"Don't you find this degrading?"

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I had a well-spoken, educated woman as my patient. She had this pretentious vibe to her, but I found her to be polite. That is, until I explained that cath care needed to be done and the rationale behind having to do it.As I'm performing the cath care, she said, "Don't you find this degrading? I would never do this!" I was offended, of course. It's not like I'm a stripper or something, I'm taking care of people here. How can that truly be degrading to me? And I think I was mostly annoyed, too, because I offered to give her what she needed to do the cath care herself, but she declined. If you're not happy about someone else washing you, you'd do whatever to ensure you could to wash yourself, right? In this instance, I said, "Well, Im used to doing this sort of thing. It's important that you don't get a UTI" because I didn't know what else to say. If/when someone has said something similar to you, what did you say to them? And... What did you REALLY want to say instead? :)

Specializes in L & D; Postpartum.

The Commuter: And I clicked on yours and see that you have "only" 18,930 posts! Well, NOW after more clicking and clicking and clicking I see the little box come up. Still I loved it that there was no clicking needed. There seems to be no normal and consistent anything:)

Specializes in EMT, ER, Homehealth, OR.

She just could be a person who thinks washing dishes is also degrading.

EXACTLY! I feel like your statement describes the entire situation in a nutshell! I think some people who replied missed a key point that I guess I should have elaborated on: she was perfectly capable of doing it herself (to clarify, she was definitely able to reach), but she wanted me to do it instead. I provided education, stating explicitly what exactly needed to be done. I acknowledged that she might feel uncomfortable if someone else did it, and that she might feel better about it if she did it herself. I had just witnessed her washing her face, applying La Mer cream, and then some makeup. I figured if she was able-bodied enough to do that, then she would probably prefer to do it herself. I always offer set-up assistance for my neuro intact patients who are reasonably independent, because I think it would be odd to not offer it. I figured that she probably wouldn't have wanted that I touch her in such a private area (she definitely didn't want me touching her expensive face cream), and I offered to bring her the supplies so she could do it herself, with plenty of explicit instruction and support. "No, you can just do it." I'm not going to be jerk and say no (and I don't want anyone to get a CAUTI on my watch!), so I did it for her.I've had countless patients apologize to me about having to do things of a sensitive nature for them, but a huge majority of them were too sick, too painful, couldn't reach, or otherwise incapable of doing it on their own. It's no problem to help someone like that. That's why I do this job. However, this time around, I found myself offended because the patient was able to do it herself, but basically insisted that I do it for her. Then, right in the middle of it, say, "Don't you find doing this degrading?" I wanted to say, "Well... only when I have to do this for people who could do it for themselves but prefer to have "the help" do it instead!" :/
Don't assume that she could do her care herself. When I was in preterm labor, hospitalized long term with a foley, the nurse offered me a washcloth to do my peri care, and I refused. First of all, you can't actually see what you're doing unless you have a strategically placed mirror. Secondly, even though I knew the basics of how the foley worked, it was still uncomfortable, and I was terrified of accidentally dislodging it. Thirdly, i had not idea "how" to do it...was i supposed to avoid touching the tube? How was i supposed to clean my bits and pieces without the tube getting in the way when i couldnt see what i was doing? Was i supposed to use one hand to hold the tube out of the way and clean with the other? The general public (even educated, well spoken ones) don't know the ins and outs of even the most basic of procedures. I called the nurse s to help me reposition, because I was told "no activity without assistance". I wanted to do everything right...I was terrified I would do something wrong and cause my baby to come too early. For three days I called the nurses for EVERYTHING. I could tell they were getting frustrated with me and I couldn't understand why, because I was trying to do everything to be the perfect pt. I think we forget what it's like to be so helpless, scared, and to not know anything at all about the routines of hospitals.

I have gotten plenty of comments with similar vibes from patients and friends etc. i don't really care. The times i find it degrading are when they can do it themselves and don't. Maybe she was indeed capable of doing it herself and got some cheap thrill from having you do it. who knows. But many people get shocked/grossed out at what nurses do if they are not in healthcare and view it as a less than desirable job.

Specializes in Hospice, HIV/STD, Neuro ICU, ER.
Specializes in ICU, ED, Trauma, Transplant.
shhhh - Check out this related thread. It's fantastic!!!

https://allnurses.com/nurse-colleague-patient/things-youd-love-267763-page241.html

Wonderful! Thank you!

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