing school that a nurse can and should use hands -on tasks as an oppourtunity to assess their patient. As a student I went in to change a patient's brief and found that whoever had put his foley in(done in the ER) had neglected to put the foreskin back in place. If I had just worried about meds, charting etc that patient could have ended up with a phimosis. I mop floors when needed at work though so I'm not the prissy princess type to begin with.....
Neither am I. In my various nursing jobs, I've unclogged toilets, mopped floors, cooked meals, vacuumed and shampooed carpets, cleaned bathrooms, and more in addition to 'wiping butts', as it has been so charmingly dubbed here. It's not that I particularly like doing any of those things, but if they need to be done, it wouldn't matter if I possessed a 24K gold-plated PhD degree---it's not beneath me to do them.
Besides, cleaning up BM can provide some valuable information about the patient. It may not smell like Chanel No. 5, but you can tell a lot about someone's health status by the color, form, consistency, odor, and frequency of their stools. And I'm sorry, but any nurse who'd let a patient sit and marinate in it while they waste time running up and down the halls in search of an aide isn't much of a 'care'giver, IMO.
Specializes in Open Heart/ Trauma/ Sx Stepdown/ Tele.
No task or "job" including "wiping butts" is above any nurse regardless of their title or degree...it is all a part of nursing! Do I enjoy this aspect... no, but it comes with the territory and as stated earlier can be a vital piece in an assessment. I can remember when I was the cna and left to perform all care because the nurse had "rn" after their name...since when does one forget how to perform care. Actually had a nurse many years ago when we were short handed tell me she forgot how to wash pt's...my reply was who washed you before coming into work. I know that with everything thing else we are expected to do and do through out the shift it is not easy, but it is part of nurising. And let me tell you that it is greatly appreciated by the aides when we lend a hand...I have been told numerous times. On Easter weekend I was the lucky one to be in charge of a 38 bed unit which included four vented pts, had my own six pt assignment, and assisted the 2 pca's with care and bedmaking...and I was not the only rn to do so, we all worked together. Just because I hold a title of "rn" after my name does not entitle me to walk away when the pt may need basic care.
Whiping behinds is a part of the job. While they are on their side you can assess their sacrum and coccyx. Along with that, you can assess their back which could show rashes that no one has reported before.
I find that wiping behinds feels good to the pt. because they are no longer in that icky mess. Personally, I like using the soap and warm water and it ends up being like a mini back bed bath which the ortho pts. enjoy. Then you can lotion their back and give a quick! gentle massage. The pt's feel so much better. I know it sounds like a lot of work but I am working along side a PCA so the care is effecient for us and comfortable for the pt.
Do you know one of the many reasons why I chose ICU nursing over other areas in the hospital? Because I love the fact we do primary care....all of it. I am not going to sit here and say I love cleaning up stool, but I know if I were laying in that bed, relying on a stranger to clean my behind, I would want a nurse like me. I look it as just one more way to care for a patient. It probably comes from having both my grandmothers die at home with hospice and we were the ones who cleaned them up time after time. It was hard as hell for my grandmothers to have their family wipe their bottoms, but at the same time, I'm sure they were glad it was us and not some nurse who felt she/he had too much education to be doing that.
I love bath time with my patients. I usually spend up to an hour (I work nights and do my baths from 3am to 5am) on each patient, giving complete skin care, foot and back rubs, etc. To take that part of my job away from me would make me an unhappy nurse. When my patient has a bowel movement, I don't see it as "ugh, another butt to wipe" but rather a time when I can get a good assessment of many different things regarding my patient.
I hope the day never comes when all of that area of nursing is "delegated" to CNA's, etc. It's one of the many parts of my job I really enjoy. One of the things I could not get used up on the floor was having CNA's around to do so many of the things the RN's up there just don't have enough time to do. But I understand what an integral part of nursing CNA's are....on the rare occasion we have CNA's or techs, it's a joy to always have someone to help with turns, cleaning, baths, etc. But to completely give that part of my job away....no thanks. It's what I do and what I am....a butt wiper and proud of it!!
Do you know one of the many reasons why I chose ICU nursing over other areas in the hospital? Because I love the fact we do primary care....all of it. I am not going to sit here and say I love cleaning up stool, but I know if I were laying in that bed, relying on a stranger to clean my behind, I would want a nurse like me. I look it as just one more way to care for a patient. It probably comes from having both my grandmothers die at home with hospice and we were the ones who cleaned them up time after time. It was hard as hell for my grandmothers to have their family wipe their bottoms, but at the same time, I'm sure they were glad it was us and not some nurse who felt she/he had too much education to be doing that.
I love bath time with my patients. I usually spend up to an hour (I work nights and do my baths from 3am to 5am) on each patient, giving complete skin care, foot and back rubs, etc. To take that part of my job away from me would make me an unhappy nurse. When my patient has a bowel movement, I don't see it as "ugh, another butt to wipe" but rather a time when I can get a good assessment of many different things regarding my patient.
I hope the day never comes when all of that area of nursing is "delegated" to CNA's, etc. It's one of the many parts of my job I really enjoy. One of the things I could not get used up on the floor was having CNA's around to do so many of the things the RN's up there just don't have enough time to do. But I understand what an integral part of nursing CNA's are....on the rare occasion we have CNA's or techs, it's a joy to always have someone to help with turns, cleaning, baths, etc. But to completely give that part of my job away....no thanks. It's what I do and what I am....a butt wiper and proud of it!!
A lot of families act like it is not their obligation to help out.
Some families help out because I think they're just inclined to help care for their own, and they see how the nurses are overworked and running around all shift trying to keep up with the workload and genuinely want to do whatever they can. Many families, however, I think are stressed out and angry at the ever-increasing copays and other charges their insurance is not picking up and feel entitled to every bit of "service" they can get from the hospital because they are paying through the teeth. But we all know that the nursing staff, (not hospital administrators) who are already run ragged and short staffed, bear the brunt of these demands.
anonymurse
979 Posts
Heck, so does doctoring. Ask any proctologist.