ABSTRACT
Many nurses will have been asked how they can do such a ‘dirty job’ as that nurses have to. This chapter explores how this view of nursing exists as well as considering how nurses manage the body, and therefore the body products of the patients they care for when they are probably at their most vulnerable, that is during a period of sickness. Some body products are also considered taboo in some cultures and religions, in particular at special times of the woman’s menstrual cycle or childbirth. The status of nursing in some societies is directly related to the kind of ‘bodywork’ and bodycare that is undertaken.
