This is not my job?!?

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I am a student and my pt couldn't make it to the bathroom. Poop all over the floor. I went out in the hall and told a housekeeper staff member what had happened and asked her to clean it very politely. I also suggested a mop would be useful (wet poop). She caught the biggest attitude and asked me why I couldn't do it. I said if I had the cleaning materials I'd have no problem. Then her friend (male) told her to calm down, which made her even more enraged. Long story short, it took her 4.5 hrs to finally clean it up.

First of all, that really isn't an rn's job, or should I say priority. Second of all, that is why she gets paid, or a tech's job? How should I have handled this?:confused::confused::confused:

Specializes in A myriad of specialties.

I'm in agreement with some of the other posters here: you should've cleaned up the mess....just as you should take the extra time to set a pt on a bedpan or commode if you're close by!

YES, I KNOW there is a reason for housekeeping and nursing aides---but in nursing, you HAVE to wear many hats. Refusing to pitch in and help with, or rather DO, these "menial tasks"(as some folks might call them) can brand you as "uncooperative" or "not a team member". You don't want that brand this early in your career.

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Specializes in NICU Level III.

I clean up more messes on the unit than I see housekeeping do. They really only empty the linen and trash bags (where those end up, I have no idea) and clean the isolation rooms when someone moves out of them and we need someone in them asap. Anything that I can do with what I have available to me, I do!

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What image of a person who waits half an hour for another person to clean up poop because it "isn't their job" am I supposed to have?

That they're patient?

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Specializes in LTC.

This should have been your job. I've always been taught to clean up the bulk of the mess and ask housekeeping to do a quick disinfection. Otherwise clean up the bulk of it and ask the housekeeper for a disinfective spray.

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Specializes in LTC, MDS Cordnator, Mental Health.
Seriously? There was stool on the pt's floor for 4 1/2 hours? Because neither of you would clean it up? How humiliating for the patient.

Had a similar situation about 2 weeks ago. Wiped up what I could with towels then cleaned the floor with the Virex wipes we stock. I informed the housekeeper so she could do any further cleaning as might be required by policy. Probably took me 5 minutes. Infection control is a priority and is EVERYONE'S job.

Infection control is a priority and is EVERYONE'S job!!!! Well said!!!

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Infection control is a priority and is EVERYONE'S job!!!! Well said!!!

Yeah, you point that out to the next therapist or doctor you see walking away from a mess. Or indeed housekeeper. See how far you get. You go girl.

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Specializes in Trauma ICU, Surgical ICU, Medical ICU.
Yeah, you point that out to the next therapist or doctor you see walking away from a mess. Or indeed housekeeper. See how far you get. You go girl.

You can control your own behavior, no one else's. At least you know you are a better person for caring about your patient where others are lacking in those concepts.

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

Where I work you would have been in VERY hot water if you had left poop for over four hours. Poop on the floor is not healthy so it would be our job if housekeeping did not do it. " It's not my job" is an attitude that would not fly.

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Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.
Could any of the "professional" nurses in this thread been a bit nicer to the OP, who is a student and not an employee of the facility she was at today?

Seriously?

Do you think one of you could have been just a bit less judgmental and a little bit nicer?

What does professional have to do with nice?

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Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.
I am a student and my pt couldn't make it to the bathroom. Poop all over the floor. I went out in the hall and told a housekeeper staff member what had happened and asked her to clean it very politely. I also suggested a mop would be useful (wet poop). She caught the biggest attitude and asked me why I couldn't do it. I said if I had the cleaning materials I'd have no problem. Then her friend (male) told her to calm down, which made her even more enraged. Long story short, it took her 4.5 hrs to finally clean it up.

First of all, that really isn't an rn's job, or should I say priority. Second of all, that is why she gets paid, or a tech's job? How should I have handled this?:confused::confused::confused:

Consider this a lesson learned. When I was in school a handful of students in my group felt that it was the CNA's job to clean up after them. They would shower their patients and leave soiled linen on the floor for the CNAs to pick up. The CNAs refused. At my hospital, if there is a large amount of blood or urine on the floor, we are expected to clean it and to ask housekeeping to mop afterwards but we never would leave it there for 4.5 hours. Next time, set an example for your fellow students and take the initiative and clean it up.

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Specializes in Rehab, Infection, LTC.

In my experience, housekeeping staff don't clean up BM or any other body fluids. Nursing cleans the mess off the floor then housekeeping can mop it. due to infection control practices, they cant mop up poo in one room then take the same mop to the next room. we do the initial cleanup and they finish it off with chemicals. it's a team approach.

to that poster that thinks all housekeeping should be fired? keep up with that attitude and someday someone might find you in a housekeeping closet with a mop handle up your...nose! one thing i learned to do as a CNA was to respect my housekeepers!

to the OP...one thing that would be helpful to learn is "it's not my job" should never ever be in your vocabulary. good luck to you.

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I am a student and my pt couldn't make it to the bathroom. Poop all over the floor. I went out in the hall and told a housekeeper staff member what had happened and asked her to clean it very politely. I also suggested a mop would be useful (wet poop). She caught the biggest attitude and asked me why I couldn't do it. I said if I had the cleaning materials I'd have no problem. Then her friend (male) told her to calm down, which made her even more enraged. Long story short, it took her 4.5 hrs to finally clean it up.

First of all, that really isn't an rn's job, or should I say priority. Second of all, that is why she gets paid, or a tech's job? How should I have handled this?:confused::confused::confused:

Cleaning poop is part of an RN's job so consider this a good learning experience for next time. Also, you never leave poop on a patient's floor for 4.5 hours. How unsanitary and embarassing for the patient. It's always a good idea to put yourself in the patient's shoes. How would you feel if your poop was left on the floor for hours and you had visitors coming into the room?! I bet you'd wish someone would clean it up.

You should have cleaned up as much of it as you could and then asked them to mop it up. If they didn't then you report them to your instructor or CN immediately to get the mess taken care of.

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