Poop Free Nursing Jobs in the Hospital?

[IcySageNurse]

Okay, before anyone starts the insane spamming, please READ THE POST. This is not meant to demean or attack any nurses. I am an RN and I love nursing - and I respect everything that nurses do. I know that some people are also better at some things than others. This is meant to be a very respectful post simply asking for some help and advice, so please do not start attacking and saying that I don't "understand" what nursing is. Thank you in advance! :)

Here's the issue: I started a job right out of nursing school with a hospital. I stayed for a few months, but I literally used to want to cry every day that I went. I wasn't overwhelmed by the responsibility or the new things I needed to learn (I actually enjoyed that)...it was the "cleaning" part of our job description. I know it's part of nursing, and I certainly cleaned my patients quickly and extremely well, but not without gagging. I can't help it. I truly find it very disgusting cleaning someones watery feces off of their back, butt, and bed. Everytime I smelled that horrible smell I became sick to my stomach knowing what I was about to have to do. It controlled my life and I was so unhappy I quit.

Fast forward: I work in a primary care office. I love it! No poop, normal hours, etc. I also have developed a passion for family practice, and with so many physicians choosing to specialize instead of work in FP, I see how important NPs will be as more and more Americans are insured under current laws. I want to help fill that void. I could easily go to NP school now, but I feel NPs were developed to expand on their current clinical experience. While I love my job, I honestly don't learn much about medicine, it's mainly vitals and scheduling, etc. I feel to truly become a competent NP and provide high quality care to my patients, I need to work in a hospital environment for a few years so that I can manage my own patients and learn about their conditions and treatments. This of course is an issue considering my previous experience with this...so what can I do??

Any advice? I really need some help here, not 3-4 pages of insults about how I should just learn to love cleaning up poop. I will never love it, and I don't have to love it to be a good nurse. I do respect all of you that do, however, and I'm sure your patients do too! :)

[nursel56]

My Family Doctor ( who was a personal friend) would literally shudder at the sight of mucus coming from my toddler's nose. So, according to some of you, his aversion to snot means he shouldn't have gone inttho family practice. He was a fantastic doctor, one with 25+ years of service to the community just in private practice alone.

The argument isn't over whether or not being bothered by something equals you shouldn't do that. We have entire threads with hundreds of replies with names like "what grosses you out the most?" detailing such things. What we're talking about is being bothered by something and doing it anyway. Just as a mother can be bothered by a child who whines or cries and still love them and be a worthy parent.

That's part of the reason people get so upset about this -- it's because they often don't see their personal aversion to be much different than anyone else. They just choose a different path of behavior.

Yes, to the OP's situation - sometimes it is a true aversion. The OP here stated that the poop issue was controlling her life, but she also wants a job in a hospital to educate herself in preparation to be an NP, so whether she specializes in derm or not she still has to face the issue prior to starting a program. Although I would recommend that she research the topic of direct-entry programs and how useful NP students feel prior staff nursing experience really is.

Vespertinas I got the crying child thing but the divorce/apartment thing - I'm lost . . . . .

[Caffeine_IV]

Just go to NP school and forget looking for a poop free job. Crap is just about everywhere for those with minimal experience. Sometimes you have to spend time in the trenches to get the ideal job and others not.

None of us like or enjoy cleaning poop. We just deal with it and move on to the next thing.

[CrunchRN, ADN, RN]

OP - I have worked in clinic nursing and research for 20 years and never once had to deal with poop.

I could if I had to for the persons comfort, but really it is a non-issue in these areas of nursing for the most part.

The only Chit I have had to deal with came from employers, co-workers and patients, but it wasn't the kind you are talking about.

[emmy27]

I hope you don't take this suggestion the wrong way, because it's meant purely in the spirit of meaning to help. The way you describe your aversion seems to go beyond what many people feel; it almost sounds like a phobia. If it was that bad that you were getting your fellow classmates to help you and choosing clinical experiences where you thought you wouldn't be exposed to feces...that's a lot, you must admit.

So if you find that your aversion to feces is getting in the way of your professional goals, perhaps you should think about some short-term counseling, not so that you get to love poo, but so that you don't let that derail what you want to do. If it sounds stupid to go for counseling for that, well, I worked in psych for four years, so you'd be surprised what people want to talk about in therapy.

Just don't let it limit you.

This. I was surprised to have gotten so far in the thread before seeing this suggestion.

I have a lot of sympathy for the OP; poop doesn't bother me but phlegm and the smell of flaky/greasy skin conditions really do. Even after years of bedside experience, I gagged yesterday walking in to a room with a patient who had cellulitis from scratching open his plaque psoriasis, and had been wearing the same pants on top of the wounds for days. And a nasty smoker's cough. I had to step out of the room and borrow some scented lotion to put under my nose before I could assess him.

But the crying/feeling dirty/unable to eat/quitting a job reaction sounds well beyond what most of us have to our pet peeve bodily fluids, and it's a shame that it seems to be limiting an otherwise bright future. Even if you go straight to NP school, OP, you are likely at least occasionally encounter poop-related grossness (even if you work in an outpatient clinic-you'd be amazed at how many of our ER patients are referred straight from their PCP, and come from home environments where their hygiene is poorly cared for, or have a full diaper after sitting in the waiting room. Or are actually there with GI complaints. And as the population ages, this is likely to become worse.).

Rather than living a life carefully constrained to avoid encountering these common things, and/or being traumatized by them when they occur, why not address the root of the problem? You don't have to learn to "like" poop and you don't have to sign up for a job where cleaning it is an every day occurrence, but a good therapist could help you address the phobic reaction to poop so that avoiding it is no longer the driving force of your career or your life. CBT or another form of therapy can really help with severe phobias. You don't have to learn to love it but you can learn to be free from this extreme horror of it.

