What type of gross things do registered nurses have to do?

Neisha_ · May 19, 2013

Physical therapy assistants sound just as plausible

Trenata · May 19, 2013

I was doing research a while back and I read that radiology/ultra sound tech jobs are hard to come by, so I would research it first!

Don't waste time seeking an easy way but also take the time to gain life experience!

RNitis · May 20, 2013

Unfortunately, yes. It's a given. CNA's call out, or need help, or sometimes there is just no one else there to do it. Some nights I wipe more butts than others, and some nights I don't wipe any butts at all....but one never knows. And then you have colostomy patients....to be honest, the only thing that REALLY grosses me out these days is trach care, suctioning, anything respiratory.

I'm the same way. I can deal with c. diff poo, vomit, colostomy drainage.....but when it comes to peoples respiratory secretions....YUCKA!!! Don't know what it is...but yucka!!!!

SamanthaElizabeth · May 20, 2013

Luckily, my mum is an rn and I am fully aware of the not so pleasant things a nurse must encounter. Does it bother me? Not at all. Not much bothers me except bad eye infections ( I am a nut and have a difficult time putting eyedrops in my own eyes:/) so I'll get over it eventually. The only thing to ever bother my mother was having to pull a tapeworm from someone's rectum. Haha! Some people have the stomach for these sort of things and others do not. Of course there will be a few things that bother us all, that is human nature but nurses know that. You gotta get over it. If you thinking changing diapers and cleaning up feces is disgusting and a deal breaker I'd consider another career.

kalevra, BSN, RN · May 20, 2013

Yes you will have to care for dead bodies. That includes cleaning them up and making them presentable for family

Yes you will have to deal with vomit. This includes spitting in your face as well form combative patients.

Yes you will have to deal with poop. This includes patients with infectious diarrhea such as Clostridium Deficil.

Yes you will have to deal with blood. This includes patients pulling out their IV lines or women hemorrhaging from their lady parts after giving birth.

Yes you will have to deal with every possible bodily fluid known to science. This includes getting some bodily fluid on you, accidents happen.

Yes you will go home some days and wished you had a shower out doors. This is because of how disgusting you feel after bodily fluids form an infectious combative patient can randomly get on you.

Need I say more?

kalevra, BSN, RN · May 20, 2013

There is an easy way out... do not become an RN.

I recommend getting your bachelor's degree in science like kinesiology/ microbiology/ etc. Then apply for PA school. Then spend your working years doing "Gentlemen's" work in an office. It means you show up in business casual attire, sit down with patients, listen to their problems, write a prescription, write consults, referrals, etc. If there is an emergency just call 911.

No dead bodies, no poop wiping, no vomit.

These words are from my best friend who started out as an RN and transitioned over to PA. He did it for the more relaxed pace and better on your back.

KelRN215, BSN, RN · May 20, 2013

I don't understand what the big deal with poop is. Everybody poops. There's even a book for preschool aged children about it. If you've ever babysat or if you plan on having children in the future, you'd change those diapers, right? So why is it such a deal breaker with nursing? Dealing with poop is a very small part of what we do.

SopranoKris, MSN, RN, NP · May 20, 2013

There is an easy way out... do not become an RN.
I recommend getting your bachelor's degree in science like kinesiology/ microbiology/ etc. Then apply for PA school. Then spend your working years doing "Gentlemen's" work in an office. It means you show up in business casual attire, sit down with patients, listen to their problems, write a prescription, write consults, referrals, etc. If there is an emergency just call 911.
No dead bodies, no poop wiping, no vomit.
These words are from my best friend who started out as an RN and transitioned over to PA. He did it for the more relaxed pace and better on your back.

That's all well and good when you're DONE with PA school and want to go into GP. However, you'll have to deal with cadaver lab in PA school. And you'll have intensive clinicals in the ER. There's no way around the vomit, blood & death.

MrsStudentNurse · May 20, 2013

Yes but if you would of told me that nursing involved that I'd of looked the other way. With that being said now that I'm doing it as a CNA I don't even think about it. When it's in context of a real person that is ill and helpless it changes everything. At least it does for me.

kalevra, BSN, RN · May 20, 2013

That's all well and good when you're DONE with PA school and want to go into GP. However, you'll have to deal with cadaver lab in PA school. And you'll have intensive clinicals in the ER. There's no way around the vomit, blood & death.

PA school will fly by like sand through an hour glass.

We have all seen those RN students just getting by with minimal "gross-stuff" exposure. They passed boards and are working RNs. Some get into a very relaxed position like case management, admin, education etc. It isn't uncommon for someone to find a "clean" job.

Its the 20,30,40 years of poop that most people want to avoid.

MrChicagoRN, RN · May 20, 2013

I'm going to get straight to the point.
Is it true that nurses have to change "poopy" diapers/patients and or deal with dead bodies?
I would love to get into nursing, but those are my deal breakers.
PLEASE HELP.

Depending on what type of nursing, and what type of unit you work on, that will happen a lot... Or a little.

Someone once wrote that wiping patient butts as as much to do with the practice of nursing, as changing diapers has to do with being a parent.

Overall, It's part of it, not most of it.

Nurse2Bstacy123 · May 20, 2013

Did we REALLY just devote an entire thread to "do nurses have to deal with gross stuff?" LOL