Is there ANY department in nursing that I can avoid cleaning up poo?
What Members Are Saying (AI-Generated Summary)
Members are discussing the challenges and realities of cleaning up feces in healthcare settings, particularly in relation to different nursing roles. Some members express apprehension about this aspect of the job, while others share their experiences and offer advice to those new to the field. The discussion also touches on generational attitudes towards cleaning tasks and personal choices.
Sorry for the awkwardness but I looked through previous threads and read the stories and I think I would just lose it if I walked into a bathroom where the walls were covered with diarrhea and I had to clean it all up
My mom tries to tell me not to worry and "just get the LVN/CNA to clean it up" but for some reason I don't think that it works out that easily...
Is there any department in hospitals that wouldnt have to deal with this type of situation? psychiatric ward perhaps? working a job outside a hospital?
Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated :plsebeg:
Specializes in Med/Surge, Psych, LTC, Home Health.
Threads like this absolutely slay me, because I swear.... cleaning up messes like poop and pee.. that's probably the EASIEST part of my job. You know? It's the part of my job that requires the least amount of mental energy. Just clean something up!
I mean, I understand, different strokes for different folks and all that. But, it's why I miss being a CNA sometimes. Lots of physical energy spent maybe, but not as much mental energy.
Now, I will admit that it IS a pain in the butt to walk into a patient's room and hear "I messed all over myself" or "He needs cleaned up now" and know that I am WAY behind on passing my meds and I've just really got a ton of stuff to do, but the CNA is not around and I just don't feel right going to search for her to do this, when I know that it is something I'm capable of doing myself...
Threads like this absolutely slay me, because I swear.... cleaning up messes like poop and pee.. that's probably the EASIEST part of my job. You know? It's the part of my job that requires the least amount of mental energy. Just clean something up!
I mean, I understand, different strokes for different folks and all that. But, it's why I miss being a CNA sometimes. Lots of physical energy spent maybe, but not as much mental energy.
Now, I will admit that it IS a pain in the butt to walk into a patient's room and hear "I messed all over myself" or "He needs cleaned up now" and know that I am WAY behind on passing my meds and I've just really got a ton of stuff to do, but the CNA is not around and I just don't feel right going to search for her to do this, when I know that it is something I'm capable of doing myself...
I notice you are from KY also, don't know if it's in my area, but I would work with you any day!!!! Thanks
Specializes in med/surg/tele/neuro/rehab/corrections.
Where I used to work in long term acute care the CNA's cleaned almost all the poo and nurses had no problem asking CNA's to clean up. They were busy charting at the nurses station or doing a procedure and if not there they were in the med room and it was the US that had to call it overhead. The nurses didn't look like they were sitting on their butts doing nothing. All the CNA's just did it. But sometimes I would think to myself that it would be nicer if the nurse could have not asked me, or would at least stay to help me. Sometimes they did but that was rare. But sometimes they let someone sit in poo until we (the CNA's) cleaned it up and we were very busy so it took a while to get there.
I remember thinking, long long ago, that if I became an RN instead of an LPN, that I would never have to clean poo.
I got over it, I got used to it, it doesn't bother me now. I'm making $45+ hourly now doing agency and actually, cleaning poo is not the most annoying part of my job. The worst part is the Bullpoo that comes along with it in the form of inefficient, nonsensical systems bogged down with government mandated redtape, in a healthcare system that is inequitable, and hospital administratiors that are self-promoting, self-congragulatory, pennywise, pound foolish, overpaid morons.
You get used to the poo after awhile haha... Got my fair share of it in LTC. But now I work in a clinic so don't really have to deal with it often, though I think I would rather deal with some poo than have to help drain a MRSA infected boil sometimes they can smell and look worse!!! HAHA but probably clinic setting would be the safest bet to avoid the poo
I remember my first real poop experience. It was a MESS and I remember calling up my (nurse) friend and telling her that I changed my mind and WAS NOT going to nursing school if I had to do this.
By the time I got home, I calmed down and thought about how I handled the poop situation (I did everything wrong!). You really do get over it and it really becomes no big deal. If I had to choose between having my patient lay in smelly poop, and taking a few minutes to clean it up and make my patient feeling better about themself, then I would rather clean it up.
I'm starting NS in the fall and I can't wait. I'm glad I got over my "fear" of poop. Now sputum makes me gag...
Specializes in CNA - starting LPN school January 2009!!.
Are there poop free nursing jobs? Sure.
Are theere poop-free nursing jobs open to recent nursing school graduates with no clinical experience? Highly unlikely.
Bottom line: You may be able to find something poop free down the line, but while you are in school, and for a few years after, you will be wrist-deep in poop. Alot. :)
Might I suggest to you what I did? I was so nervous I wouldn't be able to handle the poop, that I went and got my CNA certification while I was taking my prereqs to get into nursing school. I discovered that not only was I not scared of the poop, I actually didn't mind it. Plus, going through CNA training will give you a new found respect for what CNAs do, so that you will be less tempted to take a "holier than thou" attitude when you actually become a nurse.
Because, I can tell you, as a current CNA, and soon-to-be LPN student, when you become a brand-new nurse, you are going to need those experienced CNAs to have your back. They are going to walk you through procedures you will have no clue how to do, and give you vital informaiton about your pt. that will be vital to your success as a brand-new nurse. You are going to need to have those CNAs on your corner. And, demanding them to clean up your patients with your nose in the air is the fastest way to lose that support.
One thing to keep in mind is that as much as you don't want to clean up the poo, the patient probably feels 100X worse that you are having to do it for them in the first place.
I'm hoping to work in the NICU someday, where at least the poo is tiny....
I wouldn't count on anyone else cleaning it up for you either. That will just pretty much guarantee your chances of having to do it yourself for the rest of your career.
Poo does not bother me, the only time I really hated cleaning poo was the day I put a patient on his bedside commode and forgot the make sure the bucket is there, was a nice mess since he was in the middle of a course of go-litely, this will never happen to me again I will check, trust me:nuke:
NurseCard, ADN
2,850 Posts
Threads like this absolutely slay me, because I swear.... cleaning up messes like poop and pee.. that's probably the EASIEST part of my job. You know? It's the part of my job that requires the least amount of mental energy. Just clean something up!
I mean, I understand, different strokes for different folks and all that. But, it's why I miss being a CNA sometimes. Lots of physical energy spent maybe, but not as much mental energy.
Now, I will admit that it IS a pain in the butt to walk into a patient's room and hear "I messed all over myself" or "He needs cleaned up now" and know that I am WAY behind on passing my meds and I've just really got a ton of stuff to do, but the CNA is not around and I just don't feel right going to search for her to do this, when I know that it is something I'm capable of doing myself...