What freaks you out?

Eyes and Teeth. Everytime.

Transplant nurse came by to collect corneas. Asked me to give her a hand. I gagged right then. She then said "OK, maybe not you".

I just about passed out from watching Dr putting in a nerve block for a shoulder. Great big needle, must have been 8 inches long, and they are trying to find the right space, in and out, in and out, fingers twitching, YUCK!!! I came out of there and was white as a sheet. Just thinking about it gives me that churning feeling in the bottom of my belly.

Absolute worst though, was my day in the OR during school. Rhinoplasty for a deviated septum. Hammer and chisel. Whack Whack Whack!!! Clunk as I hit the floor. Patient was awake and asked what the noise was all about.

I haven't actually thrown up at work yet, but I am working on it.

I did lose a couple of students while changing a dressing once. LOL from NH, in for a decubitus ulcer. She had just gotten there, so no one on the floor had seen the wound yet. I took off the dressing and it was just an itty bitty hole. I was like OK, not a problem. I asked my students to get closer so that they could see. There were 3 of them. I started to swab out the interior of the wound and all of a sudden I had gobs of psudomona infected pus pouring out. The smell was unreal, but I kept going. I had forgotten about my students. The wound had tunneled for about 10 inches all around. The Doc came by at the time, took one look and turned green and ran out of the room. Had another Doc come in, Plastics guy, he was great. We cleaned it all out, took about an hour. Some of my students had come and gone, some staff the same thing. After it was all neatly packed and dressed, I went out of the room.

Turns out, all of the students had puked, and so did most of the staff. The first Doc had actually thrown up in the hall. I could still smell the stuff, so I washed well. I changed into my street clothes after a quick at-work shower.

I got home and first thing my hubby asked was what the stench was. I didn't think he wanted to know, and upon reflexion, he agreed. I took another shower, but I could still smell it. Had to wash my clothes and my hair 3 times to get rid of it. Those students did not want to do anymore dressings. This poor lady had to have surgery x3 to get it cleaned up. She was with us for 3 months. The smell wouldn't go away the whole time she was there.

Two words...

Flying Poo.

*shivers*

I am a mental health worker at the Austin State Hospital. The things that make my skin crawl are not body fluids, but what "clients" do. We had this one woman who was obsessed with eating things other than food. Examples of this include screws, torn up paper plates, pencils, buttons, glue, etc..etc...

Well, the doctors decided to isolate her for awhile as her stomach had already been pumped NINE times in the past year. That's when the GROSSEST thing that I ever saw came to pass. Upon opening the door to feed her dinner a month ago, I observed her eating her own FECES!!!! AHHHH!!! Lord knows how long she had been doing this! It was quite a report I had to write, and when I told the nurse on the next shift, she could hardly keep a straght face. "I know", she said.

"You mean to tell me that you knew, and you did not REPORT THIS?", I said..
"Yes, it amuses me".

Oh, me blessed sole! I don't know what was sicker, the patient eating her own poop, or the nurse who got off to it!!!

Needless to say, this has a happy ending. I got that quack job nurse TERMINATED that day. And the poop girl?? She was transfered to a private facility, and I hear that she is doing much batter, and on better medication. She even was well enough to send me a thank-you card for caring so much.

-Michael Damrow

Austin State Hospital

I cant stand removing any kind of saturated packing from a wound.I also hate anything,anywhere clusterd together,like a raised rash.Everything else,except for snot,is ok!!

Emesis.

Hand injuries.

A couple of years ago I watched a tech from the Eye Bank harvest the corneas from a patient of mine who had died on my shift - that made me cringe!

Twice in my nursing career I have come close to passing out - both were before I became a nurse. The first was the first time I saw a guy have his trach suctioned - that doesn't bother me at all any more, but it sure made quitting smoking a lot easier. The second was during my OB rotation when I watched a circumcision.

Black heads!! I don't want to look at them, touch them, and I certainly won't squeeze them.

Other than that, as long as I have gloves on, I'm impervious!

A few months ago we had a little one come in, perhaps a year old, who while bitting the crib rail, fell over it somehow. When he got to us he was just the cutest little thing, even smiling, through the two bottom teeth that were sticking perfectly perpendicular to his face. Poor sweet thing couldn't close his lips so all he did was smile at all the staff and drool. That one definatly gave me the willies. Poor Mommy was beside herself.

OH how could I forget about one of the first patients I ever had. Man had a testicular abcess. I think that was the foulest abcess I have seen. We actually thought he was going to lose his testicles. He was so nice about it though and very appreciative of all the dressing changes and care he received.

Respiratory secretions freak me out, usually have to leave the room when people are coughing up phlegm

TimonRN you indicated that you hate emptying NG canisters, why would you be emptying one? We add solidifier when they are full and put them in a hazard bag.

The things that get me :

Are opening and adding solidifier to NGT and oral sxn contaniner.

Watching a ventric or camino bolt be inserted. After that slice through the scalp and then the drilling into the bone start I feel very lightheaded and nauseated. That really grosses me out.

Trach suction (copious secretions) I am getting better than I used to.

Mouth care when someone hasn't had good mouth care and we pull stuff outta there.

Anything with the EYE. I had a pt with exopthalmos and was trying to do a pupil check and was uncooperative. Her eye POPPED out at me. I had to ease it back in.



I really have gotten better about trach suctioning and mouth care. But that last one I wish to never see again.