Nurses will clean the poop of someone who is usually a bit older. When a patient is older, they don’t have the same control of their bladder when they are older.
Do nurses clean poop?
It’s definitely not something that nurses like doing, but it needs to be done for the sake of sanitation. It is in their actual requirements when they apply for the job and something they are prepared to do.
Generally, this isn’t something that nurses do that often.
There are going to be times when the nurse doesn’t want to do it at all, in that case, the hospital will get someone else to do it.
As it has to get done regardless of how disgusting it is.
It’s not always cleaning poop that could be the job of the nurse, sometimes, it’s assisting a patient in using the restroom which can be difficult depending on their situation.
There are also other cases where the patient is basically rendered immobile but still has to poop.
It’s by no means the most important thing that a nurse does, but our disposal of waste does decide many factors of our health.
Doing this allows people to reduce their chance of cancer among other diseases.
Along with that, the person will generally look better if they are able to clean the waste from the patient.
It’s not an easy thing to do either.
It generally requires a decent amount of elbow grease along with some disinfectant spray.
This also requires some other sprays to make sure the odor of the person’s waste doesn’t stink up the hospital floor.
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Do registered nurses clean poop?
Registered nurses also clean the poop that patients do while in the hospital.
Some are not always able to make it to the restroom.
It’s often that they may have the urge to poop at a moment’s notice and can’t completely control it before they poop their pants or anything else.
Of course, they would never do this intentionally, and there are devices such as diapers that make the process of this happening slightly easier to deal with, but there’s no way to get rid of it entirely.
The nurse is going to have to deal with patients that have these problems at some point.
There are ways that patients can reduce this happening so they’re able to better control the uncontrollable poop that comes out of nowhere.
One thing they can do is get more fiber incorporated into their diet.
Fiber allows food to be digested better and the poop itself will be easier to clean up if the patient has any issues where they aren’t able to control it.
The hospital probably has some tool that makes it easier for nurses to be able to clean the poop, however, this will never be something that they look forward to.
Registered nurses will often clean the poop because it’s their job to do so.
If they weren’t in the hospital, the patient could likely get their significant other or caretaker to do the job for them.
There, the context of cleaning up the poop would be completely different.
They wouldn’t be people who were involved in a system where they had to clean the poop, they would just be people with who the patient has a relationship that needs help to be cleaned.
It probably isn’t that exciting to clean up poop for them either, however, the expectations are different when it’s a nurse.
See also: Do Hospice Nurses Stay Overnight?
Do nurse practitioners clean up poop?
Nurse practitioners will also clean up a patient’s poop in many cases.
Though nurse practitioners will often deal with the more immediate issues that a patient has to deal with, they still have to clean up the poop from a senior citizen if the problem arises.
Generally, it’s not that big of an issue and the practitioners may have more experience, but they are also looking forward to the day when they never have to clean it ever again.
Generally, there are other medical positions where you never have to do this like a physician or a cardiologist who never even thinks of the issue.
That’s good for them.
But they only have to not do it because the hospital has put them on such a pedestal.
Unfortunately, the hospital views nurses as easily replaceable and doesn’t really respect the value they have in a hospital.
See also: Are Nurse Practitioners Respected?
Since many nurses came fresh out of college, there isn’t as much support or pay, and are often told that they’re expendable.
This is a great place to be since a lot of the nurses can move up after a couple of years.
Generally, a practitioner is one of the last positions where they have to clean the poop of the patient.
Technology is also improving rapidly to make sure that other members of the hospital won’t have to clean it as much.
Diapers for adults were thought of as something that most people would never have to wear, but are often more common than people would think.
Eventually, there’s going to be technology that makes sure that the nurses don’t have to do this as much.
See also: Will Nurses Be Replaced by Robots?
It’s not very fair for nurses to have to do this every day when they already work so hard in the workplace.
Do ER nurses clean poop?
Generally, emergency nurses are people dealing with life-threatening issues such as bullet wounds, deep stabs, or even poisoning.
Generally, cleaning poop isn’t on their to-do list as a nurse.
Fortunately, ER nurses don’t have to do it as much as other positions.
It’s hard to know how many of these problems an older individual is going to have to deal with before they go to the ER.
There are some cases where the patient is completely immobile in something like a car crash and can’t even move to the restroom.
See also: Can You Be a Nurse With a DUI?
In that case, a nurse would have to clean the poop since the patient wouldn’t even be able to move.
That could also be a long process since the recovery of those injuries could take years to be able to deal with.
It’s not something that people have to think about every day, but they will have to deal with it.
This process can be highly uncomfortable for both parties involved.
Generally, the nurse just wants to clean up after the patient and move on.
However, depending on what problem the patient is currently dealing with, it can get a lot more serious than that what you would expect.
Kidney stones are very painful for just about anyone who has the displeasure of feeling them in their stomach.
But the patient may also have to poop at the time, leaving both people to put in a vulnerable position.
Though, those kinds of cases are few and far between.
See also: How Often Does Hospice Nurse Visit?
Do nurses clean bedpans?
Nurses sometimes have to clean bedpans, however, those cases are very rare to have to deal with.
Sanitation should matter a lot to people who work in the hospital, but that should include ways to do this automatically.
In hospitals without as much money, nurses will have to clean the bedpans manually.
It’s very disgusting especially if there are other fluids in the patient’s body that combined with the initial waste.
Thankfully, there are a lot of easy ways that nurses can deal with these bedpans without getting their hands too dirty.
The most common method seems to be taking the cloth on the bedpan, putting it in a bag, and then releasing it into the hazardous waste bin.
There’s no telling what a patient could have if nurses haven’t run the proper tests yet.
Often, it’s a chance that’s not worth taking.
Not just for the sake of hygiene, but the overall health of the staff should also be a priority.
Some nurses outright refuse to clean the bedpans, and there’s not much room for other staff of the hospital to lecture them about since they don’t do it either.
However, the hazardous waste method seems to be the most consistent way of dealing with this issue.
See also: How Can Nurses Reduce Waste?
Conclusion: Do nurses have to clean poop?
When asking “Do nurses clean poop” it has to be answered as yes and no.
Cleaning waste is one of the best ways of reducing the amount of disease we have in our society.
Fortunately, the times have changed after thousands of years which makes sure that it’s a lot easier to deal with while making the issue as comfortable for others as it can be.
They still have to clean it, and not all nurses feel the same shame about it as other nurses but it has to be done for the sake of sanitation.
Nurses will still have to do this, but we can’t say for how much longer.
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