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
Hannah, it sounds like you'll make a great nurse! Don't worry another second about the blood, etc. As everyone has said, you will get used to it. None of us like it, but when you realize it is part of what is necessary in order to heal, whether it's taking blood for a test, or dressing a wound, or changing wound vacs on wounds that are so outrageous you know they are never going to heal - it is sad, but it's all part of it. You are helping that person the best you can. They have no where else to turn. Getting the care they are getting is their only hope in many instances. There is so much to worry about these days, don't let that get to you. And, as someone else mentioned, there are different types of nursing to get into if you do find you can't be around it.
Hi, just wanted to let you know that when I started school blood and needles drove me crazy I had panac attacks from just seeing them but, you will be suprised what you can do if you really want something. I got poked god only knows how many times and now giving a shot is a breeze. I still do not like to withdraw blood just not my thing. I am an LVN and opted not to get my IV cert so I don't have to deal with that yet. Eventially I will need it to work at a hospital but for now I have time to phsych myself into it! You can do it.
Maybe you can volunteer for a wound clinic or follow a wound nurse around the hospital. She/He can give you clinical angle on looking at wounds and blood. Just being exposed to it over and over again can help.
Hannah, you will be fine. Vomit horrified me, until I held the head of a dear soul who could hold nothing down due to chemo. Needles scared me, until my young son was diagnosed with T1 Diabetes and relied on those needles to live. Giving blood made me faint, until I held the hand of someone bleeding severely from a jet ski accident who asked me not to let them die. I knew that I couldn't possibly deal with human excrement, until I cleaned up the elderly lady who had lost control of her bowels and the last of her dignity in the dining room of an assisted living facility. When I saw the pain and horror on her face at the way her body had so horribly betrayed her, it was not about the mess anymore--it was all about her. What I have learned is, it is not about the mess or the smell, it is all about human safety, wellness, and dignity. I no longer see the bad things when I really see the person that needs my help. That's what its all about.
I believe in my heart that those of us that knew from a young age that we were going to be a Nurse, were in the same boat you are in at one time or another and have over come it. My "gross" story was while I was in school. A very old patient of mine was unable to make it to the bathroom. While they were very apologetic about the accident, I initially didn't think anything of it until I assisted them to turn over in the bed and the smell hit me! Not only did I gag and almost throw up on them, but I had to excuse myself with " I have to go get more linen". Outside of the room, I continued to gag in the drinking fountain, all the while thinking that "I'm not cut out for this and it was a good thing too, cause I was only in my 2nd yr of college and first semester in Nursing". I had a wonderful nurse I was working with that gave me a few hints, especially to breath out of my mouth and not my nose. We then both went in to the room and cleaned up the poor patient who never knew what I had been through.
Try using a "dummy" arm to do the sticks for labs and IV starts. It will get easier!! I've been a nurse since 1981. Good luck and welcome to the profession!
Congratulations on choosing such a noble profession! Please don't try to "talk yourself out of it" because you are squeemish at certain sights. If this is your dream and your calling, you will be able to jump these hurdles. Sometimes it's mind over matter, and sometimes it's a matter of time and exposure. For example: I became an EMT in 1996, but had no intention of going further, because I don't like poking people, ad couldn't imagine giving shots and starting IVs. I don' like causing people pain. But, I had an encouraging teacher who thought I would be a good paramedic, and, with time (and much reservation) I got used to the poking. It takes practice, and lots of it. Now, ironically, starting IVs is one of my best skills, and my coworkers call on me to do difficult sticks.
I am also a "sympathy puker", that is, can't stand vomit, and if you throw up, I throw up! It's been 14 years now, and I have only once almost lost it (even after being thrown up on!) I think you'll find that when you get into "nurse mode", that those things are less bothersome to you than when you are just at school now.
Take comfort too, in the fact that there are literally thousands of different kinds of nursing jobs and areas, and not all of them require dealing with bodily fluids. For example, I can't handle colostomies. Hate them. I have to deal with them now-and-again and it sucks. But, there are these wonderful nurses called ostomy nurses, and they love them. They help patients deal with these, learn how to care for them etc. I'm a trauma nurse and I also work with children. Many people don't make it in my area either.
