(Disclaimer: Don’t read if you are eating. I warned you.)
I can’t believe I am about to talk about this on my blog…but hey, you all wanted nursing stories.
Nursing School brings a lot of “firsts” in my life. It’s exciting learning new skills, meeting new people, and actually performing those new skills on those new people.
Nursing School isn’t all sunshine and roses. Neither is the profession of Nursing. I get to do fun things like injections, catheters, etc…but there are definitely some bad things I am expected to do.
Sometimes Nursing School is even a little …”shitty”…
Nurses have to clean up shit sometimes. It’s true and it’s happens.
Everybody poops, right?!
If you are a Nursing student, then it’s almost guaranteed that you will cleaning up somebodies shit–and I mean that literally. Nursing students and nursing techs/nursing assistants seem to get all of the dirty jobs at the hospital.
It’s like a Nursing School intiation of sorts.
Last week was the first time I ever cleaned up some shit. Baby poop is different…sure, I’ve done that. I am talking grown up poop.
It was at the end of my shift at the hospital. My nurse was on a break and I only had 10 minutes left so I really wasn’t doing anything. There was a call to the Nurses station from someone in Rehab Services about how she would like some help changing a patient’s bedsheets. I thought that task seemed easy enough and I was quickly to the patient’s room with a smile on my face and ready to help.
I open up the door and see a very thin, very old naked man standing up with someone’s assistance. He had soiled his sheets and was about to do it again.
The first words I heard out of his mouth were..
“Shit, I’m shhhhhiiiiittttting.”
My eyes immediately got big and I began wishing that I was running out the door and meeting up with my group to leave the hospital. However, I was already in the patient’s room and was about to do the thing I dreaded most…clean up some poop.
The poor man, bless his heart, had pooped (and it was most diarrhea) all over himself. It was down his legs, on his socks, and on the floor. We maneuvered him to the bedside commode and let him do his business there. The Rehab Services woman cleaned up the floor and his legs and I watched him to make sure everything was ok.
The moment of truth was here. The woman and I stood the man up and she left me some wipes and said…”I’m going to do the front…and you are going to do the back.”
I put on my professional face and got to work with a smile. Nothing like wiping a grown man’s behind. In the crack, down the legs…I got everywhere.
The patient was sweet and embarrassed. We kept reassuring him that everything was ok and there was nothing that he could do that would make us upset at him.
I’ve never been happier to get out of a patient’s room.
To be honest, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought. Perhaps since the man was so sweet, my compassionate side took over and I just did what I had to do and what the patient needed.
Working in the hospital and dealing with patients really puts some perspective on life. That moment taught me to not think badly of that man or the task that I had to do. He couldn’t help it, and it could be me someday. It could be my mother in 25 years. It could be Sean. We all might be pooping ourselves in front of nurses.
Nurses are compassionate people to be able to handle situations like that with grace. Next time you are in the hospital and you are dealing with her nurse…
please be nice to her…she might be having a really “shitty” day.
The next time you are having a bad day, you can say to yourself…”at least I’m not Lisa…I won’t be cleaning up anybody’s shit today.” Hey, at least I can laugh about it.
What’s one aspect of your job that you really dislike?
If poop is the worst part of my job, then I’m ok. In the end, I still helped that man and he felt much better after we left the room. He was clean in more ways than one.
{ 68 comments… read them below or add one }
aahhh, I THOUGHT OF THAT when I was considering nursing. but I feel like puke would be way worse than poop… right? maybe I’m mistaken. you’re the one who’s tackled it!
you’s a champ.
p.s. I literally teared up when I read how embarrassed that sweet old man probably was. I bet you made his day with your pretty smile.
i haven’t dealt with puke yet. eek.
Well, you get one more notch on the “keeping it real” belt. It’s a part of life- hopefully most people are well enough to take care of their own shit, but some times illness and age stop us for being capable. My poor mom, not a nurse at all, had told me a few horror stories as she has taken care of several older relatives. You just put on your game face and do what needs to be done….and then hopefully laugh about it later
haha omg that is quite unpleasant. That poor man. You two treated him nicely though!
Lisa it sounds like you handled it really well — I don’t think I could ever work in that sort of environment, so THANK YOU for pursuing this type of work!
The worst part of my job: sometimes dealing with angry customers — which has never been too bad (knock on wood!)
And that’s why I could never be a nurse, haha. My sister starts her job as a nurse at the Children’s Hospital of Phila in August, no idea how she does it.
oh my goodness! you are one brave girl. And this is why God called you into nursing. You have the heart (and stomach) of gold. WOW lisa!
Sounds awful, but I’m sure the man was so appreciative of your help and kind attitude!
