Long story short, my sister has decided that she wants to become a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner. She has a master's in psych, and believes this will be an easy thing to achieve, but she just simply doesn't want to clean poop.
I do assist with peri care, sometimes with a tech, and sometimes because the tech is with another patient. It's not the biggest part of my job and it is not the worst part of my job. It gives me a chance to assess skin issues, to change any bandages that may be on the coccyx, and to let the patient know that I'm there no matter what reason they need me.
I tried to explain this to her, and she just doesn't 'get it'. I get this idea that becoming an NP is practically the same as a MD to her, and that worries me. She'll learn, I suppose. I just hope that she will understand that assisting a patient at a time when they can't even go to the bathroom by themselves is not a bad thing. It's not horrible to help someone. It's what we do.
I'm just bothered by it. Thoughts...comments? Ways to make her understand? all appreciated.
In nursing school I managed to get by with only the barest amount of bed baths and poop cleaning. Never dealt with a colostomy. I don't know how I did it or how the instructor didn't notice!
Considering her first seven weeks of nursing school alone will include not only how to clean a patient up, but also how to inspect all that glorious poop (including taking note of the very odor), she may be in for a rude awakening.
She may get past it though. Nobody goes in thinking they'll enjoy cleaning poop, but after a while it's nothing. You don't even think twice about it. I could go clean up a C-diff volcanic eruption and then promptly eat my lunch.
Well, bless you! Sorry, but I do not have time to do custodial work. I would immediately have a CNA come in and clean the pt if I were in a nursing home environment.
This contradicts your earlier statement of "...it's not a matter of thinking you're too good or not."
I've found out there are 2 types of RN's" : 1. Don't mind Puke 2. Don't mind poop. Search out your opposite the first day and form an alliance. But as others have stated there are more and more direct entry NP programs that pick-up an RN somewhere through the program but don't need any RN experience. It seems they are becoming an also ran for MD/DO school applicants that didn't get in. It seems to no longer be advanced practice RN's because there was no RN practice.
I'm glad that you work for a good bunch of docs and that the pay is good. That must make for a pleasant, do-able job which is so important. It's too bad however that despite all that you are subjected to mandatory overtime on occasion. I don't have kids but if I did what in the world would I do if I couldn't leave on time to pick them up just because a case is running over? To subject nurses to mandatory overtime, simply because they are nurses it seems, is nothing more than professional disrespect. I care deeply for my patients but the bottom line is I am contracted for only a set amount of time per day-anything more than that is NOT my responsibility. If my managers want to cases to get done they need to find coverage, period. And since this is an ASU and the cases are elective, I don't feel the slightest bit of guilt cancelling a case for staffing issues. My managers know the case schedule and they know the staffing. If they permit the schedulers to book too many cases I will not allow that to infringe upon my personal life just so they can look good to their bosses and all the surgeons. To allow my personal time to be intruded upon by overzealous scheduling and underzealous staffing is disrespect and a devaluing/disinfranching of me as a professional, and I don't permit it. I don't permit bad behavior in my personal relationships and I don't permit it in my professional relationships either. To subject an RN to mandatory overtime is to make a statement that his or her time is neither valued nor important, IMO.
What if it were you or a loved one needing a surgery and a nurse in your shoes said, 'meh, not my worry...I'm union, going home, wait til tomorrow' . Not everyone has unlimited days to take off to wait for a surgery. I get your point, but the person on the other end may not. In nursing school I was taught that you will not always get out on time. You want bankers hours, go work in a bank. They didn't mince words.
As a patient, I needed some assistance in this "area" when I was delivering my first child; the hospital allowed moms to eat and drink during labor, so the result was a little messy. I was MORTIFIED; it was so distracting that my pushing was ineffective. But I remember my nurse being so caring about cleaning me and even using the situation to educate me about where to focus my pushing. It was an example of nursing care that I will never forget.
I figure we all have our "poop:" the thing we don't want to deal with if we don't absolutely have to. I've been a nurse for about 3.5 years and haven't had to do much poop-cleaning in PACU, but it does happen, especially in an emergent case when the patient isn't able to fast. Doesn't bother me; I figure it's about keeping them clean and maintaining their dignity. However, I HATE coughing. HATE it. I'll take poop, pee, puke, or blood over a productive cough any day! Is coughing part of the job? Absolutely. Would I refuse to take care of a coughing patient? Absolutely not. Doesn't mean I don't say a silent prayer of thanks when someone else gets assigned the pt with a reactive airway and a 60 pack-year history who was intubated for 4 hours.
What if it were you or a loved one needing a surgery and a nurse in your shoes said, 'meh, not my worry...I'm union, going home, wait til tomorrow' . Not everyone has unlimited days to take off to wait for a surgery. I get your point, but the person on the other end may not.
