what kind of jobs does a RN do

pink2blue1 · Sep 10, 2005

hi there,
i'm a future RN, at present i'm doin my associate's degree in nursing.i'm very curious about the work we have to do. everyother person in the street tells me that after becoming a nurse i will have to do jobs like cleaning the patients and attending there nature's call neccessites.
is this true . please guide me.
regards

Hi, I'm not a nurse yet, I am currently in my program, but I am a CNA and have been for 3 years. The nurses that I work with do on occasion have to clean patients (If by cleaning you mean bathing, changing diapers etc and so on) They also have to tend to their nature's call necessities. So yes it appears this is true. After all not all hospitals have CNA's and even in my hospital where there are CNA's there aren't enough to cover all the patients so the nurses do have their share of bathing, changing beds, cleaning and taking people to the bathroom. I know I am not a nurse yet, but I felt I could answer your question honestly. AS for the rest of what nurses do, I am learning about that right now.

Good luck!

QuilterLPN · Sep 10, 2005

Most absolutely will you be cleaning, bathing and toileting your patients! Depending on where you work, and the number of patients you care for, and if you have CNA's to assist, you may do those chores more or less. But, in the role of a nurse you are caring for that whole individual! You may be giving medications, starting IV's, ambulating people, charting, giving enema's and so on and so on. Some nurses work in clinics or other office settings where they do not do so much of this type of work. If you are not sure about this, find out more about nursing, before you invest an enormous amount of time, money and energy. You could "shadow" a nurse at a hospital for a day, so you have some idea what they do.......

I changed an abdominal dressing the other day that would curl your hair. It made toileting and washing look like a walk in the park. Nursing is a messy business, but it can also be challenging and very rewarding. Good luck.

suzanne4, RN · Sep 10, 2005

Sorry but yes, you will be taking care of your patient's needs. Vomit, pee, and poop come right along with the territory.

elkpark · Sep 10, 2005

I'm just curious -- how is it that you started nursing school without having any idea what nurses do? How did you decide you wanted to be a nurse if you didn't know what was involved?

allnurses Guide · Sep 10, 2005

It might be that the OP had been told in the past that there are always nurse's aides that do those jobs. Which is of course, not true. I work on a med surge floor and had five patients all by myself a few nights ago. Some nurses at times have more patients than that, all by themselves.

It really just depends. If you work in an ICU, most of the time you WILL do total care. If you work on a med surge floor there's about a 60-70 percent chance that you will have aides that will do a lot of your toileting, vital signs, etc.. If you work in a nursing home than you will almost DEFINATELY have aides, but they are often really overworked.

talaxandra · Sep 10, 2005

We don't have CNAs - and at times like now (many patients with diarrhea, all non-infectious) I wish we didn't do the cleanup!

lady_jezebel · Sep 10, 2005

hi there,
i'm a future RN, at present i'm doin my associate's degree in nursing.i'm very curious about the work we have to do. everyother person in the street tells me that after becoming a nurse i will have to do jobs like cleaning the patients and attending there nature's call neccessites.
is this true . please guide me.
regards

Yes, this is true. We clean many, many butts, and touch far more gruesome things. However, this is only part of our job. There is a huge cognitive/professional aspect to the work we do, too.

MissJoRN, RN · Sep 11, 2005

Hey, you have a chance to educate "every other person"! Reply proudly "yes I will, that's part of healing skin and preventing infection!" and then start telling htem about some of the other jobs you'll be doing that they didn't know about- co-ordinating respiratory care, PT, OT, dietary needs. Assessing vital organ function, reporting new changes to the pysician and collaborating treatments with him. Educating patients, parents, and care givers on illness prevention. Managing high tech ventilators (maybe?) interpreting heart rhythm monitors, and managing sensitive medications to maintain those rhythms, titrating pain meds in a dying pt, wow, so many independent and collaborative actions!! All depends on your interest area!

pritampaulsingh · Sep 11, 2005

hi suzanne

i'm curious that you have an MBA degree. is this in health care related field.

if yes can you please guide me the role and opprtunites for MBA in health care.

regards,

pritam

Sorry but yes, you will be taking care of your patient's needs. Vomit, pee, and poop come right along with the territory.

P_RN, ADN, RN · Sep 11, 2005

Pritampaulsingh

It is so difficult to land a spot in a nursing program. May I ask how you got this far not knowing what an RN does?

Bird2 · Sep 11, 2005

hi there,
i'm a future RN, at present i'm doin my associate's degree in nursing.i'm very curious about the work we have to do. everyother person in the street tells me that after becoming a nurse i will have to do jobs like cleaning the patients and attending there nature's call neccessites.
is this true . please guide me.
regards

I work as a nurse manager and I still toliet, reposition, clean residents, and answer call lights. Of course half of the staff will swear that management does not do this but I've become thick skin over the negativity. What they don't realize that I am all over the building and when I'm doing bedside care they obviously are elsewhere. I personally enjoy the day to day care of the residents but I have to balance the other work that I'm required to do. Pt care always comes first.