I posted this question on a different thread but I probably should have put it on here. I REALLY want to be a nurse, but I have a history of almost hurling and almost passing out when it comes to certain things. I was watching a procedure being done on my sister once. She was having Norplants removed, and yep, I nearly hit the ground and didn't even know it. Had to remove myself from the room and sit with my head between my legs for about 10 minutes. Has anyone else had this problem? Wanting to be a nurse but worried you're to squimish?? Please let me know how to overcome it, or how you overcame it, if so! I'm highly stressed about it.
It's funny, when I was a kid, I would regularly pass out whenever I was in a hospital. Now I'm ok, I must have had low blood pressure or something.
As far as odors go, I'm ok with most odors...but I think I'll keep a jar of vicks in my pocket at all times...I'm mostly not squeamish, but watching maggot therapy will probably make my skin crawl. Getting up close and personal with vomit will take some getting used to. I know for sure, suctioning will be no problem, I used to help the nurse's aide suction my former father-in-law. I don't know why my mind does this, but when I look at a full suction container, I get this mental picture of someone drinking it...THAT makes me queasy...gotta work on cognitive redirection there!
Oh my. Thanks for that visual. I just wretched after I read that. LOL
In the back of my mind I'm thinking I may want to be a wound/ostomy nurse. The first pt I had with c.diff I had to leave the room - almost vomited. I was surprised because smells usually don't cause that kind of reaction. I guess I'll have to carry Vicks around in my pocket too.
:chuckle OMG! This is great! I am on my last quarter of Medical Assistant School before I start my pre-reqs for the nursing program (if I can get in anywhere!) I was at my externship site and the doctor asked me if I wanted to watch as he removed a peice of rock from a patient's hand. SURE, why not? WOW, hearing the forcepts scratching the rock made me super queezy!!!!!!!!!!! I almost hit the floor. How am I going to handle nursing?????????????????
OMG! This is great! I am on my last quarter of Medical Assistant School before I start my pre-reqs for the nursing program (if I can get in anywhere!) I was at my externship site and the doctor asked me if I wanted to watch as he removed a peice of rock from a patient's hand. SURE, why not? WOW, hearing the forcepts scratching the rock made me super queezy!!!!!!!!!!! I almost hit the floor. How am I going to handle nursing?????????????????
One of the girls in my nursing skills class actually just asked that question on Thursday. Here is what the instructor told her. She said, "If you think you're going to throw up, don't worry about it, or else you will. You need to just do the procedure repeatedly and let yourself see that nothing you're doing is bad enough to where you need to be gagging or anything like that." So, anyways, I used to get lightheaded when I saw blood, but ever since working in a hospital and now being in nursing school, it doesn't even phase me anymore. It's just something that you have to deal with and work through. It'll be worth it in the long run, believe me.
I'm a first semester NS and seem to tolerate blood,pee,poo, ugly bedsores ok. But last week I changed a C-diff diaper and came close to being sick to my stomach. I kept turning my head over my shoulder to take gulps of fresh air. My clinical mates told me you could smell it all over the floor!
I know this is sort of an old thread but I had to chime in. Today in clinicals my instructor let three of us observe a lumbar puncture. I was so excited to be asked to see and nurse and doc could not have been nicer -- kind to the pt. and explaining the procedure to her and to us...
Well. The combo of that long needle (and I've had LP and didn't even really mind it), the sight of CSF just dripping out and the sound of her sobs (her tolerance was way down -- they had not yet been able to dx her and she was exhausted and in pain) got to me. Add to that, I had eaten nothing and had been up since 3 a.m. (dumb!). I was wearing supp socks and kept telling myself not to lock my knees...but my ears started to ring and everything started going dark. Still, I was able to turn on my heel and sit on a chair in the hall before the world went all the way black. I figured it was better to hit the floor in the hallway than in the pt's room.:imbar
Anyway! My instructor chuckled and said not to worry -- she had said earlier that someone usually faints every semester. I never expected it to be me!:icon_roll
For me it's totally an observing vs. doing thing. In the last 4 years or so, I've passed out a grand total of 9 times in medical situations. Three of those were after giving blood, but the rest happened when I was watching a surgery (far away from the field, thank God), seeing someone get blood drawn, TALKING to someone about fluid replacement (really), etc. For the record, I am also an EMT and a clinical assistant (basically the equivalent of a CNA at the hospital where I work), and have never ONCE felt like passing out on the job. I'm observing a CRNA this semester and have only gone down once (prior to the pt even being in the room- CRNA was telling me about infusing plasma and that was enough for me), but that was the only morning I had been unable to eat breakfast. For me the key to avoiding this "condition" is to have food in my stomach, stay as cool (temperature-wise) as possible, and make sure my mask is on fairly loosely if I'm in the OR. If you're really worried about it, order a box of ammonia inhalants from an EMS supply company and keep those with you- that's what they're for and they will pop you out of that pre-fainting nauseus sweaty state right away.
obicurn
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Oh my. Thanks for that visual. I just wretched after I read that. LOL