As I stated in my original post my managers are very aware of not only the surgery schedule not also the staffing schedule. It is THEIR responsibility to see that there is adequate staff to cover the needs of the schedule. And by the way, until I learned how to play hardball we were being subjected to mandatory overtime nearly EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. All because our bosses did not want to either schedule a reasonable amount of surgeries or provide coverage for an increased number of cases. We complained to the union, they stepped in and things calmed down. I have a right to my own life and for my time off the clock to be just that. I am a human being with needs and wants; do you have any idea how difficult it is to schedule anything when you can't even get off work when you're supposed to? I do not believe that anyone's time is necessarily more important than mine. The doctors are important, the patients are important but so am I. I will not have my legal rights willfully disregarded, nor will I be treated as if my life is not important. I'm a FT employee as well as a FT student and it's vital that I get off on time because I always have a ton of schoolwork to do. Also, I have no problem with management telling a patient that their surgery is cancelled due to inadequate staffing (which they would never do but lets just pretend for a moment, shall we?) The first thing the patient would say is, "They why ISN'T there adequate staffing here??? If a case gets cancelled and a patient is angry because he or she then has to rearrange everything they might complain and then maybe, hopefully, things will change. Until RN's are willing to play hardball and refuse to be treated as chattel with no rights, needs or even a life outside of the hospital, they will continue to be abused and disrespected.
I have no idea what nursing school you went to but your attitude is deplorable, IMO. Getting back to the original vein of this thread, the OP's sister (I believe) wants to be a psych NP so she won't have to deal with feces. I actually applaud that. I'm getting out of bedside nursing for a whole variety of reasons, one of which being I want wear my nice clothes and heels to work and not be bothered for menial tasks but instead actually direct patient care (I intend to get a DNP as soon as I'm finished with my FNP masters program). If it bothers anyone that after nearly 20 years I'm tired of getting my hands dirty for no respect, well, they're certainly entitled to their opinion, which I could care less about. I live to please myself, not anyone else. I truly believe that one of the reasons RN's are leaving the bedside in droves for APN positions is because of statements such as your which devalue nurses and their right to a life. Who gave you the right to determine anyone's work hours, may I ask? No, I will not leave nursing to go work in a bank simply because you don't care for my thoughts on this matter. No, I will not leave nursing to go work in a bank simply because I want the right to get off work on time. And if your surgery gets canceled because I need to get off work on time to go and attend to my life, which by the way is just as important as yours, by all means please complain about it. But before you crucify me for being heartless, take a moment and think about the bosses who permitted this situation to exist in the first place and WHY they won't hire the desperately needed additional staff... Do you know that managers get end of year bonuses and one of them is for staying below certain staffing ratios, or, in other words, running a unit on bare bones staffing. So that means, every time I stay over to accommodate the overstuffed schedule (which they get bonuses for too, BTW), I am actually putting money in my managers pocket. No thank you.
What if it were you or a loved one needing a surgery and a nurse in your shoes said, 'meh, not my worry...I'm union, going home, wait til tomorrow' . Not everyone has unlimited days to take off to wait for a surgery. I get your point, but the person on the other end may not. In nursing school I was taught that you will not always get out on time. You want bankers hours, go work in a bank. They didn't mince words.
I don't think that's what this person is really talking about. She's not saying that she has a problem helping patients, and she's not saying that she would abandon a patient should some out-of-the-blue staffing situation arise. But what's happening in her situation is disrespectful. It would be a great world if nurses were angles, but they're not. They're humans. They work hard physically, mentally, and emotionally to get through long shifts, and they need time off. I often make plans after 12 hour shifts or after a long school week because I need time to unwind and relax. This person's work is taking that away from her on a regular basis, and it's something they could fix if they'd just be a little more proactive about their own jobs. It's absolutely degrading. A nurse is an educated, hard working individual who deserves to be treated as such.
Dear OP, lighten up and practice saying "told ya so" with as much sarcasm as only a sister can deliver. It will only take once of being thoroughly shat upon to humble her.
I don't think that's what this person is really talking about. She's not saying that she has a problem helping patients, and she's not saying that she would abandon a patient should some out-of-the-blue staffing situation arise. But what's happening in her situation is disrespectful. It would be a great world if nurses were angles, but they're not. They're humans. They work hard physically, mentally, and emotionally to get through long shifts, and they need time off. I often make plans after 12 hour shifts or after a long school week because I need time to unwind and relax. This person's work is taking that away from her on a regular basis, and it's something they could fix if they'd just be a little more proactive about their own jobs. It's absolutely degrading. A nurse is an educated, hard working individual who deserves to be treated as such.
Thank you so much Purple_Roses, you hit the nail on the head!! I'm not an angel, just an ordinary human being who needs to be able to use and enjoy the little bit of free time I have. And I have stayed over many, many times to accommodate critical/unusual cases or a doc who really needed me there, I just won't do it for ordinary, elective cases on a regular basis. Thanks again.
I was in your sisters shoes exactly. Master in counseling psych. Ive had a private practice since 1999. Decided to go back to earn PMHNP. I am 5 classes from finishing. I have cleaned TONS of poop...vomit...horrible attitudes...stage 4 wounds etc...nursing school is no joke and neither is NP school. If I knew then what I know now, I'm not sure I would have done this. But I'm glad I did it.
AmyKJ
2 Posts
Where is she finding this feces-free 9-5, sign me up!