You are young and have many choices. Don't stress out about those things now. Just enjoy nursing school, and, as you do your clinical rotations, you will find the area of nursing you were meant to be in. Who knows, you might even fall in love with emergency medicine! I know you will be great. Please remember, everyone has "a thing" that they can't stand and that grosses them out, regardless of what area they are in. Doctors too. That's what helped me get ove the vomiting thing, knowing I wasn't the only one!
A few months after I graduated HS I was 19 and had a 5 month old daughter, so I could provide I decided to go back to school and I was interested in nursing. I didn't do much research on my own but I happen to talk to a few nurses by coincidence and only heard stories of dreading catheters and giving needles and so on. I wasted 5 years of not knowing what to do after that and I also stopped going to school. I m now almost 26 and graduating nursing school in December and I don't think of all those supposedly dreadful situations anymore nursing care almost comes naturally.So to sum it up it could come with time or it might not even bother you when you are right there facing it. Usually a lot of it could just be built up in your mind a lot worse than it is. GOOD LUCK!
I think all nurses have something that grosses them out... I've been a nurse for almost 30 years and the smell of feces has ALWAYS grossed me out and still does!
Specializes in Geriatrics, OBGyn, Clinical Nursing.
Hi there!
I too was just like you. Except that that thought of being a nurse never crossed my mind really. My older sister was a nurse and I remember asking her how in the world she used to deal with that sort of stuff. Wounds was a biggie for me. I took the plunge one day and I absolutely LOVE IT! You do get used to it. If your heart is telling you to do it, don't fight it girl. If God is calling you to be a nurse, He'll without a doubt help you through it! Good luck!!
It has been a long time since I posted on here but I do read the forums all the time. I re-registered today because of your post. Please do not let anyone discourage you from becoming a nurse. As a little girl, my mother and her sister tried to encourage me to become a nurse but the mere thought of blood made me feel sick. I grew up and got married and had children and then decided to go back to school. I put my phobias aside and went to LPN school. I passed out cold when I had my blood drawn at the start of the program but decided I was not going to back away. I almost passed out on my first day of clinicals when the lab tech came at 6:30am to draw labs on my first patient. But I didn't. I stuck with it and after graduating got a job in our local hospital and discovered that I truly loved all of it including the bloody parts of nursing. I quickly went back to school and got my RN license. I became one of the best at drawing blood and starting IVs in our hospital. I have learned in life that the best way to deal with a fear is to confront it head on and not let it get the best of you. Our fears are in our mind. I would bet that you will made a great nurse but good nursing comes from the heart not the mind and it seems that your heart is pointing you in the right direction.
I did not go into nursing when I graduated high school. I was in fear of "dead people/bodies". I was in fear of "having to clean up others excrement". It was too bad I had to wait....
But at 32 years old, none of that bothers me now. Going through nursing school is awesome for me right now. You do get somewhat "desensitized" to it. Blood/guts... no problem! I would hate for you to miss the opportunity to do what you want in life because of a little blood! LOL. When I wear my gloves I feel they are my shield, that helps me out.
Also, there are other areas of nursing you can do into that do not deal so much with that aspect of it. But you will never know what you can handle until you try. You are stronger than you think you are.
It will take time. I was nervous and little uneasy with blood and wounds but after being around it enough, it was okay. Its funny how some of the things you can get used too. Good Luck!
cosmicsun
113 Posts
Hannah, it sounds like you'll make a great nurse! Don't worry another second about the blood, etc. As everyone has said, you will get used to it. None of us like it, but when you realize it is part of what is necessary in order to heal, whether it's taking blood for a test, or dressing a wound, or changing wound vacs on wounds that are so outrageous you know they are never going to heal - it is sad, but it's all part of it. You are helping that person the best you can. They have no where else to turn. Getting the care they are getting is their only hope in many instances. There is so much to worry about these days, don't let that get to you. And, as someone else mentioned, there are different types of nursing to get into if you do find you can't be around it.
Take care, hope you are my nurse some day.