What exactly do some people think nursing is all about???

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Specializes in Telemetry.

I think if I hear one more person that I'm in a clinical group with complain about having to clean poop, give a bed bath or any other "lousy" task that we are told to do, I'm gonna lose it! I constantly hear some of them saying...I'm going to be an RN, not a CNA....why do I have to do this stuff??? I know I'm not an RN yet, but I've worked as a CNA for a few years and I have seen my fair share of RNs willing to get in and get there hands dirty. I know our main job isn't necessarily assisting with AM care, but it definitely shouldn't be looked at as a task that is beneath any of us. Don't get me wrong, it's not like cleaning poop or giving a bed bath is on my top ten list of favorite things to do, but good grief...it's just poop! DEAL WITH IT!!!!!!

Sorry for the vent...just had to get it out!!! (I feel better now...)

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I agree 100%. I worked as a CNA for a year in a wonderful hospital unit. There was a real atmosphere of teamwork. If we were short of CNAs, nurses pitched in and ambulated patients, gave baths, etc. They always helped out with turning patients and cleaning up BMs, no matter how busy they were. I think this attitude helped the entire unit function more efficiently. The CNAs felt like part of a team and worked as hard as necessary to keep the team running smoothly.

There will always be a time when a licensed professional needs to help his or her patient and unlicensed coworkers by "getting their hands dirty." Many units (at least in some hospitals) don't even hire CNAs and the nurses are required to perform all patient care tasks. Nursing school is meant to prepare us for the realities of the profession, and I'm grateful for it. What kind of nurse can we hope to be if we aren't taught the basics of caring for a patient? :heartbeat

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Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.

I agree totally with what Noelani said. On one of the units I worked on we had two day shift nurse managers who couldn't have been more different. They were about of the same age and years of experience. Nurse C had as her major concerns protecting her carefully tended manicure and chatting up the doctors-- I guess she must have done something involving patients, but I can't recall anything specific.

Nurse Y would ask us if we needed any help! I remember once I was having a hard time moving and turning a 17 yr old boy with a leg amputation (osteosarcoma) she stepped in to help, and not only that, smiled and re-assured both of us. . he was very self-conscious and depressed .. .I was a 19 year old new grad. . .

Another of my favorites, would feed the patients, and just behaved in that regard as "one of the team". If something needed to be done, she had time, and no one else was available, she did it!

You never know, in nursing, what your situation will be. Cleaning up poop sounds like a no-brainer until you've worked with someone who never learned that, and ends up making a huge mess, causing skin tears and alot of unnecessary discomfort for the patients.

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Specializes in Dialysis.

Patient care isn't just for aides or CNAs. Even nurses on high-acuity floors perform these activities. I did an observation day at clinical in the cardiac care unit. I was shadowing a nurse who had two patients. The patient I was following more closely had a trach tube and chest drains (recently removed) and was on a tele monitor. There was one aide, I believe, for the whole unit. We saw that this patient had become incontinent and looked uncomfortable, so instead of waiting for the aide to make her rounds we gave her a bed bath and provided her with a new Depends. Afterwards, she looked so much more comfortable. We sat her up in the chair nearby so she could receive her visitors. Also, the NICU where I shadowed did not allow the aides to take vitals or perform patient care on the babies (yep, even diapers) because they were so vulnerable.

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Specializes in None.

Granted Im not a big fan of cleaning up the code browns lol, but I do know that as a future RN, thats part of the job. Its like a detective saying I dont plan on doing the paperwork, yeah right!

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Specializes in Critical Care.

I know a girl who says things like "eww I could never clean people's rear ends." And she's in nursing pre-reqs... yeah, suffice to say, I think she should switch majors lol.

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Specializes in Home Care.

Ignore the negative people with the lousy attitudes in your class, you'll be much happier.

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Unfortunately some of those people do make it with the same attitude. They are not fun to work with. Maybe we need to go back to the old days of hospital training when you had to do all the dirty work first. If you did that correctly, you got to move up. :)

Its just sad. Sometimes all a patiend needs is to be puffed and buffed to feel better.

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I'm going to be an RN, not a CNA....why do I have to do this stuff???

Because s/he's your patient ... YOU IDIOT.

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Specializes in Onc/Med-Surg, ER, Nursing Supervisor.

We have a few hospitals where I live that do not employ CNAs. They feel that the RNs need to actually assess every inch of their pts body to make sure they don't end up with pressure ulcers. They ensure this happens by having the RNs do the bed baths and linen changes. That way, the blame stays on the nurse, not pushed off onto a CNA.

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Specializes in Neonatal Intensive Care.

It's like my fundamentals instructor always tells us... ANYONE can learn to do vitals, bed baths and AM care, but we are learning the THEORY to go behind it. The basics will help to make us great nurses one day :heartbeat

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