In what department do you not wipe the backside?

[mirgadia05]

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.

[ONCRN84]

Infusion therapy in the outpatient setting.

Patients poop there too. Not as often, but i've certainly cleaned a butt there.

[ONCRN84]

I've read through the pages. OP: If you're a troll, get a life. Also, if you're not a troll, grow up and find a different career. If you failed out of pharm school, nursing school isn't any easier. You WILL wipe MANY butts in nursing school.

Look into maybe pharm tech.

[Fiona59]

You want to laugh but sadly the OP (if not a troll) is a prime example of what type of student many Universities here in Canada are enrolling.

They either fail out of a programme, enter Nursing because their liberal arts degree won't support them, or worst of all they were the brightest of the bright in their high school class.

Honest to gawd, we see them every four months on their hospital placements. How as a RN they should never have to deal with bodily fluids, how the LPNs and the ONE NA on the unit should be doing it all. What chaps their hide is they really want to use their "delegation skills" the minute they step on the units and can't understand why the staff don't like them.

It's also a cultural thing. In Asia, the family of the patient does a lot of the hands on care. It was a major culture shock when my province imported a batch of nurses from overseas. Many couldn't handle doing total care, they hadn't done it since they were in school and were mortified that they had to do everything.

Basically nursing in North America is harder than many of our Asian counterparts expected and they are not happy campers to find out the amount of work expected of RNs/LPNs here.

Oh, and OP the nursing unions here in Canada are advocates of total patient care. You'd never work for long because you'd be so tied up in the grievance procedure, you'd need your own union rep.

[loricatus]

I dont think they "wipe asses" at Walmart-perhaps the OP should look into that career.....

The OP may not be able to cut it there, either. May not require wiping asses; but, to be successful there, you certainbly have to kiss them.

[paigeyah]

Wiping poop and handling any type of secretions are not my fave things to do. Being exposed to potential infection is always at the back of my mind when I go to work. Nursing is stressful and it does take a certain type of person to choose this career. Dozen times over I wonder why I chose this profession but I'm still here after 12 years. What I'm trying to say is we do feel that way at times. "Why am I doing this again...wiping poop, cleaning up?" It does seem unfair that after working years toward a degree, we're here cleaning up poop. It's part of the job and the less you focus on that aspect, the more rewarding your career will be. As an RN, I'm more concern about the lack of respect of some doctors to this profession. When I'm cleaning up after a patient and a doctor comes in, he/she leaves and say, "I'll be back as soon as you're done." Or they expect you to answer their calls ASAP. Same thing said when X-ray comes, P.T., O.T., Dietician, Resp. Therapy, Pharmacist and so on. And I really do resent it at times. But the day goes by and you get to do your job well and your patient gets the best care.

[EarthChild1130]

Guess what, OP? You'll even see poop in psych! Your patients will throw it at you, write on the walls with it, smear it on themselves AND on you, and they might even EAT it! Oh, the horror...seems you're not safe from poop at all. I suggest you cut your losses and find a nice poo-free career ASAP.

Too smart to wipe butts...I've never in all my life heard such a silly comment. Most of the smartest people I've ever met are nurses, CNAs, AND doctors who aren't one bit afraid to wipe a butt. I can only hope that someone will wipe MY butt should I ever be unable to do it myself.:angryfire

[ShaneIA]

This is funny. I feel a little bad for the OP, the question of having to assist in cleaning the bowel movement of a patient is always on a newbies mind. I work as a CNA while going to school to become an RN and it's a concern I see new students bothered with more than myself. I feel the OP's original post was one of honest concern, even if it was of slight immaturity.

If you want to work in this field of work, I think it's important that you not only "deal" with the idea of cleaning another human beings excrement, but you should be more than willing to do so. You aren't just cleaning them, you are helping them. Don't be one of those nurses that leaves the patient in a state of feeling uncomfortable about needing this type of assistance, or just leaving them to sit there because you are too immature to look past what you should already be obligated to do to help. Try to look past the excrement and see the person, and the help you can provide them.

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

. try to look past the excrement and see the person, and the help you can provide them.

the op has received wonderful carreer advice from our members. with the last sage piece of advice, closing thread as question answered.

it's just poop people! how bias influences attitudes towards this level of care.

incontinence

incontinence care

prevention plan for skin breakdown over pressure points