Is this the career of an RN?!

Nursing Students General Students

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TO start off, I KNOW nursing isn't glamorous and pretty.... you will have to deal with vomit, and poop, etc.

Yesterday I had my first clinical... and of course I get put on a floor where no one ideally wants to be - the GI floor (aka, the poop floor). I knew that NS and being an RN wasn't a glamorous or pretty job.... yes, you will have to deal with bodily functions and "accidents", etc... but I'm totally daunted! I didn't even go to clinical today (which is/would have been my second time for clinicals) because we were told yesterday that we'd be by ourselves with our own patients.

I'm totally freaked out and I don't know if I can actually do this as a student. I know you can't tell me if I can do it or not, but I was wondering if you ever felt the same way? Ever? Or anything close?

Our patient yesterday was so nice, but my god when our teacher had to get a "sample" from her adult diaper, and used a spoon, and her bowels were covering her front to back... I don't know how I didn't throw up! Yesterday just makes me want to not do this.

My teacher told me that RN's (nurses in general I guess) don't have someone (help) to clean up a patient's "backside" or stuff like that...THEY do it. I don't believe CNA's or nurses's aid's, etc. are "below nurses" or anything like that at all! It's just, I thought it would be more about giving shots, checking vitals, relieving pain, not mostly about POOP.

I know everyone's human, and poop happens. It's 100% different when it's not your own family you're cleaning after. I didn't think I would feel this way but I do. I never thought poop would be so discouraging.

Do RN's mostly just clean up poop?!

No body said ALL of anything about anything. And no one said that RNs didn't ever have to deal with poop, if you read the whole statement then you would have read the statement : By my senior year of nursing school, I hardly had to change any poop (Some but not a lot) because then you have more responsibilities and like RNs, you have other things to tend to and the Tech take care of this if you don't have the time. Sorry if YOU decided to take what I said and turn it into something that it is not, which is just because I'm an RN I don't have to do poop duty. Don't try to make my EXPERIENCE as a nursing student seem like I am putting down, or simply saying we don't have to do this job sometime because that is not what i said. And here where I am, most of the hospitals have techs that do the vitals, feeding, toileting, etc for patients that aren't in need of monitoring by the RN for whatever condition they are in. They don't do that were you work, fine but your work place is not every work place.

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VENT WARNING....

Wow.

I know this doesn't address the OP's question or situation, but I wanted to ask others reading this board: Is it just me or are you also fed up with posts like this?

I almost wonder if some of them are just putting us on. I mean, some of the things people ask!

I'm talking about students *currently in* nursing programs who:

1. Don't want to clean up poop or are surprised the job involves cleaning up poop.

2. Blow off clinical.

3. Lie about/cover up/not report med errors.

4. Openly defy school and clinical policies.

5. Insist they failed because the "instructor was unfair to them" or "hated them".

6. Wonder if nursing school is too easy so should they make it interesting by having a baby.

7. Walk off of jobs and wonder what it will do to their career.

8. Refuse to look up very simple data or procedures in their drug or Med/Surg books.

9. Defy instructors/preceptors because, "They just don't like me" (Often because the student is "Just too pretty")

Go ahead and make the "eating our young" accusation if you want, but clearly for the sake of patients some of these young need to be eaten, chewed up, and spit out.

I agree wholeheartedly that you should start another thread with this information.

It seems there is a lack of personal accountability in today's world. I see it more and more starting with small children. They break a toy and the parents say, "that's okay, honey, we'll buy you another one". I'm the opposite with my son. I tell him that if he breaks his toys, he won't have it to play with anymore. Does this seem harsh? Maybe....but life is harsh. He also doesn't break his toys, he respects people's property and feels really bad if he messes up. It's the same with these threads. These people think they DESERVE another chance and then another one after that and so on. And they are very quick to blame others for what is happening to them.

Like I stated in a previous post, the actions we take have consequences. End of story. If you eat that donut, you will gain weight. If you drive too fast, you will get a ticket. If you break the law, you will eventually go to jail. On the flip side of that, if you go to the gym, you will lose the weight. If you drive the speed limit, you will not get a ticket. If you study hard, you will pass the test.

It's not the teacher's fault, traffic's fault, GOD's fault, your dog's fault, your husband's fault, life's fault that you are failing your courses. It's not the fact that your uncle died, your BFF moved out of state, your husband is cheating on you that made you lie about your med error. These are excuses. This is life and, as stated above, life is harsh. We all have life events happen to us. It's how we deal with them and move on that defines our character.

Finally, pride gets in the way. It's hard to admit that we failed a class. It's hard to admit that we made a med error. But, in nursing, we need to choose our patient's health over our own pride in 100% of the cases. We need to admit to ourselves that we are not super robots and we will make mistakes. It's, again, how we deal with those mistakes and LEARN FROM THEM, that we define our character. So, if you don't pass a class, figure out what YOU did wrong and fix it. No one is going to do this for you. If you make a med error, fess up right away so your patient's life isn't harmed. I would rather deal with my mistake of a med error than cover it up and have a patient's death on my conscience for the rest of my life.

OK. I could keep going with this all day. Off my soapbox now. I have to go do laundry or I won't have any clean clothes to wear. :)

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Specializes in ED.