I manage the office for an Alaskan halibut/salmon fishing charter business, and the worst part of my job is dealing with really annoying people. Like realllllllly annoying: the ones that complain about not catching a record setting fish on their trip, the lady last night that wanted to buy a fleece vest but took over 45 minutes to choose one from the three that we carry and then complained about the cost, lack of mirrors she thought acceptable for her to look in (uh hello, we cater to men fishing on their vacation,) the size of the plastic bags we use, and every single other thing she could think of. It was awful! But, if that’s the worst thing that I deal with, it’s much better than most jobs.
It’s sounds like you handled things pretty well for your first time in that situation!
I teach high school, so the worst part of my job would have to be dealing with the occasional “teenage attitude”… ugh
Oh gosh, reading that made me gag a lot – buuut I totally feel bad for that old man. I cannot even imagine just how embarassed he must have been to be in that situation.
Thanks for posting your nursing school stories the good bad and the ugly! As a nurse I can promise it gets easier to keep that professional face on in the room and remember it’s 1000 times more embarrassing for your patient. To sound like you did a great job handing a messy situation (pun intended) keep it up!
Also, yes as a student you do anything and everything they ask but also when you’re the nurse expect to pitch in and help your assistants it will make yor shift so much easier!!
Agreed! My nurses that I’ve worked with are great about helping the techs and it’s just not in my nature to not help with that kind of thing!
Bless your heart! Though I can’t imagine how gross the task must have been, I have such a soft spot for people that truly can’t help it. I’m sure he was so embarrassed and grateful for your professional attitude and assistance.
I’m petrified of all the gross things my body might do in labor, and I will be eternally grateful for the nurses present that will say it’s nothing they haven’t seen before as they quickly and professionally take care of things.
Nurses rock!
This is what my clinical instructor told me …and she’s an labor and delivery nurse…if you let your body go into labor naturally–then it naturally starts cleaning itself out days before you go into labor–just a part of it…so, maybe that eases your worries. and yes, if do you poop, they say you will never know it!
Oh my goodness. I have SUCH respect for nurses and doctors.
That old man sounds adorable – “Shit, I’m shitting” – sounds like something I’m gonna say in 60 years
Oh get used to it hun…this is nothing lol. I am about to graduate and actually being pooped on is nothing out of the ordinary for me. I am glad you made it through this experience though! lol
I learned in nursing school that every nurse has their “thing” that they can’t deal with. I’ve asked a lot of nurses about it. Some don’t deal well with poop, some don’t do vomit, some, believe it or not, don’t do blood. I’m actually OK with all of those things. I think the thing I won’t be able to handle as a nurse should I ever come across it will be burns. They make me shiver just to think about.
I whole-heartedly second Chelsea’s comment above that you should always help your patient care techs out with hygiene issues if you can. PCTs can make your life a lot easier or a lot harder, and it really depends on how you treat them. As a nurse, you can’t think that you’re above performing any task at or below your level. I know nurses who empty the garbage bins. No joke.
Agreed! I didn’t mean it that way that I would never be willing to help again with issues like that once I’m actually the RN–it’s just not in my nature to be like that!
and agreed about nurses. I’ve heard they are incredibly painful and I’m sure it would be hard to handle.
Several of my best friends are nurses – I have incredible amounts of respect for you guys. I wanted to get into the field initially…but after hearing some stories, I’m glad that I didn’t.
The worst part of my job? Sometimes my coworkers (one specifically) can be TOTAL GRUMPS. You know the kind that seem to have a mission to bring everyone down with ‘em? I would choose that. Somedays, I tell ya…
1. I own that book
2. That is ROUGH…awesome that you took it in stride
3. My job isn’t remotely that….personal. The bad parts are the cleaning at the end of the day and unloading boxes!
hahahaha great story but the funny thing is that even when you’re a nurse you still have to clean up poop. Most of the time I’ll be in a patients room assessing them and ill find that they were incontinent or soiled themself or they will ask me to put them on the commode etc. Since I’m already in the room so I’m not going to call a tech/ nursing assistant to do it. The good part is after you’re in the field of nursing for awhile smells don’t really bother you. You start to clean up so much poop that it becomes second nature and you learn to just not breathe when you’re doing it. Wait to you smell the poop of someone with c.diff oh boy you will never forget that smell!
So true!! C.diff is awful
Hey Lisa! I’ve been reading your blog for a while and I love it! Thanks for the nursing story- I love hearing them (even if they are a bit gross lol) because I’m planning to apply to nursing school soon. Right now I’m taking the prereqs and am so happy to almost be done with an org. chemistry summer course (i dont think i’ve ever studied so hard for a course in my life!!). Keep up the good work
org chem?! you are crazy
. I never took org chem–thankfully I didn’t need it as a pre-req! please keep me updated on your nursing school goals! I will be telling plenty more nursing school stories, and they won’t all deal with poop…promise! 
