Need Advice/thoughts on when to clean Poop up in shower

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Specializes in Geriatrics.

I have a questions for all my cna's. Ive just started working at this Rehab / LTC facility. Ive went above and beyond my duties as a CNA.I love my patients and love working with them. I clean my patients and they are never left smelling. I guess to say im not a lzy CNA. Not to be graphic but here it is....

My concern is today I took my patient into the shower and he pooped a big pile of poop.I dont think towels would cleaned it up.( it was watery).Besides I couldn't sweep it away with the shower like I would normally do because the shower head couldnt reach where it was. You needed the right tools( a mop to clean it up). So i called housekeeping and they told me they would clean it up, so I went about my day . After im done with my shift. The HR person comes to me and asked why I didnt clean it up. i told them i called housekeeping earlier. She said that they didnt do that, only if it is a small job. I informed her that they said they would clean it up.

Hello... if its a small job I can do it. After the conclusion when I found out I had to do it. I just picked up the towels I put over it and left.

Im wondering if Im wrong in any way. is it our jobs to pick up a big pile of watery poopor? isnt that where housekeeping comes in when we can't clean it up properly. Any thoughts or concerns

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Specializes in LTC.

UNfortunately it's our jobs. It's the CNA/Nurses job to clean up the bul of body fluids and it's housekeepings job to come in afterwards and disinfect.

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It's true that it is the CNAs job, but Housekeeping shouldn't have told you they would do it. A smart person would have asked you how much there was and informed you of the policy like they knew their job. It always bothers me that people in other positions at a facility assume everyone knows their job limits.:angryfire

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Specializes in Geriatrics.
It's true that it is the CNAs job, but Housekeeping shouldn't have told you they would do it. A smart person would have asked you how much there was and informed you of the policy like they knew their job. It always bothers me that people in other positions at a facility assume everyone knows their job limits.:angryfire

Thanks for the advice. Im still kind of new in this facility so its frustrating sometimes when one person says another thing that isnt true. Thanks.

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You know... you would think people (management etc) would be concerned about the residents safety first and foremost. You couldn't very well have just left them alone in the shower to go grab a mop and clean it up. It should be understandable that you had to stay with them, you called for help (and were told it would be cleaned up)... and at that point you were busy doing your thing and you assumed it was taken care of.

Now that you know it is something you should take care of... I guess you know. But I think you did what you needed to do. It sounds like you are a wonderful CNA. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Take care!

Jen

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IMO the appropriate way to handle it would have been to finish the shower, get the resident settled back in, and then return to the bathroom to clean it up. Yes, it is the CNA's job to clean messes regardless of big or small. House keeping shouldn't have said they were going to clean it if they weren't but I guess now you know not to call them next time, huh?

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Oh, yeah, and the appropriate or professional term would be BM or feces, not poop or pooper.

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Specializes in ED, ICU, PACU.

I'm not a CNA (am a RN) but I had to respond to your post. I think that a CNA should be treated as a Certified NURSING aide. Your job is to assist in the nursing care of the patient. Since when does cleaning large loads of poop on the floor (versus small and in a diaper or bed) fall under nursing care? Sorry, but that is a job for housekeeping; or groundskeeping if it falls outside. Also, why should you be responsible because the shower head isn't designed correctly? What you described was clearly a housekeeping responsibility and any institution that would say otherwise is not hiring you for your intended purpose. As a nurse, if the **** hits the fan, the floor, the walls, the outside of the toilet, the sides of the bed.... I call for housekeeping to clean it up, not the CNA. You did nothing wrong.

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Specializes in Hospice.
Oh, yeah, and the appropriate or professional term would be BM or feces, not poop or pooper.

I guess saying "poop" is better than "s__t". :lol2:

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Specializes in Geriatrics.
Oh, yeah, and the appropriate or professional term would be BM or feces, not poop or pooper.

I heard someone ask one of the resident's the other day if they went 'poopies'. Urgggggh. :banghead:

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Specializes in Hospice.
I heard someone ask one of the resident's the other day if they went 'poopies'. Urgggggh. :banghead:

:doh:I don't even talk to my 18 month old that way. Grrrr.:trout:

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I heard someone ask one of the resident's the other day if they went 'poopies'. Urgggggh. :banghead:

Well then, that person should have been reported. That is not only unprofessional but very disrespectful. I work with someone that used to call a resident "Betsey Wetsey". If I ever heard her say that, I would have dragged her out of the room & reamed her a new one!

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