ICU yuck

Anna Flaxis, BSN, RN · Jun 11, 2012

I'll go against the norm here. I hated being an aide. So much so that I said I would never be a nurse. Fast forward 7 years and here I am loving what I do. I think no one likes to do those things. It sucks. Anyone who says it doesn't is lying. What makes it ok for me is I don't just do that. I do so many other things in a shift that you know yeah it sucks but it's bearable. Knowing I'm helping in the end is what matters.
Every job you deal with ****. Ours is just more literal than others

Your honesty is refreshing! I'm sure you are a fine nurse, even if you don't enjoy every single nursing task.

FlyingScot, RN · Jun 11, 2012

Knowing I'm helping in the end is what matters.

I haven't seen one post that says "Yay...poop" so pretty sure we are all being honest here. The difference is the attitude that goes along with it. Are you "wiping ass" or "helping in the end". Is it more gross for you or the sick patient lying in it. These are the kind of tasks that put our feet to the fire. Can we look upon it as necessary for good patient care or are we all about how it disturbs us? That's what makes a person a nurse. We do the unpleasant things for the greater good of the patient and humanity as a whole. So, in the end, I don't think you really are going "against the norm". What you are doing is displaying the attitude of a nurse.

DizzyLizzyNurse · Jun 11, 2012

I definitely found working as a tech through school to solidify my desire to be an RN, not hinder it.

Me too.

I definitely don't like wiping butt or any of a number of gross things, but the parts that I like cancel that part out so I just do it and get on with my day.

I like someone's idea of being a PCA somewhere else and seeing if you like it better.

PeepnBiscuitsRN · Jun 11, 2012

I don't mind stocking... I had to do that with downtime when I was an LPN in the clinic. Got to take out all these weird doodads and wonder what they were, and then let my imagination run wild. I mean really if you have the downtime to do something as menial and mindless as stocking- ENJOY IT! It's giving your brain a break to just float along.

As for post mortem care- I was fortuntate in the time I worked in prog care to only have to prepare one body of a patient, who wasn't actually mine. I helped the two aides clean him up and take him away. As I did it I found that it didn't really affect me- yes, maybe an hour afterwards I had a moment of "eeeeee" but it didn't really affect me. Do you think that after a time you might just become desenstized to it? Just like with poop- "ok, I'm wiping a butt now, go through the motions of wiping a butt".

It sounds like you have had a lot of input sent your way, so I'll just leave it at that.

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · Jun 11, 2012

There are areas of nursing which don't involve cleaning stool. ICU is not one of them.

When I was in nursing school, I was rather afraid of the really old people. In the end, I came to adore them. I hope I am misreading your "tone" in your OP, but it seems rather derogatory of old people. Trust me, poop is poop-it's no more fun wiping it off a twenty five year old bottom.

Whatever you decide to do, I hope that you can learn to appreciate the elderly, even though end of life issues are plentiful and not always pleasant.

Scarlette Wings · Jun 11, 2012

So I was interested in going back to school to pursue nursing...get my RN then maybe eventually my NP. I got a job as a Patient Care Tech at one of my local hospitals 2 months ago in the ICU. I am not a very big fan of this job. It is gross and depressing and I am dealing with death/dead bodies left and right. It is not at all what I want. It has actually discouraged me from nursing. I am so not into geriatrics or wiping old peoples asses to be blunt! I have always been interested in healthcare and the helping professions and especially children. My first degree was in teaching. Maybe this is just not the right setting for me?....

Absolutely going to sit this out and wait for the fireworks. ((grabbing my popcorn, super slurpy cola, and a snuggie blanket for the long haul))

Waiting to hear "Oh no you didn't just say that"

OnlybyHisgraceRN, ASN, RN · Jun 11, 2012

Maybe try school nursing. Won't help you much for NP school but you will work with kids, no wiping butts and rarely death. Good luck. I appreciate your self awareness.

Fiona59 · Jun 11, 2012

Labouring women poop, babies poop.

klone, MSN, RN · Jun 12, 2012

maybe try going into a field that doesn't contain too many old people who need their ass cleaned (i.e. mom/baby, l&d, psych, clinic)..

in m/b and l&d she'll be wiping poop from women aged 15-50 instead, not to mention cleaning lochia and blood clots from the perineum. so, not sure that would be a good area for her, ether.

