Of Bowels and Happy Nurses

So nurses, what can make a nurse happier than a constipated patient who finally moves his bowels? Pretty much nothing, I guess. (Be forewarned, the following story is full of sh*t.)While caring for one of my home care patients this week, I was quite aware that he had not moved his bowels in about six days. This is nothing new, so it's an ongoing struggle for fecal regularity, and since my shifts with him are eight hours long, I have time to make a plan and execute it.Elderly and chronically dehydrated, with poor fluid intake and no exercise, he's basically a bowel obstruction waiting to happen. Sigh. Taking the above factors into consideration, I came into work, did my assessment, gave him a shave, clipped his nails, and then administered a Fleets enema just before his shower, leaving him on the toilet for as long as he would tolerate. After almost fifteen minutes, there were almost no results, just a few sad little turds. Double sigh.  With my patient complaining of the cold (despite a blasting propane heater), I transferred him into the shower, and lo and behold, not five minutes into the bathing process, the expected (dark brown) effluent was summarily released into the shower stall with a series of onomatopoeiac plops."I think I shit my pants," he said with a glum expression."Don't worry, _________," I replied. "You're not even wearing pants! You're golden!" I smiled, held my breath, and soldiered on. I kept up my bright affect to prevent any further shame and...
Source: Digital Doorway - Category: Nurses Tags: nurse nursing nursing care patient care Source Type: blogs