Is it legal for your boss to dictate where you poop?

[klone]

As in, there are two employee restrooms, and the boss has requested that if you're going to poop, you should use the restroom in the "dirty utility area" because of odor. And if you DO poop in the non-poop bathroom, you'll be "talked to."

Asking for a friend.

[Ambersmom, BSN, RN]

caliotter3 said:

Lots of nurses who do home care state that they will not poop in the patient's home. It can be an uncomfortable event.

When I did VNA and Hospice I wouldn't even pee in the patients home, there are just some things they didn't need to know. Although I didn't care less who heard me in the public bathrooms I used if I had to go,LOL.

[Christina85]

hahahahahahahaha!

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

klone said:

I don't understand why it takes some people 15-20 minutes to take a poo. What do you do in there??

My oldest son has always been a slow pooper. When he was little I would get expletives in my head if we needed to get out the door and he announced "I need to go unga." A couple years ago he got spoken to for an excessively long BR break at school. It sounded like they thought he was trying to get out of class. Not thinking I said "well you missed a big chunk of your class. You really don't need more than 2 min to use the BR."

He kind of glared and said, "Well it only takes me 2 min TO PEE!"

[RosesrReder, BSN, MSN, RN]

I about died reading this because recently I went to see my patient in Pre-Op (I work OR) and walked into the most horrendous smell. C-diff meets GI bleed meets Necrosis. Something extremely foul. The kind that sucker punches you without warning. A pt had pooped 5 times in 15 mins. Jumped off the stretcher and aimed for the waste basket. Nothing but a short curtain to cover. A patient next curtain over was almost hurling from being NPO and nauseous to begin with. This patient reaches for her purse under her stretcher and pulls out a aerosol can of originally scented GAIN with Febreeze. Immediately it started smelling like putrified funk and a touch of laundry. Foul, foul, foul! We are still talking about it weeks later.

[RockinNurse2018]

Not sure this is really something they can enforce, especially since you don't always know you only need to pee when you use the bathroom, but it may be something to consider, if only to be polite to others who may be walking by, especially if you can hold it until you get to the next restroom. At my workplace, there's a staff restroom right next to the nurses station as well as in front of two patient rooms. There's also a bathroom in the hallway right across from patient rooms as well as the dining area. Obviously these aren't the ideal restrooms if you need to have a bowel movement but sometimes it isn't always practical to go downstairs to the basement bathroom. Legally, I don't think they can do much, and it would make for awkward conversations during a performance review. But it's probably in good taste to be polite to hold until you get to a bathroom in a less populated area if at all possible or reasonable.

[Crush]

SpankedInPittsburgh said:

I'm a firm believer in the right of free range fecal production.

My favorite line!

[Crystal-Wings, LVN]

Lots of nurses who do home care state that they will not poop in the patient's home. It can be an uncomfortable event.

My worst nightmare occurred when I was working a night shift case. I pooped at the start of my shift and clogged the toilet! I was so embarrassed and worried the whole night about it. I was even ready to leave my CC # if they had to call a plumber out, but when his mom signed me out at the end of shift at 5 AM she groggily said not to worry about it. When I showed up for work the next night, I apologized profusely to the family and the grandmother said "Hun, don't worry about it! We're a family, so we're used to stuff like this happening!" They were so nice about it.

Needless to say though, I never pooped again at work.

[Davey Do]

Crystal-Wings said:

I pooped at the start of my shift and clogged the toilet!

I'll never look at your username in the same light again, Crystal-Wings.

Never having stopped up a toilet with my poop, you have gained my utmost admiration and respect.

[Davey Do]

Crystal-Wings said:

Needless to say though, I never pooped again at work.

By any chance, Crystal-Wings, did you ever work as a CNA?

meanmaryjean said:

I used to work with a CNA who literally would clock out and go HOME (2 blocks away) to poop.

[SpankedInPittsburgh, DNP, RN]

Toilet clogging is a milestone in the career of any free range fecal producer. If you get three verified clogs within a year without the excessive use of toilet paper you qualify for an invitation to the poop Olympics. It's held in the same location every years right where ***** creek meets the might poop river.

[Ambersmom, BSN, RN]

This thread made me laugh but also reminded me of an incident several years ago. I had gone to work night shift felt fine, but then felt nauseous and vomited. I called the night supervisor just to let her know I might be getting sick and she said there was no one to cover for me so "tough it out", I was able to get report on my 8 patients and was just starting to assess and give meds when you know what hit the fan, from both ends (lol now, it wasnt then), we had two bathrooms one in the break room and one in a closed corridor, I just ran to the one I could get too... And it was bad... I called the supervisor again, she again told me to tough it out again. And it was only getting worse, I was trying to answer call lights, assess patients, give meds and prn's, and chart. I managed about 4 hrs but when I found myself lying on the floor of the bathroom and at that point considered the toilet my bestie that I somehow managed to call the supervisor and say "I'm going to hurl on a patient, I'm going to the ER. "(during the time I was sick, my coworkers graciously gave me that BR as my own, lol) When I got to the ER the doc informed me I was "violently ill" I have to say on that night, I didn't care where the bathroom was, who heard me, or what if anything they smelled. Desperation has its moments. I still kinda think about that night and laugh, about to give a patient a med, getting the "look", and running down the hall to my bestie.

[Crush]

SpankedInPittsburgh said:

Toilet clogging is a milestone in the career of any free range fecal producer. If you get three verified clogs within a year without the excessive use of toilet paper you qualify for an invitation to the poop Olympics. It's held in the same location every years right where ***** creek meets the might poop river.

I have a co-worker who clogged our employee toilet. Had to maintenance. We were having to run upstairs to use the one on the floor above us. I remember maintenance saying it was the biggest one they'd ever had to remove. Called it a "tree trunk." We were all holding it together with professionalism till he said that and we all kinda lost it laughing. I'd say that alone would qualify for the poop Olympics.