I have a great deal of respect, appreciation and admiration for anyone who has what it takes to be able to call themselves a "nurse". But I have to ask this question as ridiculous as it may sound...I am very much a people person, work in social services now, so I see a lot of stuff, stuff I think people should not have to see....but anyway, I very much want to be a nurse, nurse assistant, something, anything in the nursing field. But my problem is that every time I get anywhere near a hospital for a family member and there is puke, poop, or any other bodily function going on I have to leave the room..I know, I know....I should just grow up....(believe me, I'm trying)...but needless to say countless family members have been so kind as to point out to me that maybe nursing isn't my calling. Now I know I am not the first person to have this kind of stuff make them queasy....so, please please help! Does it get easier? Is there a way I can handle it so that it doesn't bother me so much. Please help as I feel like a complete idiot that can't handle normal bodily functions!!!

You know what? I've been in the field for 5.5 years, and there are STILL things that make me want to vomit! (especially other people's!) I don't do real well with real liquid poop, and old urine on someone makes me gag....don't even get me started on mucus and suctioning!

Now, when I'm giving care, I can compartmentalize it back to having to care for someone...and the stuff doesn't bother me as much. It's possible that, because it's for family members, you may be more sensitive to it than others....I know with my grandmother, poop/urine is a tough thing to accomplish just because of who she is....

My advice...get your CNA, and do some work in the field first...even if it is only part time....it would help expose you to the field, and figure out if it really is a problem.....

AND WELCOME TO ALLNURSES.COM!!!!

Trust me, you are NOT alone in this!

I have a moderately "cast iron" stomach, but there are things that still make me gag or retch.

For me, it is seeing and hearing someone else vomit (especially if I smell it), and really bad liquid poop.

I have had a hard time with this, since I have to try to not show that it bothers me in front of the patient. Usually, I am OK, and it has gotten easier to separate myself from it, while still being supportive and available to the patient, but it took time, and what I call "exposure therapy" to get past it. I can now get through a patient vomiting, or cleaning nasty poop without showing them it bothers me.

What loco says is good advice...Get a job as a CNA and you will expose yourself to the nastier parts of the job, and get a sense of whether or not it is for you. I did, and realized that in spite of the gross parts, what I was doing really mattered, and I really liked it. Now, I'm a nurse, and wouldn't do anything else.

Amy

1. You get used to it...most of it. Except respiratory "items" for me.

2. Don't EVER let someone give you the old "maybe you shouldn't be a nurse because...". Your instructors in school will help YOU make that decision.

Welcome!

Tait

When I have to deal with gross stuff I try to think of my kids when they are sick and how if I can clean up theirs I can clean up anybodys.......and it does help. Good luck!

like everyone else said - you get used to it. Not to say that there aren't some particularly gross moments that have you moving quickly and stifling your gag reflex - we all still get those.

I worked with a young cna who on her first day on the floor lost it while we were changing soiled linens under a patient (c. diff to boot, if memory serves me). She simply wlaked away, threw up into the patients bathroom calmed herself dowqn and when she came back to the patient she simply said "I am new and not used to all the fun smells yet."

only you can dicide if you are going to be able to put this aside and be a bedside nurse..most, but not all, nurses are going to be faced with this situation

we had a student in my class who did fine in classroom and on the first day of clinicals she decided that she really didn't want this for her lifes work and she never came back

good luck in which ever choice you make

i certainly shared the same concerns when i started nsg school.

what i found happens, is your mind focuses on the task at hand, and everything else becomes secondary.

subsequent exposure makes it easier ea time.

our minds are glorious tools that function in such a way, that enables us to be productive at any given moment.

i'm sure you will be just fine.

best of everything.

leslie

When it is not your family, it's different. You can still be an empathetic caregiver, but you are better off if you don't have a familial attachment to each and every patient. If you realize that you are happier dealing with the non-biological aspect of patient care, then perhaps social work/case management is where you belong. I agree with the others, you can't go wrong with learning how to be a CNA and seeing first hand what needs to get done.

I can participate in the worst kind of codes, or suction a nasty, infected trach or clean up the most horrific liquid BM without engaging my gag reflex, but looking at my the xray of my husband's broken wrist and seeing the swollen, misshapen hand is enough to make me want to throw up on his behalf. Or when it's your Dad that needs a complete bed bath and linen change while tubed in the ICU, it's perfectly acceptable to be emotionally upset on his (and your own) behalf and unable to stay in the room to help the nurses clean him up. In fact, I'd think that it's preferable, both from the standpoint of the patient and the nurse.

Good luck!

Blee

Sadigirl, as you can see you are certainly NOT alone. I've been a nurse 16 years and yes, I have my "gross out" moments too. One of the worse for me are elderly ladies who's crotch hygene is lacking - what a stench!

I also have a difficult time tolerating colostomy's. GI bleed poops are bad too.

I became a CNA, part-time, to "expose" myself to all bodily fluids, before starting nursing school. It helped. One of my tricks with nasty things is putting the tip of my tongue on the roof of my mouth, and concentrating on trying to keep it there. NOT EASY for any length of time - by concentrating on that, I can keep from consentrating on some smells.

Also, you will find co-workers who are willing to trade "nasty's". If nurse A. is grossed out by vomit, and nurse B. is grossed out by stool - nurse A can then help nurse B with stool and visa/versa. I've done that a million times.

Most importantly, you will come to be able to tolerate MOST everything, because your patient is depending upon you, may sound stupid simple, but that is why we do what we do.

Good luck, welcome, and God Bless

As you can see you're not alone. I hate respiratory secretions--yeck! Most of the rest of it doesn't bother me much. I'm pretty sure I still crinkle my nose a little with oral suctioning and trach suctioning--luckily most of my patients are unresponsive. I'm sure the families see my face sometimes--I don't cringe in disgust but I suspect my feelings show. I do the best I can and I'm human and no one has ever said anything. I suspect they realize I'm doing something for their family member that is kind of hard for me but I'm doing it anyway.

I also agree that doing these chores on family members is harder. I nearly passed out packing a tiny surgical wound on my husband's neck. On the hand I had no problem packing back wounds that were 2 inches deep on a stranger. Somehow it's just different.

Yep. Mucus, blech! I'll take GI bleed diarrhea over mucus any time.

I've always had an aversion to blood vessels as well. But now that I've started a few IVs, they don't bother me anymore.

I'm on the patient end, and since participating on this forum I've learned so much. Some of these threads should be required reading for patients before they enter the hospital.

You're all my heroes.:flwrhrts: