Area of hospital with minimal vomit...

alxndria.mrqtt · Jan 16, 2012

MeldogRN....Oh gosh. That's my worst nightmare! I think I can get over the other people puking....but if I'm puking (or close to it) with them, I think I'll die!

SCSTxRN · Jan 16, 2012

I'm a mostly psych (and a little wound care) nurse... I don't see a lot of vomit. I do see a lot of excrement. I guess you have to choose your end.... lol :) Good luck!

Nccity2002, MSN, RN · Jan 16, 2012

Hi. I'm currently on the waitlist for nursing school and I've wanted to be a nurse my whole life...but I have emetophobia and am quite afraid of vomit! I'm sure I could suck it up and deal with it, but I'm just wondering if there are any areas in the hospital that have minimal vomit exposure?

You are in a tough spot, if indeed, you have a real phobia. Why go into a profession that guarantee frequent exposure to your "fear"?

Off the top of my head, areas away from the puking line are: case management, management, research, teaching, just to name a few... the bad news is that all these areas requires years of bedside experience.

Good luck with that one!!

cityknitty_RN · Jan 16, 2012

Definitely not ortho. Postop, many, many, many pts will vomit.

At least, that's how it is on my floor. I used to be very afraid of vomit, but I'm ok with it now that I've been on ortho for 9 months haha

KimberlyBSN · Jan 16, 2012

Im like that with snot... I start to gag just hearing someone try to cough it up (thats why Im a RN and not RT!) If you do come across vomit while in nursing school and it makes YOU want to vomit, try smiling really wide (it surpresses the gag reflex) or sniffing an alcohol swab, the fresh clean scent with help to distract you! Maybe clinic nursing would be a good area for you...

tangigrl · Jan 16, 2012

The more you are around it the less it will bother you. When I first started as a student in the OR (CST) smells were the worst for me until that one day!!! A particularly bad case involving an abdominal abscess presented at first as no big deal, at least until the moment the draining began. Needless to say the minute the first wave of odor broke loose so did my stomach in complete rebellion. It didn't help much that the Surgeon was quick to point out the enormous amount of pus that accompanied that odor. From that day forward I have yet to ever encounter something so vile and now the everyday stuff I do not even respond too. Eleven years later and we (the Surgeon and I) still talk about that day and how it killed my sniffer forever!!!

interleukin · Jan 16, 2012

On the HVRI, or Hospital Vomit Risk Index, a job as cafeteria worker ranks near the bottom.

Then again, some new "watch the budget" dishes make even that job a risk.

alxndria.mrqtt · Jan 16, 2012

SCSTxRN- I think I would love to do psych, but I heard it's so dangerous from another post on here...

I forgot I volunteered in an ER for months and it didn't bother me too much. But, I didn't have to touch any puke. Lol! How many of you have been thrown up ON? (as in all over the front of you scrubs)

NicuGal, MSN, RN · Jan 16, 2012

You are going to run into puke anywhere...yes we even see it in NICU...sometimes more than we care for and sometimes really nasty puke, but at least it isn't chunky puke lol But it can smell pretty bad depending on what the kid is eating, if he has a blockage, etc. Yuck.

You have to deal with it because they give you the sicker patients in nursing school, and they may be throwing up. I had a terrible needle phobia, but I got over it, you do what you have to do to get to your goal.

sillywilly · Jan 16, 2012

I am happy to see I am not alone! I started with my LVN license, and almost did not make it through clinicals. We were mostly in long term care, and there is a surprising amount of vomit in those places.

I was was literally green the whole time I was there. It turns out I also cant stomach that brown film that elderly people have on their teeth. I would vomit or dry heave multiple times a day. I eventually learned not to eat before I went to clinicals. On the bright side, I lost almost ten pounds! I never got used to it, but I did eventually get less embarrassed about vomiting and dry heaving in front of people.

I am applied to a few LVN-RN programs a couple weeks ago, and I am already starting to panic about having to deal with vomit in school again. I hate this; I can deal with blood, feces, urine, pus, maggots, rotting flesh, mucus, everything but vomit! I can't even handle animal vomit. When one of my cats vomits, I cover it with something and make my boyfriend clean it up when when he gets home.

Oh well, everyone has something they can't handle. Working in a doctors office or in the OR may be a good option for you.

alxndria.mrqtt · Jan 16, 2012

Sillywilly- I LOVE you!! Like I mentioned before...if I start puking while the patient's puking, I will lose it. I, unlike you, can handle animal vomit and baby vomit. My daughter had severe projectile vomiting when she was teeny and I dealt with that fine. I'm just going to have to take all the puke that's thrown at me! Lol!! But, if you ever need someone to talk to who understands your fear, I'm here!! :)

tntrn, ASN, RN · Jan 16, 2012

I would have to say, and not so jokingly, the administration offices. Of course, there's lots of spewing that happens there, too.