New Nurse Prevention!

abigailk · Apr 9, 2003

SEVERAL girls fainted??? Was this real fainting or swooning? Teenage girls tend to get rather dramatic. Last year we had several girls from the same dancing class start to have generalized seizures. Funniest thing, they all had normal EEG's and all those girls stopped having seizures once they were told firmly that they weren't ill.

Rustyhammer · Apr 9, 2003

Shades of Reefer Madness eh?

-Russell

caroladybelle, BSN, RN · Apr 9, 2003

I had witnessed quite a few bloody surgeries, etc. prior to nursing school - I had also been to a Bris, a ritual (religious) circumcision of male infant.

So one day in OB clinical, I had nursery duty. I had not had breakfast, the nursery was hot and busy and it was 1330 in the PM and I had not had lunch yet. I was assisting with a circumcision and passed out cold. Blood glucose was 15 - I came to about 15 minutes later - was sooooo embarassed.

Point is that teenage girls frequently don't eat well, miss meals, and also can be a bit emotional. If this happened on an empty stomach, or weak moment - well that could happen to many of us. It shouldn't rule out a nursing career. I have seen many faint-worthy things since then, without any problem.

Tweety, BSN, RN · Apr 9, 2003

Reminds me of driver's ed. We saw horrific movies of mangled bodies, blood and guts, brains hanging out. To scare us to drive safely. It's been nearly 30 years and those images are still in my mind. Do they still do that.

(Our VD films weren't nearly so graphic.)

Those tactics are largely ineffective due to the "it can't happen to me" invincibility attitude of teens.

The gross stuff is hard at first, but she'll get used to it real quick.

adrienurse, LPN · Apr 9, 2003

I did one of those STD talks at a high school when I was a student. With "the slides". So much fun! I highly recommend it!

allnurses Guide · Apr 10, 2003

Originally posted by 3rdShiftGuy
Reminds me of driver's ed. We saw horrific movies of mangled bodies, blood and guts, brains hanging out. To scare us to drive safely. It's been nearly 30 years and those images are still in my mind. Do they still do that.

Yes they do, my daughter just got all of them last week. :eek:

Sleepyeyes · Apr 10, 2003

Originally posted by 3rdShiftGuy
Reminds me of driver's ed. We saw horrific movies of mangled bodies, blood and guts, brains hanging out. To scare us to drive safely. It's been nearly 30 years and those images are still in my mind. Do they still do that.

Yes, "The Last Prom" is still out there. But in my opinion, they'd be better off to do what my dad did--drive stock car and let your family sit chewing their nails in the stands. :chuckle

The moral: "bad things happen even WITH seat belts on. Wear the seat belts and drive slow."

Sleepyeyes · Apr 10, 2003

Originally posted by researchrabbit
For several years now, my 18-year-old daughter has been planning to be a nurse. She has researched schools, scholarships, volunteered in a nursing home, taken all the hard science classes and is concurrently taking college classes while in high school.

Monday, all that changed. The high school had a "health seminar" for all the senior girls in which they were shown films of people with advanced syphilis and gonorrhea (the kind of pictures where parts of people are eaten away). The pictures were so gross that several girls (among them my daughter) passed out! (the school didn't bother to let me know that happened, either!).

Now she is afraid that she will be unable to handle nursing school or a nursing job. "Mom, I can't even handle PICTURES, what would I do with a patient!"

While I think it is a good thing to explore future professions, I don't think that was the intent of this film (she had previously arranged to shadow a nurse this summer; I think she will go ahead and do that).

I guess I don't really understand what the school was thinking.

I couldn't do psych because years ago, a movie that showed an actual lobotomy was shown on regular TV. Freaked me right out.

Guess what?

They had the same movie in psych class rotation.

I had a delayed reaction--drove about 20 miles past home, like a zombie, then got home and cried for about 4 hours and had to call offa work.

To me, that was totally unnecessary, and they shoulda warned me.

katscan · Apr 10, 2003

I work in a junior high and I agree that many kids this age are very squeemish. One may pass out and another feels faint, then another and another-simple mass hysteria.I had this happen this year while kids were looking at a film of cancers. Also when they were dissecting squid and worms. Just the though of something being "gross" is enough to set them off. And of course they talk before and after the class and to the kids in the following classes and there is plenty of time to discuss the "gross"movie in so and so's class or the totally yucky dissection. There's plenty of build up. and actual talk IN the class during the movie and/or dissection. I always notify the parent if a student actually faints. I don't know why this school did not. Maybe they have no regular school nurse, and one cannot depend on secretaries to understand the need for notification for medical conditions if they are not trained in this area.

researchrabbit · Apr 10, 2003

Well, I've talked to everyone on up to the superintendent.

Parents will now be notified if a student passes out (this was apparently not previously the case!). And they'll put a warning on the permission slip that a "graphic" film will be shown. So I feel better. :)

Thanks for all the replies! I was SOO mad when I wasn't told she had passed out.