The old Poo & wee story.

Ok...strange title but its a strange subject.
As you probably have gathered, I am a nurse. A nurse who (at this point in life) tends to work multiple 12hr night shifts.
On shift, i tend to have a lot of different tasks to get through like medicine rounds, dressings, paperwork, stocking up, checking supplies in, pad rounds and other bits & bobs to go with it all.
We tend to also do 2 hrly rounds in the place that i work - mainly to check that people are OK or to turn them if they need to be turned in bed (to make sure they don't get sore etc..). We also do pad rounds.
Now...when i say 'we' i mean 'we' as in myself and the Care assistant/s who is on duty that night.
And when i say 'pad round' I mean that we change (elderly) peoples pads which they wear if they are incontinent of faeces or Urine (poo & wee to you).

No....wrong kind of poo.  Idiot.


What got me thinking and pondering, is WHY is having a wee or poo SO important to us as human beings?!
I know it's a strange question, but its really a massive factor that is possibly more obvious when you work with elderly people. You see, it feels at times that some folk spend their night worrying and planning out when they NEED a wee, CAN they have a wee, will someone be there to HELP get them on a bed pan/toilet/commode, will their pad be dry or not etc...

Its such a massive issue and incorporates loads of different things such as the embarrassment of getting a stranger to help them with a really intimate task and their 'private parts', the persons struggle to sometimes come to terms with their independence and needing help from people, and their own comfort etc...I start to understand it.

But I appreciate its a big issue and not one I can do it justice in my little blog post, and I still feel that I'm left with a sense that toileting, bladder and bowel issues are something that are deep rooted in the human makeup and can really drive us and frustrate us at times - especially when you have to rely on others to help you with something that you have spent the majority of your life just getting to grips with - lets face it, some times you spend your first 5 or so years learning how to deal with it!

In my job (I mean my workplace - sorry to use the word 'job' in this post) its a funny issue because its sometimes a bit of an unspoken one but it actually is a major player of growing old.

Wee and poo are usually the stuff of jokes and humorous tales, so its a challenge to deal with them as part of caring for people. I only hope I keep my sense of humour as i grow old but still carry on caring with dignity for people who need it. This is basic care, and not one that is (or should be) left up to the care assistant to do - not that carer do a bad job but its not just them who have to get their hands dirty. To really be a good nurse actually means that we have to get in there and do the tasks that some people make out to be beneath them.

In the meantime, i'll do my bit for dealing with the shit of life...and also poo & wee.

(male) Nurse...

Yes...it is me. It was taken on a break so don't worry..I didn't waste my precious time on such frivolities such as 'Moustachio Documentation'.

But so what?? When I am at work, although there are many things going on on many different levels there is always the opportunity to have a laugh.
It's always appropriate to the situation mind you...I don't laugh at things which are obviously important, or embarrassing to the person I am looking after so it HAS to be professional and in line with my Nursing code of conduct. That said...it doesn't half cheer some folks up and i don't just mean patients but staff also.

If we live in a world where there is no joy or soul to what we do, then we may as well give up, and do it with our heads up our own backsides.

I know my stuff as a nurse. I spent 3 (hard) years just to get my PIN to work as a registered nurse. I did another year doing 'on the job' competencies so I could work solo (also so i was eligible to work the night shift) . And then i did another course over about another year so i was working with an official recognized qualification for Anaesthetics and Recovery nursing. I worked long shifts, and most of them were on the edge of my seat as it was pretty intense. Thankfully, I had good support and people around me.

Talk about a steep learning curve though!

On top of that (and here's an important part of it all) i worked in youth and community settings, music and art, small teams, Church, i was an 'auxiliary nurse' (the old style 'care assistant') and i moved around a lot.

So i ain't just in it for a laugh. And the skills i learnt in how to talk to people played a massive part. I noticed it most when i worked with elderly clients and children - especially in theatre, when it was the most stressful for the person and sometimes their parents & carers.
And to top it off...i had to work with Doctors - who are a different breed most of the time!

Some stuff I can get proof of learning and its application. Taking bloods, Male catheterisation, setting up pumps and infusions, giving IV meds etc...etc...

But some stuff I can't show it off so easily. You could say I just do it. How do you approach an elderly person who has dementia and is about to hit you? There are some skills that you just know how to do it, and it's all very individual to me, as it would be to you. Add on top of that the fact that as a nurse you have a stack of paperwork to complete, dressings, medicine rounds, supervision etc...to do and you gotta have it all sorted out by 10.30am so you can start the next medicine round again!

I was told recently that I "was like Jesus. I was just there in the shadows ready to pop up when I was needed" and this very fact made this elderly person feel comforted.

Was i really waiting in the shadows? Did I really do things drastically different to my colleagues to warrant this comparison?

No...I think i just gave a shit.
I think I just cared to do my job, and to do it sensitively.
And i think i just did it without rushing to get to the next thing.
I have stacks of stuff to do as a nurse, but when you make space for someone, I think they notice it. Sometimes they notice and are able to communicate their relief and gratitude, and they become vulnerable and this facilitates a good place to communicate real issues.
Other times, the person knows that they have someone who is opening up for them and they offload to you. Sometimes it's just their frustrations at many things that come out, but other times its just a bitter, rude person mouthing off at you.
Nice...not.

Anyway, don't be put off by my drivel and random thoughts - posts like this are just as healthy for me to say, as they are for you to read and groan.

I'm a nurse.
Yes...a male nurse, but a nurse.
You can tell from my outstanding moustache - made from a glove box lid, lots of love, grooming and strategically placed sticky tape. Say what you want, but it did get a smile and hopefully a little bit of happiness in a long run of night shifts.

I'm all for positive workplaces and facial hair.