Is hospital nursing an unbearably dirty job?

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  1. Is nursing an unbearably, dirty job?

    • 17
      Yes
    • 32
      No

49 members have participated

I started nursing clinicals and I have encountered poop, pee, vomit, mucus, etc. I was a CNA for 2 years and loved it, so this doesn't bother me, but one of my nursing friends who graduated claims that she's seen so much "dirty" stuff that she quit working at the hospital to work in a clinic. For example, she says that she no longer even had an appetite. This has to be an exaggeration, right? Comments appreciated.

Specializes in ED.

I've encountered more "oh god oh god this is disgusting" moments with my four year old nephew than I have with patients. Unless it involves super nasty feet. Then I might puke. Other than that...I was eating black bean soup in the break room at shift change and everyone was comparing it to C.Diff poo...I kept on eating.

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That is just body secretions that we all produce. The really dirty part is the hand's of the administrators.

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I would say nursing is dirty, but not unbearable. Also, I think it just depends on the specialty. I've been in the ED for 2 years and have never had to wipe a pt's butt or give a bed bath since nursing school. I'm moving to be a burn care nurse in less than a month, and I'm sure this will change. It comes with the territory, and t doesn't bother me. You don't want dirty work? Don't go into any healthcare field where you have to interact with a pt!

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I would say nursing is dirty, but not unbearable. Also, I think it just depends on the specialty. I've been in the ED for 2 years and have never had to wipe a pt's butt or give a bed bath since nursing school

How did you manage to avoid this in the ED? I'm an old ED nurse and I did plenty of it.

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How did you manage to avoid this in the ED? I'm an old ED nurse and I did plenty of it.

Honestly? I think it's just my luck, because my colleagues have had to. I've only been in the ED for two years. Don't get me wrong, I've been puked on and have had to strip feces-contaminated sheets (worst psych case I've ever seen). So I've had my fair share of disgusting.

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Specializes in Med Surg.

When I was doing my peds rotation, the RN supervisor said, "I worked for a hospital as a maintenance man. I never thought I could be a nurse and deal with poop, pee, and blood. Then I had 2 kids and found out that I could deal with it. I cut the hospital's lawn on a Friday and started as a new grad in the ICU the following Monday."

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Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).

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Specializes in Peds Critical Care, Dialysis, General.

Nothing I have seen or been around in nursing has taken my appetite (unfortunately). Ostomies may make me ill, but I can still eat.

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Yep! Having two kids made me realize that a) I can handle getting all varieties of bodily fluid on me and b) that I'm calm in the face of 'emergency'.

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Specializes in Med-Surg/Neuro/Oncology floor nursing..
I've encountered more "oh god oh god this is disgusting" moments with my four year old nephew than I have with patients. Unless it involves super nasty feet. Then I might puke. Other than that...I was eating black bean soup in the break room at shift change and everyone was comparing it to C.Diff poo...I kept on eating.

Oh man I have a foot phobia. I think feet are disgusting. I'm always plundering the hospital sock inventory to give to patients.

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