I fainted today in the ICU!

[aismail3]

Hi:

I'm currently a nursing student working on my 4-year BSN. I'm only in my second year so I'm not that far into the program. My clinicals start in one year, next spring specifically. Well, for one of my basic nursing classes, we had an assignment to observe/shadow a registered nurse for at least two hours. My teacher's sign up sheet was just for nurses working in the ICU. So, I went this morning to our university's hospital and met the nurse. Everything was going well. Then, when she was going over some records with another male nurse, he told me that I can observe the doctor working with a patient in critical condition. Of course, I got excited and went in. The patient was bleeding in her head, she had multiple fractures and bruises on her body, especially her legs. She couldn't open her eyes and her breathing was going down. At first the site didn't bother me at all, I felt compassion for her. Then, the doctor uncovered her body and started showing me her food tubes and other tubes and needles. That's when I took notice of the smell!!! I started feeling a bit dizzy. I stepped out and there was no where close to sit, so I stood and tried to relax. Next thing they tell me, I had fainted and I hit my head pretty hard on the floor. A bunch of nurses surrounded me and I told them I was fine and just need something to drink. Then, a few moments later, I supposedly fainted again!!! That's when the nurses in the ICU forced me go downstairs and the doctor checked me out.

No matter how much they tried to assure me that this is common considering that I had never been in a hospital for like a decade (literally), I was still very embarrassed and disappointed that this happened! I mean, my professor specifically told us not to pass out!!!

Does anyone have any experience with this? Can you relate? I'm just like hoping this doesn't happen again when I start my clinicals. One of the nurses told me that his wife fainted on the first day of her job, but I think he was just trying to make me feel better. :)

[NurseAMK]

Tons of people can relate!

[ames86]

I fainted while at an observation it was very embarrassing. I wasn't at a hospital so they sent me to one to get checked out. My instructor told all of my classmates that they weren't allowed to talk about it because it would be violating my privacy. I have no idea why I fainted. I wasn't doing anything but listening to the nurses doing report but I was exchausted because I had got up very early to drive the hour to get there. I started feeling really bad and decided I need to sit down and as soon as I set down the world started spinning, the next thing I knew was there was a ton of people around me and I was on the ground. They had called a code blue and everything. I just kept saying I was sorry! My instrutor told my husband when he went to pick up our car for me not to worry about school I was an amazing student just for me to get better.

[starstrider]

I may only be a student, but I can still assure you that you're not the only person who's hit the deck! I know so many nurses and students who have taken a nosedive during a procedure. It's practically a nursing rite of passage! Don't be embarrassed or worried about it, because truly, it can happen to anyone. And I mean anyone. A lot of the time it's because people are tired and have skipped a meal or two, they're dehydrated, or perhaps they're fighting something off. And then there are the times where it happens out of the blue and you have no idea why!

I've had a few pre-syncapal episodes, and I was shocked when they happened to me, too. Normally nothing gets to me - blood, guts, smells, sounds, I can deal with just about anything. The first time was watching the cannulation of a 10 month old, who proved to be a difficult stick. Watching the needle worming beneath the skin and looking like it was going to come out the other side combined with the very distressed screaming of the baby made my vision go all patchy and I had to excuse myself. I was okay after a bit of deep breathing, but I was stunned that it had affected me like that!

The second time happened to me just today, actually. I wasn't even witnessing a procedure on the ward, we were in the simulation lab learning surgical scrubbing techniques! It was a very small room with a lot of students all crammed in to see the lecturer at the sink, and suddenly I realised that my stomach was heavy, a wave of heat swept up my body, and my vision went patchy. I tried to focus on the lecturer, but as my vision went completely dark I soon realised I would fall down if I didn't sit down first. Luckily I had a wall right behind me, so I just leaned backwards and slid down it so I could sit on the floor with my head down on my knees. Hey, if you're going to have a vasovagal somewhere, let it be in a room full of nurses and soon-to-be nurses! Nobody gave me a hard time about it, everyone was concerned and wanted to make sure I was okay. My lecturer praised me and said "If any of you feel faint in theatre, just sit right down so you don't pass out onto the sterile field. You did the right thing!" Yes, I felt a bit embarrassed afterwards, but I know I shouldn't be. It can happen to anybody!

I've come close a couple of times, once before nursing school and once during school... Never happened again once I started working and now I can handle anything that rolls into our urban ED.

It is a matter of acclimation... It will get better.

[Code Red]

I fainted once at my new 3rd shift job. I got extremely sleepy so I thought I'd take a walk through the halls.. and like that my body shut down and I fell asleep walking! I was definitely embarrassed...

[vettechtoRN]

We had this prevet student that used to come in to observe surgery at the animal hospital all the time. He would faint regularly!! I would tell him you have to sit if you feel it coming on. Well one day he fell right over and took out the anesthesia hoses connected to the patient and busted his tooth on the vaporizer. There was blood everywhere!! Doc said forget about him(as we all looked on in horror) and hook my patient back up. Lol!! Needless to say he could no longer observe surgery. Most people that have fainted in the or have gone on to be super docs and techs:)

[RookieRoo]

I have actually come close to fainting before... you are not alone. It was when I was shadowing nurses trying to decide on nursing school. I have seen a lot of gory things, including near-amputation of a leg on a trauma victim, and I am seriously considering trauma nursing. However, for some reason, on this one day, I was watching the wound care specialist attending to a patient in the ICU. The patient had been left open from surgery and she was split from mid-abdomen to pubic bone in a vertical incision. Her stomach was quite bloated and distended and when the outer layer of the bandage was removed, all of her organs were visible in her abdominal cavity. It was the coolest thing I have ever seen and I was completely excited but I started getting dizzy! It was completely out of my control, I was telling my body to calm down and trying to focus on how cool it was and instead the room was spinning. I had to get out of there and take a chair!

It's never happened before or since, luckily, but just wanted to offer up some proof that it CAN happen, even when you are intellectually interested and wanting to learn. You are not alone!