"Clean" areas of nursing? Need advice.

gwenith, BSN, RN · Sep 27, 2003

It is unavaoidable and if you still want to go ahead with nursing read the thread "Things that make you go EWwww!" https://allnurses.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=42109

This will either desensitise enough that you will continue or have you running the other direction!:chuckle

Whatever you decide to do enjoy life! There is no shame in becoming a radiology tech of course it is not anywhere near as good as being nurse:D

TaraER-RN · Sep 27, 2003

If it doesn't bother you with seeing these things in kids (the urine etc) then you could always go into pedi...otherwise, I think you're stuck with a bit of the gross

sharann, BSN, RN · Sep 27, 2003

You can take the BSN and never have to touch a bedpan after graduation by going staight into managment. There you can tell nurses (who deal with the urine, blood and guts) how to do their jobs.....and you will never get your clean hands dirty.

O.k. This was my first and very nasty reply. I really am not trying to insult you, but I am so frustrated with people with this attitude. If you TRULY want to be a nurse, be a patient advocate and utilize your critical thinking skills to enhance someones quality of life, then by all means go for a BSN. If, however, you are like the growing number of people who use nursing as a bridge to getting that degree you want(so you can put all those fancy letters behind your name), then why waste your time (and take a precious space in a BSN program from a nurse who truly will contribute to nursing)? YOu need to think about WHY you stated you "ultimately" want the PA or NP. These are 2 distinctly different fields. One follows the medical model(treat the disease) while the other is "holistic" or "wholistic" and treats the patient.

If it's just for the $$$ then please go for Rad Tech. We need nurses who will stay for the long haul.

Tweety, BSN, RN · Sep 27, 2003

You have a valid concern, and best to be open and honest about it. You will definately have to deal with it in nursing school as you do your clinicals. By then you might be used to it. At first, I just held my breath, looked away and dealt with it.

With a BSN, you might be able to go into an area like the Public Health Dept. where BSNs are required but there isn't that kind of thing. Or some kind of clinic or doctors office. Mind you the bigger bucks for new grads is not in these areas.

I was very squeamish at first, but got used to it real fast. As you suggest it not something nurses do "constantly". I think that's a myth of the public. I spend probably 99.9% of my time doing other things, but it is part of the job.

NICU_Nurse, BSN, RN · Sep 27, 2003

The only way I can think of that you might not have to deal with this is if you become a nurse educator- ie, diabetes educator or similar. You wouldn't be doing hands-on nursing care, just education and working with patients to get a plan going for their diagnosis; however, even with diabetic education, for example, you'd be showing them pictures of (or taking them to meet other patients with) diabetic lesions, amputations, etc. because this is a reality of that particular diagnosis.

You may be able to incorporate your nursing degree into something dietetic-related, but this would require additional Nutrition education.

You could work in Employee Health, where you generally would be giving hospital employees basic work-related healthcare (ie, shots/immunizations, cxr's, check-up's, etc.). No promise that someone won't vomit on you though.

Pediatric nurses get plen-T of the gross stuff, so I'm afraid you're out of luck there.

School nurses may see *less* of certain types of gross stuff, but you're sure to see lots of lice, diarrhea, and vomiting. You won't have to stick your hands into an abdominal wound or anything, but kids can be pretty "gross."

Hmm. I'm really stretching for something here. (tapping chin)

Basically, body fluids and secretions are a part of the job. I can't think of a single nursing job that you wouldn't have to deal with this in some way. This may be something you get over- lots of people do. In nursing school, I thought that cleaning up a bed full of diarrhea was the grossest thing I'd ever done, and swore that I'd find a job that didn't include that, and here I am, two years later, cleaning up poop and vomit ON THE HOUR all day long. It doesn't bother me in the least. Blood, pus, urine, vomit, diarrhea, huge sticky mucous plugs...I now relish the slurp they make when I suction my patients. (shivering with delight)

That may be just me. (looking sheepish) However, I'm pretty sure, judging by this board, that I'm far from alone.

I don't know much about being a PA, but I can tell you that NP's do basically everything that we do (the good ones do, anyway), so that's not going to be an escape for you.

What about doing something anesthesia related? If you were a PA to an anesthesiologist (do they even have those? As I said, I don't know much about PA's), you would have limited responsibility (I would assume) for most of those body fluids, though I suppose you'd have to stomach blood and open incisions and such in the OR.

Ultimately, there ARE lots of areas you can go in the field of nursing, but most of them include bodily secretions of SOME sort. Don't fret, though! You haven't begun yet- there's still plenty of time to change your mind. There are a million other jobs that still enable you to help people and be compassionate that have little to nothing to do with nursing. Have you considered Physical Therapy or Occupational Therapy? These are immensely rewarding (per my OT/PT friends) and though you work with nurses often, you aren't actually nursing. Social workers, dieticians/nutritionists, counselors, advocates, educators, case management- the options are virtually endless. You have to think outside the box. You'll come up with something!

CougRN · Sep 27, 2003

Wow you got burned for asking this question huh. I'm sorry about that, people can be really cranky.

PA's do follow a medical model but they do treat patients. There are great PA's and great NP's, so both are great fields to look at. There are also plenty areas of nursing that don't require bedside care.

For instance, outpatient eye surgery nursing. Use your degree to be a drug rep. But if you ultimately want to be an NP you need bedside skills and clinical skills. You don't need the be an RN to get into PA school either. Check out the requirements for both schools and make your decision from there.

Not everyone is suited for bedside nursing care. A lot of it really stinks. But there are still plenty of things to do with your nursing degree besides bedside care.

Best of luck.

Tweety, BSN, RN · Sep 27, 2003

Originally posted by CougRN
Wow you got burned for asking this question huh. I'm sorry about that, people can be really cranky.

PA's do follow a medical model but they do treat patients. There are great PA's and great NP's, so both are great fields to look at. There are also plenty areas of nursing that don't require bedside care.

For instance, outpatient eye surgery nursing. Use your degree to be a drug rep. But if you ultimately want to be an NP you need bedside skills and clinical skills. You don't need the be an RN to get into PA school either. Check out the requirements for both schools and make your decision from there.

Not everyone is suited for bedside nursing care. A lot of it really stinks. But there are still plenty of things to do with your nursing degree besides bedside care.

Best of luck.

????? I don't see where he got burned. He asked a question and got an honest answers.

Sure not everybody is suited for bedside care. But it is going to be difficult to get through clinicals without bodily fluids. Plus a lot of those jobs are difficult to get fresh out of nursing school, most non-bedside nursing jobs require some experience of some sort first.

I think the best advice he's gotten is "get used to it", not that he has to deal with it forever, but it's there. How is that burning him? I'm confused.

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Sep 27, 2003

I fail to see the burn part, myself.

Personally if i were weak-stomached, and didn't tolerate handling/dealing with body fluids, i would reconsider my career decision.

santhony44, MSN, RN, NP · Sep 27, 2003

Bodily fluids, etc. can be tough to deal with. However, you do develop some tolerance for those things. The only nursing job I've ever had where I did not deal with them directly was in telephone triage. Since it was pediatrics, though, we spent a great deal of time talking to parents about those things. Even as an NP, you deal with the human body and its by-products. I personally would surely hate to see an NP who ran out of the room every time something unpleasant occurred, or left the nasty stuff for the office nurse to deal with. Of course I'm a bit "old school" in that respect. But consider: how do you think it makes a patient feel when someone taking care of them reacts negatively to something they can't help? Believe me, people are for the most part humiliated when they throw up in front of someone, lose control of their bowels, etc. To me, it's essential to maintain their dignity by not expressing discomfort or disgust in those situations. More than once I've gone to dump a bedpan, gagged quietly, wiped my eyes and face and put back on a smile before going back to the bedside. Not for the world would I let the patient know that it had bothered me.

CougRN · Sep 27, 2003

Actually the areas of nursing I referred him/her to don't require any bedside nursing experience. That's why I brought them up.

As for the burn part I was referring to the reply from sharann. But maybe it wasn't as abrupt as I first start. Don't be so sensitive.

I'm just expressing my opinion to the original poster.

angelbear · Sep 27, 2003

My son was very hesitant to take a job as an aid where I work. He thought it would all be way to gross for him. Mainly it was the fear of unkown that got him. Once he started he adjusted quickly and decided to go for becoming a nurse. It didnt bother him near as much as he thougth it would. I myself had a thing about being around dead bodies or so I thought. Worked for two yrs in LTC where I had to deal with postmortum care on a fairly regular basis. I found that I actually began to enjoy providing postmortum care I feel it is the last really nice thing I can do for someone. What I am saying is you never know what you can overcome until you try. JMHO