I think you misunderstood the point I was trying to make. I really didn't turn anything you said one way or another - at least i didn't intend to.

My point is, that once you become an RN, doesn't mean you won't ever have to clean poop or other bodily fluid. Because the OP is so opposed to cleaning up these things, I don't want her, or anyone else, to think that you will only do these things as a student.

I take offense when any RN treats a tech as beneath her. I'm not saying you are at all but as a tech and a nursing student myself, I have seen my share of nurses treat techs badly and with zero respect for what they do. Just this past week an RN sent me a page that read that it was "urgent" that I go to this patient's room. When I got there the RN was in the room with gloves and a gown on (pt was on contact precaution) giving meds and asked me to empty the patient's urinal. The urinal had about 200mls in it so it wasn't like it was about to overflow. I did what she asked me to do but then I asked her why she didn't just do it while she was in there if it was "urgent" and she said, "That's the tech's job." :uhoh3: That is just one example of her lack of respect. I could go on for days. I guess I am a little more sensitive and protective of how techs are treated right now.

I truly did not intend to turn anything into something it is not. I just don't want anyone to be given the false hope that the dooty duty ends with graduation.

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I agree wholeheartedly that you should start another thread with this information.

(There was another thread on this topic not too long ago, something along the lines of "What do student nurses and new grads say that drive you the most crazy??" I remember because I posted on it. :))

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Totally understand and agree. I have totally respect for Techs, and what they do, I have offered to assist on numerous occasions and to call a tech to empty a urinal is just pure lazy. I know of some people even some nurses as a student tell me, " you don't have to do that, the cna will". I am not one of those nurses. I just wanted to let her know that while you do have to do these types of things as a nurse, it's not something that consumes your whole career and just starting clinical she hasn't even learned enough to go beyond this duty in the beginning of nursing school.

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Specializes in Geriatrics.

....This is why I always recommend becoming and working as a CNA before you decide if nursing is right for you.

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Specializes in Emergency, Med/Surg, Vascular Access.
What's it to them if she's not cut out for NS? Not being cut out for NS pretty much means not being cut out for nursing. What on Earth is going to happen if she NEVER gets over the fear of poop or other bodily fluids that NO ONE enjoys cleaning up, and someone poops or vomits and SHE has to clean it up? If the pt. going to have to sit in his own mess? What happens if she finds out the she doesn't like dealing with other potentially messy things? I am not trying to sound mean, but seriously- that didn't make you the LEAST bit mad that she blew off her SECOND day of clinicals because of a little poop?

Agreed. All I'm saying is people on here seem to be taking it extremely personally--excluding the clinical skipping part, which I understand people's annoyance with, and I did comment on. If she's not cut out for it, she'll drop out, as she should, and no one should be frustrated with her over it. I understand that that's a seat in NS that someone else could have gotten, but she had to experience it before she knew she wasn't cut out for it. :twocents:

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Well, I am not a nurse yet, and in fact will not be starting NS for ab another 3 weeks. I'm not thrilled by the prospect of cleaning of poop either, and while I agree with most of the other posters that you shouldn't've skipped clinical (which you already know), I think your aversion to others' body fluids and your nervousness ab being alone with a patient is probably pretty normal.

I would also say ignore those that are telling you to change your major, grow up, etc., etc. What's it to them if you are not cut out for NS? They should probably get over it. To you, I would say stick with it, and, like others have mentioned, try to look for a job/dept. where you don't have to do a lot of stuff like that: psych, surgery (I think), OB (possibly?)--I'm sure there are several fields where you wouldn't have to do a lot of stuff like that.

She asked, we answered. Plain and simple. What's it to you how we answered?

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Specializes in Emergency, Med/Surg, Vascular Access.

LOL. Sorry if I offended anyone. I was trying to encourage the OP.

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Specializes in ED.
Totally understand and agree. I have totally respect for Techs, and what they do, I have offered to assist on numerous occasions and to call a tech to empty a urinal is just pure lazy. I know of some people even some nurses as a student tell me, " you don't have to do that, the cna will". I am not one of those nurses. I just wanted to let her know that while you do have to do these types of things as a nurse, it's not something that consumes your whole career and just starting clinical she hasn't even learned enough to go beyond this duty in the beginning of nursing school.

I don't want to be that nurse either. I've learned a lot working as a tech about how to NOT be that nurse.

That urinal thing is just one example of how this RN works. I cannot tell you how many times she has told me that one of her full-care patients needs to be changed and when I ask her for help she tells me to find another tech. Well, the other 1 or 2 techs are on the total opposite side of our unit. If I dare tell her that the other techs are busy or whatever she still refuses to help me. Well, I can't change Mr. X that weighs 280 lbs and has left side weakness all by myself so now what. I totally appreciate how much charting and care planning nurses have to do each shift but no one else seems to be too busy to help or ask me to do the impossible.

Sorry, for that slight hijack and rant.

Carry on.....

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I completly agree, I sometimes think pepole just put these post's on here to "get our goat". I have a hard time beliving that people REALLY, REALLY think this way. At least I hope they are just saying these things because it is REALLY disturbing to hear people talk this way. I also agree that people have zero accountability...:banghead::banghead::banghead:

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Specializes in ICU Surgical Trauma.

I think its just a learning process...just go to clinicals. If you cant deal with that, then nursing may not be for you

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