News Flash Everybody Farts!

[hppygr8ful]

I have read a couple of posts lately where people are complaining about people farting breaking wind, passing gas etc...

What exactly is the big deal? The average person farts 14 to 20 times a day and if you say you don't fart you're either lying or you are an alien species.

Yes it can be gross and smell bad but it's like poop it just happens sometimes.

Hppy

[Farawyn]

Dead patient farts are scary. When you turn them for post mortem care and you hear the psssssssssh...

[OscarTheOwl]

I don't have a problem with farts, really - I am just the queen of being farted on. If I help you turn a patient, the patient will probably rip the biggest fart ever/have a huge blowout while I'm on the butt side. I mean everybody farts, but can't I change a pad JUST ONCE without being crop dusted or having something hanging halfway out the butt that requires disimpaction? I swear I have manually disimpacted patients more often than at least half of my coworkers put together. I even end up disimpacting patients that aren't my patients in the first place. And oh man, does the diarrhea flow...

Sometimes I even have to borrow scrubs from the OR. I mean really. Just ONCE, I would like to come out of a patient's room not smelling worse than when I went in.

It doesn't help that the longer the fart duration, the more likely I am to have tears running down my face from holding in the giggles, which make my arms weak and makes it difficult to hold the patient up. The last person I helped told me later, "I kept trying to say something, but I wanted to wait until it was over and the fart just kept coming."

So, moral of the story, if you want your patient to fart or have a bowel movement, just ask me to step into the room. If I come in there, it WILL happen.

My coworkers' farts are always less impressive than the patient farts, so I have no complaints about them.

You should work post op, they love farts.

[hppygr8ful, ASN, RN, EMT-I]

I never meant to say farting is socially acceptable unless you are a Llama or specific species of goat that communicate with the rest of the herd by farting (Really it's true). But some people like myself who have had extensive colorectal surgery and lived to tell about it can't always stop it from happening due to anatomical issues. I'm not proud of it but it is a part of who I am. When ever I know it's likely to happen I step outside or into the restroom but it is sometimes unavoidable. My dad who had colon cancer would rip off some really loud ones then look around with perfect innocence for "Barking Spiders".

Hppy

[calivianya, BSN, RN]

I never meant to say farting is socially acceptable unless you are a Llama or specific species of goat that communicate with the rest of the herd by farting (Really it's true). But some people like myself who have had extensive colorectal surgery and lived to tell about it can't always stop it from happening due to anatomical issues. I'm not proud of it but it is a part of who I am. When ever I know it's likely to happen I step outside or into the restroom but it is sometimes unavoidable. My dad who had colon cancer would rip off some really loud ones then look around with perfect innocence for "Barking Spiders".

Hppy

My dad was all about the barking squirrels. The barking spiders comment made me smile.

[BecomingNursey]

Psh. As they say...**** happens. [emoji23]

[Blondenurse83]

I never meant to say farting is socially acceptable unless you are a Llama or specific species of goat that communicate with the rest of the herd by farting (Really it's true). But some people like myself who have had extensive colorectal surgery and lived to tell about it can't always stop it from happening due to anatomical issues. I'm not proud of it but it is a part of who I am. When ever I know it's likely to happen I step outside or into the restroom but it is sometimes unavoidable. My dad who had colon cancer would rip off some really loud ones then look around with perfect innocence for "Barking Spiders".

Hppy

I love that you said barking spiders. My hubby calls his "barking tree spiders" and I never heard anyone else say that [emoji23][emoji23] love it!

[Davey Do]

Last year, when I was fairly new on my unit, I was called into my managers office to discuss a couple of "problems". One was legit (I left a bad of IV ABX clamped so patient didn't get them. I have not done that since). The other was my gas problem. My manager turned bright red when he addressed it. Apparently a day shift nurse complained that I had issues with gas.

I think AN.com had a cartoon about this...

[Farawyn]

I think AN.com had a cartoon about this...

I'm farting right now.

[Davey Do]

Good probiotics help, but doctors who know how to work with them are very few and very far between. Charcoal pads are good in terms of smell. Amazon sells underwear with them already inserted but it is freakin' expensive, so I ended with bying activated charcoal in a local healthy food store by a pound and making my own sachets.

I know of a couple of nurses who dealt with their problem in a similar way...

[Davey Do]

[ATTACH]20872[/ATTACH]

You never know where they'll end up!

[kbrn2002, ADN, RN]

This brings back fond memories of the men in my family going back to my great-grandfather saying "pull my finger" to whatever kid was around. I'm sure the tradition goes back even further and makes me wonder who the first cave man was that made a kid giggle with that fart inducing line.

[SmilingBluEyes]

NEWS FLASH!!!

You can fart in a place where everyone doesn't have to smell it!!! (like the bathroom or an unoccupied room)

It's called "decorum" and being considerate!!!