Agree completely. I often see posts from would-be nursing students on my nursing forum asking how to go about getting through nursing school and on to a real life nursing job without having to deal with vomit, poop, or urine, EVER. Often in the next sentence, they will say they are only interested in working ICU, ER, or going on to be a nurse anesthetist (CRNA). Or perhaps they have their eye on that “cush” job that entails no patient care whatsoever.
Well, in order to go on to CRNA school, one must have at least a year to two years (and in real practice, usually more than that) in ICU. I have to burst their bubble and inform them that even in the unlikely event that they get through nursing school without encountering bodily fluids and emissions, ICU is all about the poop, urine, vomit, and other gross stuff they probably never even thought of to worry about. It can be worse in the ER. The “cush” jobs usually require significant time spent at the bedside prior to being hired. Sorry, kids.
She is already an EMT apprentice in our town, so I know she KNOWS there is poop and vomit… LOL - she is better than I for sure, I wouldn’t even dream of it.
Our local hospital sponsors a Medical Explorers club through the Boy Scouts of America - it’s kind of cool, and my daughter is thrilled because the December meeting features a roundtable of nurses. It might be worth seeing if there is anything like that in your area.
There is a Drexel program 2 weeks where they get to actually be in the OR believe it or not and do all kinds of other hands on things-- she definitely wants to go.
Cool, I hope she likes Drexel. May as well apply and see what they offer in terms of $$. My nieces both took advantage of the coop program. Niece #1 told me that most students she knew who cooped got an offer from the hospitals where they had done their coop.