I have noticed a disturbing trend that some nursing students seem to think that giving baths and providing toileting is somehow beneath them. Some students are consistently charting that the “patient refused a bath,” while others are “delegating” these tasks to aides and techs (when I was a student we were not allowed to delegate anything).
I think that there is a misunderstanding about the meaning of professionalism. A professional nurse is one who takes responsibility for his patients – total responsibility! A professional nurse is not one who is just there to administer medications and provide “cool” treatments. Sure the cutting-edge intervention is fun to participate in, but the crux of nursing is CARE.
Nurses are the only professionals who care for the patient as a whole. Physicians, dieticians, respiratory therapy and other professionals are concerned with specific aspects of patient care, but it is only the professional nurse who cares for the patient in totality.
Believe me, I don't think that bathing and toileting are the most glamorous parts of my job, but I can't tell you how many times I found a problem in its early stages and was able to prevent a complication by an assessment finding that I discovered during bathing or toileting.
Professional nurses are not above listening to a patient. Professional nurses do not shy away from toileting or bathing; but instead use these interventions as quality time to connect with the patient or to perform additional assessments. Professional nurses do not fragment care for the sake of their ego or their own comfort.
If you were the patient, what would you want your nurse to do?
Best wishes,
David W. Woodruff, MSN, RN-BC, CNS, CEN
Professional Nurse