A Question to Nurses and Nursing Students.. HELP ME!

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Hi AllNurses Community! First off I would like to say that I just joined today so I'm not completly sure I'm posting in the right area.

I am a high school senior. I have pretty much known my whole life that I was made to be a RN. I've just ran into a sticky situation. I get kind of grossed out with blood and veins and wounds. How can I get over this? Now please don't try to tell me "Nursing is just not for you kid". I've tried telling myself that but something in my heart just tells me that Nursing is where I need to go. I'd appreciate any advice you all could give me. Thank you soooo much

Hannah1991

Specializes in ICU.

Not all nurses deal with blood, guts and wounds... You may get a little of that in nursing school, but you can also be a school nurse, or a psyche nurse, community nurse, etc. There are many, many fields in nursing you can specialize in....

In the mean time, systematic desensitization... after a while it will be nothing to ya!

Go for it! And good luck!

Specializes in Onc/Hem, School/Community.

You will get use to it over time.

How did you decide that you were destined for "Nursing" if you can not handle the technical aspect of medicine? Why nursing as opposed to something like Social Work, if you feel you were destined in general to "help"?

Let me just tell you why i know I'm wanting to go into nursing Nursing... Have you ever woke up from reconstructive a surgery as a child? I have. In fact I've had 14 surgeries. I know how it feels to be scared and I know that being a nurse I can do my job knowing that I've done my best to make a patient feel secure, informed , comfortable. All I was asking for is just how to get over being A LITTLE grossed out from blood and veins.

I deleted my previous posts becuase you clearly took my words in a completely different direction than I intended. So, I am cutting off my portion of this thread before I am attacked.

Quick silver.. i'm sorry i wasnt trying to attack you. I'm just discouraged because everyone tells me that .. but I know that i'm meant to be a nurse.. idk if you believe in God or not but I do. And over the past 2 years ive tried to talk myself out of nursing but it seems as if HE keeps pulling me back to it. I'm sorry i read into your post wrong I just get discouraged when i get teh same answer. ... all I need is to get over being afraid to take blood and stitch. I apologize for making myself appear as a dramatic teenager.. I'm sorry

Hi Hannah. I think in nursing school you will begin becoming desensitized. I also think that once you are a nurse you won't mind it as much as you do now. Time will tell. Best of luck to you. Follow your dreams.

Try volunteering in a hospital. Maybe that will help to get used to blood and such.

idk if you believe in God or not but I do. And over the past 2 years ive tried to talk myself out of nursing but it seems as if HE keeps pulling me back to it.

Well, sounds like you'll have no problem. If you think God is pulling you into nursing then he certainly knows about your slight problem with blood and he'll take care of it.

From a more reality based approach, you will find that context is key. The more you learn about anatomy and physiology and the more you approach the issues from a clinical point of view, the easier they are to handle.

Specializes in M/S, MICU, CVICU, SICU, ER, Trauma, NICU.

Volunteer at a hospital.

Watch ER on TV.

Watch TRAUMA - Life in the ER

Watch anything with blood, guts, wounds--not WAR movies--REAL life EMERGENCY ROOM types--surgeries on Discovery Channels...etc.,

That's my best advice since you are set on becoming an RN.

Specializes in PACU.

If you're willing to suck it up and soldier on you'll just get used to it, at least enough to last until you can get yourself into a job with less of that kind of thing. Or at least I think. It happened for me with poop. Well, kind of. The smell still grosses me out, but so what, goes with the territory. Keeps me from getting hungry and taking a bite. Evolution for the win.:lol2:

Specializes in CVICU.
If you're willing to suck it up and soldier on you'll just get used to it, at least enough to last until you can get yourself into a job with less of that kind of thing. Or at least I think. It happened for me with poop. Well, kind of. The smell still grosses me out, but so what, goes with the territory. Keeps me from getting hungry and taking a bite. Evolution for the win.:lol2:
I was going to say the same thing! In clinicals, I could barely stand to walk into a room if a patient had crapped. Now, I clean it up all the time and don't even think about it. Mucous still grosses me out, though.

Just persevere. After you deal with it several times you'll stop thinking about it.

Nursing school will desensitize you to some things, then there are others you will always have an issue with. I will go in and clean up a bed bound patient with C-diff, but I can't stand vomit and I'm still adapting to mucous. I agree with JoPACURN, watch the reality medical shows. That is how I got over my aversion to watching the initial incision for surgery. If it is the smells that bother you, a dab of Vick's under your nose can help. Just make sure it is not obvious to your patient!

EVERYTHING grossed me out when I started nursing school in 2006. Now I'm preparing for my NCLEX and starting a job in the ICU. If I can get past "gross" stuff, anyone can!

Oh, and if you have the opportunity to work as an aide or a tech, do it! You will learn really quickly how to "get over" things and you will be a step ahead of many of your classmates when you start nursing school.

Good luck!

+ Add a Comment