The "dirty" side of nursing...

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I'm a nursing student and as dumb as this may sound, does the gross side of nursing ever get easier to handle? Does dealing with poop and sputum start to gross you out less after a while? Do catheters and genital upkeep become less uncomfortable? These are the areas I'm kind of having a hard time stomaching right at the moment and its making me question my decision to enter nursing school.

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Specializes in Med Surg - Renal.
I'm a nursing student and as dumb as this may sound, does the gross side of nursing ever get easier to handle? Does dealing with poop and sputum start to gross you out less after a while? Do catheters and genital upkeep become less uncomfortable? These are the areas I'm kind of having a hard time stomaching right at the moment and its making me question my decision to enter nursing school.

Yes to all your questions - and then some. Wait until you do some wound care.

The process of getting used to these things goes much faster and better if you work as a CNA during school.

Good luck!

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Specializes in Acute Care Cardiac, Education, Prof Practice.

When your patient looks at you with utter appreciation that you are willing to take care of the things that they can not, you will no longer feel such a burden as you do now.

Now does that mean I don't gag when I suction someone...oh heck yeah I do, but I know it is for the best.

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Specializes in Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes.

Yes, but some things take longer than others to get used too. And you may find that some things you will never be 100% ok with

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Specializes in Cardiac ICU.

They do get easier to deal with but there is one thing that makes me gag 100% of the time and that is a nice sweaty hairy caked up with baby powder groin :no:

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I just wrapped up my 4th clinical day, and I have to say that all the things that I thought would really freak me out on the floor haven't felt anything but natural. I haven't been disgusted yet (a little freaked out by having to clean around a urinary cath, since they make me nervous!!!), and I'm on a trauma med-surg floor in a major urban teaching hospital. We literally see it all. It's absolutely fascinating and amazing! I love it!

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Specializes in PICU, ICU, Hospice, Mgmt, DON.

Believe it or not, it does get easier with time. Then all of a sudden you realize you are having lunch with your nurse friends and talking about the grossest things and absolutely nothing bothers you....you can eat and drink and not bat and eyelash:)

At work, I could pretty much handle anything except suctioning trach's.....that one still got to me...:uhoh3:

I think everyone has one special procedure that hits their "ick" button---but it's all part of the job and you never learn to like it...but you do learn to deal with it.

Really, you'll be fine, we have all felt that way.;)

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Specializes in Acute Care Cardiac, Education, Prof Practice.
They do get easier to deal with but there is one thing that makes me gag 100% of the time and that is a nice sweaty hairy caked up with baby powder groin :no:

This made me crack up!!

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Specializes in Psych.

I think the best thing is to put yourself in their shoes. As gross as it is to clean up someone after a BM...imagine how it is to be the person who cannot make it to the toilet anymore.

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Specializes in Gerontology.

Look - nursing is not the pretty, clean profession that you see on TV.

You will deal with a lot of really gross stuff. And just when you think you've seen it all, something will come along to totally make you feel iike losing your cookies.

What you learn is that you need to deal with this gross stuff to make your paitent feel better/get better. Yes - disimpacting someone is gross- but they feel so much better afterwards. And once you've done several, you will find it less gross..

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They do get easier to deal with but there is one thing that makes me gag 100% of the time and that is a nice sweaty hairy caked up with baby powder groin :no:

Ba ha ha ha ha, that is amusing!

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Look - nursing is not the pretty, clean profession that you see on TV.

You will deal with a lot of really gross stuff. And just when you think you've seen it all, something will come along to totally make you feel iike losing your cookies.

What you learn is that you need to deal with this gross stuff to make your paitent feel better/get better. Yes - disimpacting someone is gross- but they feel so much better afterwards. And once you've done several, you will find it less gross..

Oh I for surely know it isn't the glamorous job the show on TV. I work in a hospital now , so I didn't go into this blind expecting it to just be giving out meds to people ha ha. I just didn't think certain things would make me as uncomfortable as they have...:confused:

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