Poop Free Nursing Jobs in the Hospital?

Nurses General Nursing

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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! :)

Thanks :)

The search for my first nursing job was rather traumatizing and I do not say that to be melodramatic. Getting my masters was a second chance for which I'm grateful

Posting these comments is my way of letting go, I guess. Take that, nursing world!

Venting can be therapeutic. ;)

It's cool.

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I disagree with the suggestion that Peds is a good area for someone who doesn't want to deal with poop. Total care kids tend to never leave pediatrics (have taken care of adults older than me in a pediatric hospital) and, when you get them, you're not only cleaning poop but you're dealing with a whole big mess of poop, period blood and pubic hair. Not to mention many of these patients have chronic constipation so you spend a lot of time TRYING to get them to poop and then when they finally do, it's an explosion. Baby poop may be benign and there may be parents at the bedside who will change them... but then again, there may not be.

Dualy noted :poop:

I'm just excited to use the poo emotion. Not very often you can bring that bad boy out.

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I heard putting Vicks vapor rub under your nose will help with the smell!!

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OMG! Why would you want to? Poop is glorious! The looser and blacker and tarrier the better!

Bwahahahaha!!! I like the kind of poopie where the more you wipe, the more you get. And while I don't see it often, the sandy kind that leaves a fall-out like mexican jumping beans is ALways a real treat.

BTW, am I the only person wondering how the OP handles her own poopies?!?!?

bwahahaha!!!

"poop is glorious"

LOVE IT!!!!!!!!

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Specializes in Med-Surg, NICU.
I knew when I posted this that there would be that ONE person who offers nothing constructive, but takes out her own frustrations on me. What was the point in your post? Do you really think I'm just going to take my four years of nursing education and throw it away? As a mature adult, I am doing the responsible thing here, which is trying to seek advice on how to find another way to practice nursing that is more tolerable to me. Don't be a sourpuss.

Think back: what did you want to accomplish when you posted your comment? Make me feel bad? Make yourself feel better about something? Don't be that kind of person.

To everyone else - thank you for the suggestions! I will try to look into some of them.

Okay....that really didn't answer my question. I wasn't trying to be offensive, but I don't understand why someone would want to go into the nursing profession knowing that they can't stand bodily fluids, poop, etc. It is part of the profession and if you don't want to put your big girl panties on and deal with the negative, then I don't know what else to tell you. Even NPs have to deal with feces.

As for your little rant about me being frustrated or trying to make myself "feel better"...HA. Right. I clean up poop all the time...I don't like it one bit, but I don't whine about it. I put my big girl panties on and get...it...done. That is part of life and being a mature adult. You don't run away from things just because you don't like it, you just push through and get on with the show. If you think NPs don't deal with poop and other icky things, then you will be sourly disappointed.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, NICU.
My previous career, law enforcement, wasn't completely devoid of bodily fluids so I was well aware of my issues regarding smell/feces going into the nursing profession.

Despite my nose troubles I'm really good at my job. I got through clinicals just fine. There are so many differents job opportunities in the nursing professions, not every single nurse will be cut out for every single specialty. I think the key is to know your own strengths and weaknesses and choose your area of practice accordingly.

I don't see why I, OP or anyone else should have to find another profession.

The difference between you and the OP is that you aren't running away because of a little doo-doo and had realistic expectations of the field of nursing going in. I respect that.

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.

PRincess Bride, I think you're being kind of harsh.

The beauty of being an RN is that there are SO many different employment options. If you don't like poo, there are plenty of opportunities for working in areas where you don't have to deal with it.

I think it's great that she knows what she does NOT want or can't handle. The field of nursing is wide and vast, there is room for her in the non-poop areas of nursing.

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Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
Find a hospital with a cancer center attached and work in the infusion room. It's usually outpatient. Your patients will come in with clothes on, can walk to the bathroom by themselves, and leave in a few hours or less - you just give them chemo and assess while it's running, and that's all. However, to work in the infusion room where I work you need at least a year of experience on the regular oncology floor, so you have to go through poop to get there.

LOL...I hate to burst your bubble, but we got people wheeled in on gurneys from LTC who had adult diapers, and yes, these patients were coming in for chemo too. We had more than our share of incontinent patients. We had quite a few patients with colostomies, and sometimes there were "accidents" with them. While it wasn't something that we had to deal with on a daily basis, it was something we had to be prepared to deal with on a daily basis.

Even if you're in administration, you can't get away from poo. After all, that's where all the BS comes from.

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PRincess Bride, I think you're being kind of harsh.

The beauty of being an RN is that there are SO many different employment options. If you don't like poo, there are plenty of opportunities for working in areas where you don't have to deal with it.

I think it's great that she knows what she does NOT want or can't handle. The field of nursing is wide and vast, there is room for her in the non-poop areas of nursing.

I totally agree. See my post. I haven't dealt with it in years. *shrugs shoulders*

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

OP (if you're still around):

I suppose you could try psych. Most of our patients are "walkie-talkies"...or at least "walkies"...so there's very little patient bathing and ADLs. In fact, it's more therapeutic for us to encourage them to do their own ADLs than for us to do the job ourselves. So I rarely encounter poop.

HOWEVER--and that's capitalized on purpose--when I do encounter poop, it's often seen in new and creative ways. I can't tell you my most memorable ones without violating HIPAA. So yes, there is still some poop risk, but probably less than you'd find in most acute medical settings.

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Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
Okay....that really didn't answer my question. I wasn't trying to be offensive, but I don't understand why someone would want to go into the nursing profession knowing that they can't stand bodily fluids, poop, etc. It is part of the profession and if you don't want to put your big girl panties on and deal with the negative, then I don't know what else to tell you. Even NPs have to deal with feces.

As for your little rant about me being frustrated or trying to make myself "feel better"...HA. Right. I clean up poop all the time...I don't like it one bit, but I don't whine about it. I put my big girl panties on and get...it...done. That is part of life and being a mature adult. You don't run away from things just because you don't like it, you just push through and get on with the show. If you think NPs don't deal with poop and other icky things, then you will be sourly disappointed.

Bully for you, but it's not about you.

Again, there is nothing in your post that helps the OP. Can you give her some suggestions to answer her original post, minus the snide comments?

There will come the day that you may post asking for help regarding a situation that perhaps many of us would think should be part and parcel of the job. You're going to want people here to give you positive, helpful feedback, not "Put your big girl pants on," "Why did you go into nursing?"

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Specializes in Med-Surg, NICU.
Bully for you, but it's not about you.

Again, there is nothing in your post that helps the OP. Can you give her some suggestions to answer her original post, minus the snide comments?

There will come the day that you may post asking for help regarding a situation that perhaps many of us would think should be part and parcel of the job. You're going to want people here to give you positive, helpful feedback, not "Put your big girl pants on," "Why did you go into nursing?"

Oh, I've gotten plenty of snide comments when I needed helpful advice. You just put on thick skin and deal with it. None of what I'm saying is harsh. Even if she does go on to be an NP, there may be things that she doesn't like. Are you just going to encourage her to runaway again?

My point is there is no "perfect" job. There are going to be things one doesn't like to do. You just deal with it or you will forever spend the rest of your life job hopping. THAT is my helpful advise.

Anyway, I'm done with this thread. I know how people can get here, misconstruing tones, words and all...so I'm gone. I was asking a relevant question...sorry people got offended.

Peace out.

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