Wow!! I never knew there was so much much poop involved!!

S.N. Visit, BSN, RN · Feb 1, 2007

I agree, before I started my clinical, I was amazed at how much poop there is to deal with too! ( I never read about it on here, so I had to learn about it the hard way :chuckle. ) All nurses is great for finding answers to nursing questions you just can't figure out.

Good luck with your acceptance!

lainith · Feb 1, 2007

I never realized how much poop was involved with health care until I became a home care aid. Wooo boy. I worked primarily with individuals with mental and physical disabilities so I may have had more than my "fair share" of poop in that field since a lot were completely immobile and therefor had to be toileted, etc. It's actually not the poop that bothers me as much as the urine! The smell is something I have a very hard time bearing. Other HCAs where I worked would get annoyed because I pushed fluids so much (which meant more frequent toileting) but it made the "urine" smell so much less strong that it really helped.

So much to learn along the way...

SteveNNP, MSN, NP · Feb 2, 2007

Yeah, I did the CNA, then PCT poop duty for a few years while in nursing school.

Get a job in NICU after you graduate. It's baby poop, for goodness sake. If a guy like me can deal with it, along with breastfeeding education and feeding babies, you can too. We need more good NICU nurses!!

krenee · Feb 2, 2007

Well, this is news to me . . . OK, not completely, but seriously - WHY is there so much poop involved? Can MOST people in the hospital not get up and use the toilet? I figure I'll get desensitized to whatever I have to do eventually, i'm just curious!

Kelly

S.N. Visit, BSN, RN · Feb 2, 2007

Well, this is news to me . . . OK, not completely, but seriously - WHY is there so much poop involved? Can MOST people in the hospital not get up and use the toilet? I figure I'll get desensitized to whatever I have to do eventually, i'm just curious!
Kelly

Most of the pt's I have experience with are very sick elderly, who are on strict bed rest, or if they are able to ambulate , it's only to a commode. With IV lines and their general weakness, they are most often at the mercy of us to help them wipe their back-side & clean out the commode. I get a lot of pt's with constipation (you know what happens after that high-low enema!) Lot's of bowel obstructions, diverticulitis, knee surgeries & hip fractures. Don't forget the guaiac testing that we have to do, haha. When I do the stool occult blood, I feel like a toddler exploring things I probably shouldn't! :bugeyes:

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Feb 2, 2007

I am an LVN who is currently taking my second semester of prerequisites for an RN program.

I am employed as a charge nurse at a local nursing home and, while I have wiped a couple of butts, it is a rare occasion when I deal with poop. Usually the CNAs deal with the fecal matter while making their rounds. I must, however, document the patients' bowel movements. Additionally, I will manually disimpact my little old ladies if the dried poop is stuck in the anorectal area and won't come out.

CruisingRN · Feb 2, 2007

Another fun thing that only nurses are blessed to be able handle is the dreaded disimpaction...:barf01:

Newbies...if you don't know, it's the one thing that no one really likes... digital disimpactions... i'm sure you'll figure it out!

I can't imagine a doctor ever doing it, yet they will so nicely delegate this task to us.

Give me the grossest wound and I have no problem............ ask me to disimpact someone and I just might run the other way!:innerconf

Ah, the joys of nursing!

DesertRain · Feb 2, 2007

Another fun thing that only nurses are blessed to be able handle is the dreaded disimpaction...:barf01:
Newbies...if you don't know, it's the one thing that no one really likes... digital disimpactions... i'm sure you'll figure it out!
I can't imagine a doctor ever doing it, yet they will so nicely delegate this task to us.
Give me the grossest wound and I have no problem............ ask me to disimpact someone and I just might run the other way!:innerconf
Ah, the joys of nursing!

My mom has been an RN for over 35 years and has gotten so used to disimpactions that she she is so quick to do them. For example as soon as she hears someone hasn't gone to the bathroom she instinctively puts gloves on....uhhhh last time I checked a glass of prune juice doesn't require standard precautions? Lol, with that I'm sure the idea of disimpaction sounds like something that becomes the norm after a while.

CiCigirl · Feb 2, 2007

another fun thing that only nurses are blessed to be able handle is the dreaded disimpaction...:barf01:
newbies...if you don't know, it's the one thing that no one really likes... digital disimpactions... i'm sure you'll figure it out!
i can't imagine a doctor ever doing it, yet they will so nicely delegate this task to us.
give me the grossest wound and i have no problem............ ask me to disimpact someone and i just might run the other way!:innerconf
ah, the joys of nursing!

:lol_hitti

soooo funny, and amaaaazing--the duties of nurses!!

years ago...my friend had a baby just after we graduated from hs and she told me she had to do this to her daughter when she was a couple of years old and having trouble...umm...going. not enough prune juice, i suppose. :chuckle

doesn't turn me off the idea of nursing though (at least not yet :wink2: ). in the past the only things that have made me want to :barf02: are when i see medical procedures being perfomed on people (or animals--i used to volunteer in a verterinary hospital too) are in pain. if i haven't eaten those things will turn my stomach quicker than anything else!

so much gross stuff to the human body. i luv it!! :1luvu:

DesertRain · Feb 3, 2007

:lol_hitti
soooo funny, and amaaaazing--the duties of nurses!!
years ago...my friend had a baby just after we graduated from hs and she told me she had to do this to her daughter when she was a couple of years old and having trouble...umm...going. not enough prune juice, i suppose. :chuckle
doesn't turn me off the idea of nursing though (at least not yet :wink2: ). in the past the only things that have made me want to are when i see medical procedures being perfomed on people (or animals--i used to volunteer in a verterinary hospital too) are in pain. if i haven't eaten those things will turn my stomach quicker than anything else!
so much gross stuff to the human body. i luv it!! :1luvu:

i used to think it was going to be the "poop" and the bloody wounds, needles (you know all the "gross") stuff that would make me reconsider this path i am taking. i am now in my last sem of prereq's and i am in cna training doing clinicals and although it's not making me reconsider my career, i am worrying about the emotional aspect as well. i am scared that it will hurt me mentally and emotionally to see pt's in pain or expire. i know you get used to it, but we are only human and can't help to feel sad for someone.