In what department do you not wipe the backside?

Be_Moore · Sep 19, 2009

ICU you will definitely clean a lot of poop. Can't speak of ORs or ERs, but I am sure they are not entirely exempt either. Best advice? Work outpatient, like a clinic. Cardiac stress clinic, pain management clinic, etc.

Or just get over it. Cleaning poop is a lot easier than actually having to critically think about stuff. You will do it with your children (should you have any) and they won't pay you $50k base salary + benefits to do it.

LPN_2005/RN_10 · Sep 19, 2009

OR, ICU, and ER, you will most likely have to deal with urine and feces. Try an outpatient clinic. You will check them in, do blood pressures, draw blood, ect, but will most likely not have to clean up accidents.

Home Health Columnist / Guide · Sep 19, 2009

One can not escape bodily functions when employed in most inpatient settings unless in the management rank.

I think of personal care as giving back to those who cared for me as an infant/toddler and future potential need towards the end of my life.

Once you become a parent its much easier. We all need a little assistance at some time in our lives.

mirgadia05 · Sep 19, 2009

thanx everyone.

well I had experience wiping my younger bro's back when he was young.

He was cute and I loved him a lot, although I was 8 or 9 years old so at that time.

I wouldn't love my patients as much as I did to my bro

I heard OR ICU ER take the top tiers in class eh?

WalkieTalkie, RN · Sep 19, 2009

Can somebody let me know where I am likely to see more of blood? and unlikely see excrement&urine? OR, ICU, emergency rooms are in my mind.

In any case, OP, have you ever heard of GI bleed, infectious diarrhea, intestinal sloughing, kayexalate, etc? These are all things you will encounter in critical care areas. Nobody is too smart to wipe butts. It's part of the job. Do I like it? NO, but it's part of caring for the critically ill. In addition, there are things that come out of the human body that can be far worse than feces. If you can't handle something like cleaning up poop, maybe you should get an office job.

southern rn · Sep 19, 2009

I hate the fact that nurses do have to wipe asses!
I rather kill myself when i am to wipe my back.
yes you can call me immature.
I am a first year RN program student, in Toronto, Canada and I have attempted a degree already to go to pharm school but failed. Now knowing my student loan is increasing and I myself am aging to be responsible for my own life. yeah i chose nursing.
I think myself compassionate, and am willing to help. I am very approachable. I do easily make friends. However I really don't wanna wipe the asses for my life. I regard myself too smart to wipe back.
I don't know why nurses have to wipe the back here in Canada and US.
In asia, people hire psws to do the job. Nurses are too skilled for that kind of job.
I don't mind being with blood and wounds all the time. i rather prefer blood than urine and excrement.
Can somebody let me know where I am likely to see more of blood? and unlikely see excrement&urine? OR, ICU, emergency rooms are in my mind.

OK, I will call you immature. I think you better loose the attitude at least till you make it out of nursing school or you can add that to your list of failures. You say you are too smart to "wipe the asses" for a living but you are not smart enough to realize that by posting what you did in the way you did you just insulted a large number of nurses that frequent this board. Congratulations! :up: :up:

SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN · Sep 19, 2009

Poop is inescapable even in a doctor's office. Stuff happens.

mirgadia05 · Sep 19, 2009

OK, I will call you immature. I think you better loose the attitude at least till you make it out of nursing school or you can add that to your list of failures. You say you are too smart to "wipe the asses" for a living but you are not smart enough to realize that by posting what you did in the way you did you just insulted a large number of nurses that frequent this board. Congratulations! :up:

You're welcome. I humbly accept your euphemism.

Well, I didn't mean to disgrace nurses. As I mentioned above,

I think "nurses are way too skilled for that kind of job". If I were a member of union, I wouldn't let nurses wipe the back. In that way nurses do regard their jobs way more professional, seriously how many of you really find joy and happiness when you are dealing with those? I firmly believe it will lead to decrease the understaffed condition in nursing field.

Why don't people just hire someone to do those washing jobs, like we did to garbage pickers.

In certain countries in Asia, a lot of nurses in hospital settings do not wipe the back.

AlsgalRN · Sep 19, 2009

If you are too smart to clean bottoms, I would suggest that you never marry or have children. My beloved husband has ALS. He can no longer clean his own bottom. He is very embarrassed and feels like a burden. I am grateful that he is here and have no problem cleaning his butt. I have made it clear that we all poop, all poop stinks, and we all need to be clean. It is that simple. I will NEVER be too smart or too ............anything, to wipe him. :heartbeat I am also not too smart to clean your butt if you are my patient.

Original Poster, I also hope your health never puts you in the situation where you require assistance with your activities of daily living. The day that he received the final diagnosis of ALS was the day that I got the diagnosis of invasive ductal carcinoma in my right breast. I was only 43 with no known risk factors or family history. I am almost 2 years out from my final treatment and believe that I am cancer free. You never know what life will bring to you, OP. Being a little humble is a good thing.

If you were serious that you cannot deal with poop, I hope you will again reconsider your choice of careers.

AlsGalRN

diane227, LPN, RN · Sep 19, 2009

You have a lot to learn and I fear that you will learn it the hard way. I don't care where you work, you are going to be cleaning up patients. People will come stat to the OR who are not clean. People will be dirty when they arrive to the ER. People will poop in all areas of the hospital. And certainly you may have aids to assist to clean these patients but you as the RN will be expected to help out with this function and as you do this, assess the skin of your patient. This is not just a "messy" procedure. When you get these patients who have been in a nursing home, been down for a while, have had trauma, you have to turn them and look at their backsides to assess for injury and condition of their skin.

If you are not ready to do these things, then perhaps you are not right for this profession. I can only hope that when you are injured or elderly, there will be some nurse, who is not offended by poop available to meet your cleanliness needs. At this point, I would not want you to take care of me.

LuxCalidaNP · Sep 19, 2009

I hate to be crass...It's been said before:

Nursing = involves poop.

If you aren't cool with it, alas, case management awaits.