Trying to avoid undesirable CNA duties

Nursing Students CNA/MA

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Does anybody know of any CNA jobs where you don't have to wash the patients or or wipe butts? Also I'm a sophomore BSN student with an associates in engineering and 6 months volunteer work at a hospital and worked in plant engineering at another hospital. Might any of this helps with job oppertunities where I don't have to wipe or wash people?

There are 5 pages of remarks. I don't know if this has been said yet, but allow me. Please leave nursing school immediately and become anything else but a nurse. I don't believe you belong nor should you be in nursing. I certainly don't want you taking care of me or a loved one (not even a stranger!). Who knows how long or in how much of my own poop you'd leave me sitting in until you found someone else to do your job. Everything is an assessment. You assess skin when giving a bath. You assess skin and body excrements when you are cleaning someone's rear. How about interior decorating?

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I am not trying to be rude by any means, but if you have a problem with washing a patient you need to find a different line of work. There are so many people out there who would love to be in your position and would gladly bathe a patient and provide incontinence care. This is why there are so many bad nurses out there. As an RN, you are expected to care for that individual in every way. I was a CNA before I started nursing school and I got so MAD when a LPN or RN was "too good" to help me. If you don't care enough about people to do what is best for them, you do not need to be nor do you deserve to be a nurse.

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Speaking of dealing with undesirable nursing duties: I lived with and cared for my mom for 10 years, but the last 3 years were the hardest. As her only adult child, I took her to multiple specialists' appointments, picked up and administered her 20-something medications for CHF & endstage renal disease, thyroid problems, etc. She got sicker and sicker, and the last couple of years involved helping with baths, and cleaning up the bathroom floor and walls from nonstop GI problems. Also, I changed sheets and her clothes in the middle of the night, etc., and did not get much sleep. Mom died in the house in 2006 with my teenage son and I right by her side. Caring for her was the hardest thing I have EVER done. But as far as the helping patients with personal hygiene issues, now nothing shocks me!! I did it to help her, but oddly enough, that whole experience will help me with my nursing career, and I am very grateful. :redbeathe Mom, love you and think of you.

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I can't help but notice there hasn't been any kind of response from the OP.

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Part of nursing is taking care of the patient as a whole. Bathing or wiping butts as you describe it, is an essential component of nursing care. Whether the nurse performs the act of bathing or delegates to a CNA, it's the nurses ultimate responsibility to ensure that all hygiene needs are met. This is the perfect time for you to do your skin assessment. And gives an opportunity to meet the patient's psychosocial needs through assessment. You can also take this time to teach the patient basic hygiene needs.

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I emphatically agree with the other posts in this thread. If you feel that cleaning a patient's behind is too undesirable then you should absolutely change your career path. Perhaps you should consider a job in a lab where you will have limited exposure to people and "undesirable" duties.:uhoh3:

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I agree with several of the previous posters, "thar ain't no CNA jobs out there that don't require some butt wiping!" tee-hee. I am an experienced (35 years) critical care RN with a BSN, and have never had a job that didn't include at least occasional body fluids, usually more than less. If you don't wish to do that kind of thing, then plan to only work in an administrative position directly after receiving your MSN in nursing 'cuz a BSN won't make you immune. As for CNA positions, there are none on this particular planet that I know of that don't involve body fluids. Maybe plan to have a summer job in another field. Good luck, and perhaps you should be considering another field of employment, 'cuz some of my greatest reward in nursing has been having a patient feel and look a whole lot better due to a "shiney hinie".

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Hmmm....

Perhaps someone else has already suggested this and I missed it because I was laughing so hard-

You could continue your career, become an RN, and go into management. You will then have to KISS it, instead of wiping it.

I found ass kissing to be much more tiring and repellent than ass wiping- but each to her own :>

After 30 years of doing both, I am now self employed and doing neither of the above, but it never occurred to me that you could work in patient care and find bodily functions so repellent.

Maybe there are some new kind of sick people in Wyoming or Nova Scotia who don't need their personal hygiene taken care of- or maybe you could invent some sort of machine to wash and dry 'em, since you have an associates in engineering.... the possibilities are just endless:lol2:

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I am a pre nursing student and I currently work in the corporate world. I can understand your hesitation. Cleaning poop and vomit was/is one of my reservations. However I have asked other experienced nurses and some nursing students and they said that you get use to it. It becomes a non-event. I have not done it yet, but when the time comes I am going to think about what a good deed I am doing for this person. It is not as enjoyable as completing a spreadsheet at my current job, but it will bring a better reward afterward. Good luck. You are not lazy as suggested by the other posts. You have concerns and this is the perfect time to do a reality check.

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Jeez, I don't know why people can't just answer the question.

There are plenty of directions to go in nursing where you don't have to have that kind of patient contact... QA, education, many other avenues already mentioned.

Thinking about it being someone you love makes it easier, in the meantime. Good luck!

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Specializes in Float.
jeez, i don't know why people can't just answer the question.

there are plenty of directions to go in nursing where you don't have to have that kind of patient contact... qa, education, many other avenues already mentioned.

thinking about it being someone you love makes it easier, in the meantime. good luck!

because she came to a cna thread where our days consist of 'wiping butt & washing patients' asking how she can avoid it, making it seem like it was below her to do. very sore spot with us. :nono: she appeared shallow and condescending but, there were a couple of replies that "just answered the question" with no harsh words at all.

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Specializes in Medsurg/ICU, Mental Health, Home Health.
You answered the OP's question WITHOUT making a judgement call and making her feel bad. Bravo :yeah:

First of all, a lot of these posts aren't "judgmental." The OP clearly stated how he/she feels. If it was a question inquiring about how much "poop patrol" is necessary, or asking if he/she should be a nurse despite such reservations, that would be one thing. But the original query itself left little to the imagination and thus made judgment unnecessary.

Secondly, one person can't "make" another feel a certain way. If the OP "feels bad," he/she needs to take ownership of his/her feelings, not blame mean people or anything.

And to answer the question that began this thread...OP - perhaps you should skip going the CNA route. I've known plenty of nurses who never worked as a tech or aide and passed school and the NCLEX. I do know it makes clinicals more challenging, though.

As for me, I wouldn't mind going back to the days where I could wipe, turn, feed and then address problems with, "let me go get the nurse." :)

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