Hey Lisa, I love reading your posts about nursing school adventures. Even though I have been a nurse for 4 years now I vividly remember those days on the med-surg floor cleaning up elderly patients. Oh the joy…lol! I work at a children’s hospital now and I don’t think I could ever go back to older people. Kids are somehow easier to deal with and clean up
Good luck with your adventures, I look forward to hearing them!
I can’t wait to see what area of nursing I will end up enjoying–was ped’s always your favorite?
One of the hospitals that we visit spends all their money on executives and NO nurse techs for the med/surg floor. I basically feel like my RN’s personal janitor when I’m at that particular hospital. But i just assume thats all part of being a nursing student
I have had to deal with poop twice no vomit yet!
My first catheter was a success and actually not bad at all.
I definitely need to work on IV skills thats what i’m most nervous about!
My most horrifying experience yet was an NG tube. My patient was older & kept trying to pull it out!
No techs for a med-surg floor?! That’s insane.
I haven’t actually done a catheter yet but I am excited for when the opportunity rises! We haven’t done IV’s yet, that’s next semester. I’m getting to be a pro at SubQ injectionst hough.
Wow, I applaud you for getting through that! I know I would be able to do it if the time called for it, but thinking about that makes me cringe! I’m glad the man was sweet though…can you imagine if the guy had been a jerk about it?
It would’ve been much harder to care for him, t hat’s for sure. Although, I know that day will come, and I’ll just have to treat the jerk with just as much compassion.
I’m not a nurse, but I work with young adults with special needs. It’s often that someone has an accident. I remember finding it a bit disgusting the first time I had to clean someone up, but now it’s no big deal. I have to say, I have a much harder time cleaning up vomit than poop. Harder to naturally plug my nose from the smell!
Good on you for pitching in! I’m guessing it’ll just get easier and easier until one day it’s not newsworthy to you anymore!
Can’t wait for that day!
Wow, I have so much respect for you all in the medical field. Your attitude of compassion towards him is so sweet, Lisa. I have no doubt you’re going to be a fabulous nurse!
Oh yowza. Annnnd this is why I have such a huge respect for nurses. Good for you for bucking up and doing what needed to be done!
That poor man, but you’re right, it could be anyone! It makes me think of my own grandparents.
Ah, Lisa, you are amazing! I don’t know if I could deal with that!! (I esp could not deal with vomit). That is a beautiful (in all its grossness) story, and it really does make you look at life through a more compassionate lens. It also puts things in perspective. You are doing a great job so far!!!
:)
That’s one thing I love so far about Nursing..it’s constantly forcing me to look at life in different ways.
And this, my friend, is why you are meant to be a nurse…and well, I’m not. LOL. I’d have had a REALLY hard time with it – but you handled it like a champ and that poor old man? Such a sweetheart, you probably made it WAY easier on him because of how you handled it. So sweet.
I sure hope I made it easier on him!
Compassion is what nursing is all about. Nobody want to be in the hospital so making those events as easy as possible for the patient is what is all about. I applaud you!!!
Lisa I appreciate you and all of those other nurses out there! Not everyone can do what you do.
(I moved from WordPress to Blogger, I was Amy @ Country Strong 21)
awww poor old man
I’m not even grossed out by your story because I feel so bad for him 
I totally freaked out the first time a patient had the runs when i was trying to change him! Poor man. Cleaning up shit and giving enemas were definitely not my favorite things!
Really liking these types of posts. I am planning to start nursing school in August, and mostly I get excited about getting to learn again (since I am going back to school for my second bachelor’s) and what I am going to learn, but I think it’s good for me to hear about this side too and prepare myself!
Wow, I really couldn’t handle that. But on the flip side, I’m glad you can. We need special women like you who are willing to tough it out. Because you probably meant the world to that elderly gentleman. The world needs more compassionate nurses like you!
ahh welcome to my life haha.
we wear location badges at my hospital, so someone from the desk can see where we are and buzz into the room to talk to us. i really hate when i’m trying to bathe or help a patient to the bathroom and someone buzzes into the room over the intercom to try to have a conversation with me. i feel like too much is expected of me as a tech, and even of the nurses. we can’t be in every room at the same time!
Ahhhhhh I LOVE this post! I’ve been dying to hear some of your nursing school stories
. I just got a job today in an assisted living facility as a nursing assistant, so I can guarantee I will be filling up my blog with “shitty” stories in the near future. How fortunate for all of our readers that just want to hear about food! lol
As a nurse, I feel your pain! It is totally different cleaning up when the person who made the “mess” is there though, isn’t it? Somehow, it is always worse for them.