[Racer15, BSN, RN]

I work in the ED. I don't deal with poop everyday but when I do....WOOO BUDDY! GI bleeds are ROUGH. It may not be a bad fit for you, if you're biggest upset is having to deal with poop all day, every day. It's not a daily occurance for me to have to clean booties, just depends on what area I'm working in and what kinds of patients roll through the door.

[whitsinn]

The argument isn't over whether or not being bothered by something equals you shouldn't do that.

That doesn't seem to be the sentiment of some of the other posters. Some have gone as far as said she should find another line of work. My point was her aversion didn't mean she couldn't be a productive, skilled, or competent nurse.

[BSNbeauty, BSN, RN]

Speaking of poop, I do enjoy working in PP where the only poop I have to clean is a babies. There poops are almost odorless.

[nursel56]

That doesn't seem to be the sentiment of some of the other posters. Some have gone as far as said she should find another line of work. My point was her aversion didn't mean she couldn't be a productive, skilled, or competent nurse.

I think she's probably already a skilled and competent nurse - she was able to compensate for the inevitable nursing school poop by teaming with others to get the task done. I don't think one can get through clinicals in nursing without encountering poop.

There are a very few who said that she should find another line of work if she doesn't want to deal with poop, which I interpret as the reverse of the "poop is inevitable in nursing" comments, and one who shared their view of the spiritual significance of doing these things for her patients.

This is just one of those topics that invigorates one of the central arguments we have here, namely the nurse as someone with a spiritual mission or calling and the nurse who rocks at the job of nursing but does not view it as a calling. Whenever the talk is of poop that issue usually seeps into the discussion.

If you take out the side arguments the vast majority of the replies are the kind of information she asked for with the addition of some suggestions that she skip the few years of working as a nurse altogether and tips and tricks to help her cope if she cannot totally avoid the poop in her chosen path to becoming an NP.

[IcySageNurse]

I think it's sad that some nurses think I feel I'm "better" than them because I don't enjoy cleaning poop. As if I need to "learn my place" and I am resented for not feeling cleaning poop is part of my calling in life. All of you naysayers need to grow up. You don't bother me.

I could understand the outrage if I was in a job requiring me to clean poop and saying I refuse to do it. But I'm simply saying that I want to find a job that doesn't require poop cleaning because I know that it makes me uncomfortable - I'm not CURRENTLY in such a position.

[chrisrn24]

I think it's sad that some nurses think I feel I'm "better" than them because I don't enjoy cleaning poop. As if I need to "learn my place" and I am resented for not feeling cleaning poop is part of my calling in life. All of you naysayers need to grow up. You don't bother me.

I could understand the outrage if I was in a job requiring me to clean poop and saying I refuse to do it. But I'm simply saying that I want to find a job that doesn't require poop cleaning because I know that it makes me uncomfortable - I'm not CURRENTLY in such a position.

To be clear it does seem that you have a phobia of poop, from the things you said. I don't like poop. Who likes poop? But you deal with it and move on. The way you describe it sounds like a phobia. Avoiding certain jobs because of it?

[jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B]

Phobias: Causes and Treatment in AllPsych Journal

Here's a helpful link. To not like cleaning up poop is something that perhaps we all share. The physical reaction, it happens, but lessens over time for a number of people.

However, OP, your extreme reactions to the point that you would like to avoid it all together is the part that is a disconnect.

Maybe as an NP you won't ever have to deal with incontinence. But that your aversion is such that you fear you may have to is an issue that only you can explore.

There may come a time that your empathy over rules your aversion, that you need to figure out how to cope. I get that you are defensive, however, you should have a "plan B"--meaning always carrying altoids, wearing PPE when you need to clean a patient, and some professional help for some "mind over matter" training if you are unable to cope on your own should you ever encounter your aversion.

The issue that is "striking chords" is that you give good care, that you are gagging and having a physical reaction ( is a norm for some people but DOES lessen over time and exposure) that now seemingly is so scary to you that you would prefer never to do it again. And unfortunetely in health care "poop happens". So don't ever think that you can "never" cope.

Being a bedside NP in a hospital setting, there's a team approach. And any professional who can gladly assist when a fellow team member is struggling garners a great deal of respect.

[AtomicWoman]

OP, I hope you got a chance to read my original post. It's buried somewhere back on p. 10 or 11 of this thread. I want to reiterate that you already are where you need to be to get the kind of knowledge that will help you be a primary care NP. I honestly don't think getting another/different hospital job will be as helpful to your future career as "learning the ropes" and keeping your eyes and ears open at the family practice where you currently work. I am sorry to see some people have felt the need to attack you for your post, and to simply *not be helpful* to another nurse.

As a primary care NP (I do adult and geriatric), I almost never encounter poop. Yes, I do rectal exams and hopefully, that would not be a problem for you. I have had exactly *one* patient have a bowel accident and she was a very elderly lady who had just gotten out of the hospital after a stoke. The other NPs I work with were kind of rolling their eyes (and glad she was not their patient) because to encounter even *that* is highly unusual in a primary care office. This is not to say that I don't encounter gross things. I was examining a patient with a large boil the other day and the darn thing spontaneously broke open when I palpated it. (Thank heavens for gloves!) I won't go into the details of what happened next! I thought, "cool!", but I am sure plenty of people on this board would have gagged.

If you want to be a primary care NP, go for it. Learn everything you possibly can at your current job. Bring your passion for primary care to work every day. Feel free to PM me if there is any question I can answer for you about being a primary care NP. Best of luck.