Not a poop or pee nurse?!?

[thumperRN]

Okay, just have to vent a little here. I was working the other day at a fairly new job (which I like a lot), and I was working with another nurse that I haven't shared very many shifts with. She is probably in her lower to mid 40's and has been an RN for about 1 year. She has always been nice in all the times that I have talked to her which really have been limited as we generally work opposite days of eachother. Anyways, one of my pt's had been incont of urine and BM and needed to be cleaned up, so since she was sitting at the nurse's station, I asked her if she would come help me. When I told her what I needed help with, she informed me that she didn't go to school to be a poop or pee nurse!!!!! HEELLLOOOO???? I am an RN too and if someone is laying in a pile of poo, I'll be changing them!! I couldn't believe she said that!! Evidently, this isn't the only time. One of the LPN's on my shift said she told her the same thing. I am so disgusted because this isn't the impression that I originally had of her. What the he** is wrong with some people!!!!?? I'm not chalking this one up as "she was just having a bad day" - I think this is actually her opinion. Please tell me this is not the attitude they're teaching in nursing school - I know it was not what I was taught. :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire

[Jules A, MSN]

I imagine her superiors might like to know that is her attitude. It kills me, just like a nurse walking the hall to find a CNA because so-and-so needs a bed pan. That is just lazy.

[doublej]

Yes, elimination products are all a part of nursing. I was trained to be a bedside nurse and that involved all aspects of patient care. As one other nurse said, one day I could be the one that would be lying in the bed in the same condition. Pity the nurse who thinks she is above the care of a patient who no doubt did not choose to be incontinent!

[Elisheva]

Every nurse is a poop and pee nurse. Goes with the territory.

I'm sorry, but I would have had so much fun with her. I would have gotten out a pad and pencil and asked her to clarify her other nursing criteria for the me and her other co-workers:

Do you do lady partsl discharge? NO? Okay, check.

How about emesis? Less than 30 mls? Yes. Greater? That's a no.

Will you wipe sweat from a forehead? Yes!

Thanks for clearing that up.

[meownsmile, BSN, RN]

LOL,, elisheva i bet your a hoot to work with.

[anne74]

I started out being deathly afraid of poop. When I was a CNA in nursing school, I was nervous before every shift, wondering how I was going to handle poop that day. The smell makes me gag and my eyes instantly start watering, and I'm so afraid that the patient will see this and I'll embarrass them or make them feel worse than they already do.

But, one day I seriously had to clean about 12 diarrhea diapers, plus, when I was helping a 90-yr-old woman to the bedside commode she let go mid-transfer and it streaked all down my scrubs. I was mortified! But, at the end of the day I realized I had survived!

I can handle sputum, blood, pee, etc, but even today I have problems with poop. I still gag and have the watery eyes, but I find ways to hide it from the patient. I have to deal with poop - I don't have a choice - it's part of my job!

This woman needs to be talked to by management - she's not fulfilling her job responsibilities, whether she likes it or not. If I could find a way to deal with it, she can!

And by the way - what is she going to do years from now, when she's incontinent and needs someone to clean her? I hope a well-educated nurse tells her, "Sorry - you'll just have to lay in that. I didn't go to school to clean poop."

[CHATSDALE]

i believe that the oncoming nurse should question pt/fly to see if they really did refuse a bath that day. chart if they are left incontinent at the end of a shift

to have a pt neglected all shift is a neglect by all who know what is going on not just the lazy nurse

[MarySunshine]

I would tell my manager asap. And I'm not the "tattle-tale" type, but that's just too much. I'd rather work short staffed than have a nurse like that on my team.

[km5v6r, EdD, RN]

This type of statement needs to be documented to the manager in writing. This is totally unacceptable. Not only is she not a team member but what if it had been her pt laying there? Would she have just left it for the next shift to deal with? A problem with this type of situation is no one wants to actually report it to the manager and if they do report it they don't do it in writing. Without written documentation nothing will change.

A few years ago I went to do the bedside dialysis treatment of a pt who was also incontient of stool. The CNA (a nursing student) was surprised I was willing to help clean the pt. She told me she had order special creams because the man's rectal area was excoriated with the frequent stooling. I took one look and started calling docs. The rectal area wasn't excoriated from stooling it was a hugh peri-rectal abcess. The CNA's had been the only ones to do the peri cares on this pt and didn't have enough experience to recognize what was going on. About 2 weeks later I ran into a former co-worker who said something about "you don't have to deal with poop and pee any more" I just started laughing at him.

[MedSurgeMess]

I'm thinking that one of these days she will probably run into the situation where she is the pt with the continence problem. I wonder what she would think if she had a nurse just like herself assigned to her? It would be fittin'

[dreamingofbeing]

I have worked with both types of nurses as an aide. I honestly believe it is all of our jobs to deal with pee/poop. I had the nurse that would search 5 minutes for me to tell me that the patient in room such and such needed help to the commode. Mind you I was always assisting other patients and by the time I would get to the room the patient had already soiled the bed or worse yet an unsafe patient got up to it alone. I also had the exceptional nurses who would not hesitate to clean a patient or assist a patient to the bathroom or commode. Caring and compassion are vital parts of our jobs in this field and we should never forget that.

[sister--*]

I do believe this nurse has a twin sister. While I was in a pt. room waiting for assistance to transfer this pt. to the bedside commode the shift charge nurse walked in to introduce herself to the pt.

I asked if she would help me transfer this pt. to which she replied, "I don't believe it's in my Charge Nurse job description." She then turned and walked out.

Huh?

[mom2michael, MSN, RN, NP]

I've worked with twin of this nurse. Had an RN spent 10 mins looking for me (I was cleaning up a C-Diff patient) to tell me that the patient in XXX needed a bedpan. I asked her nicely to please help XXX as I was busy at the moment. She said that was not in her job description and "she didn't do bedpans, that's why she was an RN". My 90 year old patient I was cleaning up said - glad you aren't my nurse, you are a b@tch. I also quit that job shortly thereafter because that was the attitude of most of the RN's there.......