My best “shitty” story is from my student nursing days as well. I was helping another student get a parapalegic person in a sling so that we could lift her on the commode…when we rolled her a log of poop the LENGTH AND GIRTH of my arm slid out…and she had no idea! So, we kindly told her that she already went, as I cradled that thing like it was a newborn in some blue sheets before disposing of it!
Barf and poo…I can handle. Blood makes me sweat and faint! The only thing I can say is this….if you think it’s bad – think how that poor man felt, losing his control like that in front of God and Everybody.
I imagine it was pretty humiliating doing it and then having to be cleaned up because he was unable to help himself.
Putting on your best professional face probably made it easier for him. Compassion is a gift….and I’m sure he was grateful when he laid down on those cleans sheets.
…so on behalf of that old man – Thank you! It could have been my father and I am grateful….
also i love this idea of your first time experiences in nursing. i’m glad i found a blog that discusses so many of my favorite topics! it makes me want to start a blog. a day in the life of a nursing student haha
Haha I totally read this while I was eating peanut butter melted on toast. Mmmm yuck lol!
the one aspect of yoga i dislike is that its hard to find jobs here in the city- too many yoga instructors, not enough positions…so i mainly have to sub which means not having a fixed schedule and random call-in times.
xoxo <3
You handled the situation with compassion and kindness. I think I’d like you as a nurse if I needed one!
Luckily I don’t dislike much about my job as a Fitness Specialist…cleaning exercise machines is probably one of those tasks that’s a bit boring, but if that’s the as bad as it gets that I consider myself pretty well off!
Wow…that breaks my heart. That poor man. Wow.
I have always admired nurses more than anyone because of how compassionate they are. Your post definitely demonstrates this. I think you’re going to make an incredible nurse!
One aspect of my job that I dislike is calling the media with NO NEWS. My client is pretty big, so they think the name alone will get them news. But, that’s not how it works. It’s very hard for me to call magazines/newspapers to try to get them to write a story I’d never write, especially since I used to work at a magazine.
I used to work at a vet. clinic and had to clean up a whole lot of disgusting poop. Its hard to stay angry at a cute puppy though…
I love your blog!
I’m not a nurse (sooo far from it) but I had the same experience this year with someone close to me in their 90s. She’s a former nurse and when it happened, I actually said. “Okay, you’re the nurse – walk me through this.” Fortunately we could laugh about it, especially when I realized one day…. I probably will be there too!
The best advice I got from my best friend who is a nurse said to envision it is someone say in your family that you truly care about. It tends to make situations like the one above a bit easier bc you would want them to have the abs best care and also feel comfortable. Im sure he really appreciated how compassionate and reassuring you were
Aww Lisa, this makes me so happy. I mean not happy that you had to clean up poop..but so happy that you are just SO compassionate. I seriously LOVE LOVE LOVE my nurse. Since I have to go to the gastro all of the time (b/c of the Crohn’s disease) I always see her & am CONSTANTLY thanking her, bringing in cookies, etc. because I am SO appreciative of her. She always squeezes me in for appointments, she lets me cry to her on the phone (oh yes, it’s happened..I was in a TON of pain) & she is just very sweet. I apologize to her because I feel bad for calling to make all of my appointments, and calling all of the time to get any test results back..but she always says ‘not to worry about it.’ I KNOW you will be an amazing nurse. You have a heart of GOLD!
You absolutely handled this with grace! You go girl!
One more reason I am: a) thankful for nurses b) thankful I’m not a nurse
When my dad was near the end I saw parts of him I never wanted to see and do things (like help him pee) that I didn’t want to do. But I figured he did it for me and I should pay him back.
Treating people with dignity is the key to life. You were wonderful to that man!!
Bless your freaking heart.
You know…nurses see people at their most vulnerable and I can only imagine there will be plenty of times where you have the opportunity to really comfort a person who is so humbled and ashamed by a respectful demeanor and good bedside manner.
Again. Bless you.
And somebody by you a drink!
As a current CNA in a Boston hospital and nursing student I totally know how you feel. I think the first time I did something I was a bit shocked but now NOTHING phases me. You will see it all! I agree with the girls above though that mentioned the smell of c-diff…you have been warned!! While there is a good deal of “dirty” work in nursing nothing is more rewarding then helping someone and having them express their gratitude towards you. No matter how hard a day is I always leave with such a sense of accomplishment and a smile on my face. Sounds like you are doing great!!
I’ve had some patients with C Diff precautions and I just pray everytime I go in their rooms that I won’t get any surprises.
I read this post earlier today while I was at work and actually snorted from laughing so hard hahahaha
If you can handle poop, you can handle anything
my boyfriend sister is doing adult nursing at uni, she’s in her 2nd year this year and i don’t know how she does it!
god bless nurses. in our profession…well, lets just say, you will have MANY of these days. you had a great attitude.
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