Stephalump · Jun 12, 2012

Hemabate + epidural = not fun.

rn/writer, RN · Jun 12, 2012

So I was interested in going back to school to pursue nursing...get my RN then maybe eventually my NP. I got a job as a Patient Care Tech at one of my local hospitals 2 months ago in the ICU. I am not a very big fan of this job. It is gross and depressing and I am dealing with death/dead bodies left and right. It is not at all what I want. It has actually discouraged me from nursing. I am so not into geriatrics or wiping old peoples asses to be blunt! I have always been interested in healthcare and the helping professions and especially children. My first degree was in teaching. Maybe this is just not the right setting for me? Maybe it is the duties of the Patient Care Tech that are disenchanting to me and not the duties of a nurse. Any advise? Should I try another setting before I make my decision? I know the settings and careers an RN can have are limitless, which is one thing keeping me interested.

It may be the intensity of the Intensive Care Unit that has you bogged down rather than the PCT job itself.

I'm not trying to be ironic. There is bound to be more death in the ICU than anywhere else in the hospital, with the possible exception of the ED. The patients are sicker and often less able to participate in their own care. They may not be able to converse or connect in a meaningful way. Their families may also be more of a challenge to work with because of stress related to their loved one's precarious condition.

Certainly, there can be intensity on other units, but it's likely to be broken up by conversation and and other things that keep you from becoming too overwhelmed with sadness and negativity.

When you're in a place that already gets you down, tasks like cleaning up a code brown become more burdensome. And when getting a body ready for the morgue is a frequent task, it can get you wondering about the meaning of it all.

The fact that you don't like being a PCT is not necessarily the last word on how much you will like being an RN. I know many nurses who barely tolerated being CNAs or PCTs and then went on to enjoy the nursing role much more. Some of them came close to either not enrolling in nursing school or quitting before they started taking upper level clinical classes. Conversely, I know of two people who did fairly well as CNAs and students who quit during their first year as nurses.

I would caution you to not make so much of "wiping asses." It's a rather indelicate way of expressing a part of the job that few of us love, and it sounds demeaning to both the patients who need it and the staff members who do it.

I do understand, though, that if you find much of the job depressing, this part can seem more of a downer than it has to. Let me tell you, having once had a health situation that required me to rely on others for help in this area, a nurse or a PCT who did a good job and didn't make me feel more embarrassed than I already was really did me a great kindness. Maybe if you look at it that way, it will seem more satisfying than just looking at the physical task.

I would strongly encourage you to try being a PCT on a different unit before writing off the job entirely. You can't know for sure if it's the job itself or just where you're now doing it that you can't get past.

I hope you can find a good path that allows you to bless and be blessed.

anotherone, BSN, RN · Jun 12, 2012

So I was interested in going back to school to pursue nursing...get my RN then maybe eventually my NP. I got a job as a Patient Care Tech at one of my local hospitals 2 months ago in the ICU. I am not a very big fan of this job. It is gross and depressing and I am dealing with death/dead bodies left and right. It is not at all what I want. It has actually discouraged me from nursing. I am so not into geriatrics or wiping old peoples asses to be blunt! I have always been interested in healthcare and the helping professions and especially children. My first degree was in teaching. Maybe this is just not the right setting for me? Maybe it is the duties of the Patient Care Tech that are disenchanting to me and not the duties of a nurse. Any advise? Should I try another setting before I make my decision? I know the settings and careers an RN can have are limitless, which is one thing keeping me interested.

This is exactly the job you needed. There is NOTHING you do as a tech that a RN doesn't do( yes i know not every place is the same). But I work in a major trauma hospital and I believe the ICU,PICU, NICU does not even like having techs as they want an RN doing everything. In my med surg floors and others like iT, the RNs/LPNs wipe as many butts and baths as the aides do, hell sometimes we do not have any aides. That WILL be part of your job and you will do it multiple times a shift if you are on any type of medical or surgical floor PLUS foleys, enemas, ostomies, all of it. from neuro, to urology to ortho or cardiovascular. there will be less death than in an ICU but it still happens and you still have to do post mortem care and take the pt to the morgue, unless transport does it where you work, if it is night shift forget that, you will be doing that also. and when you are done the er will have an admission to send you. It can be a depressing and gross job. Some will lie or candy coat it or are unable to see it through the eyes of others. I also think one becomes more tolerant and desensitized to such things but not everyone can handle it. There are some areas of nursing where you won't have to deal with this stuff but those are rare and you are unlikely to get a job in those glory areas as a new nurse with no med surg/icu or any floor experience.