What grosses you out?

Nursing Students CNA/MA

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We all know it takes a strong constitution to handle the "messes" that CNAs deal with. Very little actually grosses me out, poop included. However, it's dealing with mouthcare and dentures that gives me the heebies and makes me want to gag at times. What grosses you out while going about your CNA day?

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Incontinent people whose GI tracts do not fully digest their food. Enough said.

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I agree with the OP. Dentures and mouth care are = UGH!!! I guess the thing that I find MOST disgusting though, is spitting. Gag!!!!!

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I guess the thing that I find MOST disgusting though, is spitting.

Especially when it's the thick, slimy, stringy kind that goes from their mouth all the way into the sink/basin and no matter how many times they spit it just won't disappear and you just have to bite the bullet and wipe it away with a paper towel.

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Specializes in CNA.
We all know it takes a strong constitution to handle the "messes" that CNAs deal with. Very little actually grosses me out, poop included. However, it's dealing with mouthcare and dentures that gives me the heebies and makes me want to gag at times. What grosses you out while going about your CNA day?

LOL.... I can't believe you mentioned Dentures. :eek: Ever since I was a kid, they freaked me out. To this day I have to change the channel if a Denture commercial comes on TV. Or block my ears and look away until it is over.

And of course we were assigned patient's for our Clinical next week - Received all the information on them ahead of time and guess what?? Mine has upper Dentures!!! (Don't know why she wouldn't have lowers as well).

When I worked at Quest Diagnostics, Sputum was especially gross..ack! I could never look directly at it. Just verified the correct name and labeled it.

I helped shower a Alzheimer's patient this past week and she had a BM in the middle of taking her shower.

The commode portion fell into the shower and the CNA who I was "following" left it there. So more BM's continued to fall on the shower floor.

Ahead of time, I really thought this would bother me, but it didn't. I think I was so fixated on the patient, the smell or sight wasn't bothersome.

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The only thing that reaaaaally gags me now is menstrual blood mixed with poop. ESPECIALLY tube feed poop. Unfortunately, since I work with disabled kids and young adults I get a lot of this. :'(

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Specializes in Med-Surg/urology.

Clostridium difficile

Enough said.

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Since I'm only on day 3 of orientation I haven't had the chance to be grossed out yet-lol Except...the CNA I was shadowing the other day was using some wipes to clean some BM off a female resident. The CNA did this without gloves, then when we left the room she went straight to her bag and took out and ate a Snickers bar without washing her hands....

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Specializes in geriatrics, dementia, ortho.

Dirty teeth (like when your resident opens their mouth and you can SEE that yellowish shmutz along the gumline) and crap under their fingernails. I don't mind dentures and actually doing the oral care, I just hate when someone's teeth are yucky like that & I can't fix it right away. And I always have to avoid looking at the towel after I wipe off an orange stick when doing nail care. I'll fold over after each swipe just to keep from having to see it!

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Poop on the shower floor with a heaping dose of water. Ahh, the joy of being a CNA.

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My only experience with C. diff thus far wasn't too bad. Uhm, even the bedsores and huge open areas don't make me gag. The occasional resident will have bm that smells like foods I can actually identify and THAT makes me gag, but being spit on/mouth care with residents that pocket their food drives me insane.

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Specializes in LTC.

Dirty hair. I hate the way it smells.

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