how can i keep from vomiting?

RunnerRN, BSN, RN · May 21, 2006

My stomach is pretty strong, but every once in a while I clean out a commode or see something that just turns my stomach. I think it is mostly mind over matter - I dissociate from whatever I'm seeing or hearing, and deal with it. When carrying a bedpan, I cover it with a towel, and if someone is vomiting, make yourself busy - get a washcloth and wet it, or fill a cup of water so your patient can rinse his mouth. Eventually you will get back to the point of having an iron stomach. About a month ago, I got an EMS pt in my room who had vomited en route, and (without even thinking) I looked in the barf bucket to see what it looked like....gotta assess for that GI bleed :)

Along the same lines, 3 best helpers I learned in nursing school: Vicks under the nose, strong mint flavored gum, and "tie your shoes" if you're starting to feel faint. Just squatting down to the ground gets more blood to your brain and you'll feel better.

luvmy2angels · May 22, 2006

I agree with the vick under the nose, I know smells aren't your weak point, but just another tip...putting pepermint oil on the inside of a mask!! Works wonders! I am right there with ya though on the vomit issue, I CANNOT help but gag when I'm assisting or cleaning up vomit. 18 years of working as a CNA and I STILL cannot help but gag! I don't think that will ever change!!

Good Luck to ya, and don't !!! (I'm sorry, I just had to add that smiley!!)

Princess74 · May 22, 2006

Vomit is my problem too. Yuck!

I'm going to be the nurse that pukes right along with her patients, lol.

RN2B07 · May 22, 2006

One of our CNA's gets a medicine cup and fills it up with peppermint oil.Then she rolls up a 2x2 and stands it up vertically in the medicine cup, and leaves it in the patient's room, the room smells great in no time. I thought the patient might take offense to it...most of them think it is funny. Good luck! :welcome:

cardiacRN2006, ADN, RN · May 22, 2006

I've always been told to smile and think of happy places. Something about a big smile is supposed to supress the gag reflex.

I know when I was tortured on a boat once with sea sickness the crew made me stay cool and eat ice. The coolness really helped. Kept me from jumping overboard and swimming to shore!

luvmy3kids · May 23, 2006

I just wanted to add how proud I am of myself!!!!! On Easter I got a MAJOR GI upset.... It was so bad my in-laws called the paramedics... we thought my appendix was rupturing... anyway.... my aunt is a trauma nurse in the ER downtown St. Paul (she's seen it all) and I yakked in my MIL's bathtub.... my aunt was wretching right along with me! She couldn't take it! The smell was awful (all that Easter food I guess)... and when the EMT showed up they had to shut the door to the bathroom because it was so bad... hehe :devil:

I know that's awful but I thought it was funny (well now I do anyway)

:roll

Indy, LPN, LVN · May 23, 2006

Vicks under the nose is an old standard; also halls cough drops or tic tacs work. I quit carrying tic tacs because the box rattles with the keys in my pocket and I got tired of hearing all the noise in my pocket.

Also opening a window, if possible, mouth breathing, talking, etc. are all decent distractors. The worst smell I've taken care of was a c. diff patient and it was more than just the smell; the sight of it was bad, bad, bad. I was actually supposed to save a couple of rather large samples of it for the lab; the first bucketful I flushed super fast so I wouldn't puke, then remembered about the samples. Of course then the patient decided he didn't like the bedside commode and got it all over the floor trying to make it to the bathroom. Never again will I eat chicken gumbo; the stuff they serve at my hospital cafeteria under that name looks exactly like what I cleaned up that night. Ugh. I don't even look to see if they're serving soup anymore. Soup and poop rhyme. Coincidence? Maybe.

The second worst was a massive GI bleed- the bedside commode holds a couple gallons at least (no graduated markers in the bucket) and this guy pooped out just under a half bucket of mostly blood. I wasn't even phased by the smell at the moment due to the adrenaline rush resulting from believing that this guy was about to die at any moment. When the smell did hit me it was that of our XO stuff that we spray to get rid of smells... it doesn't work, and the patient's wife sprayed a half bottle in the room, most of which wound up in my hair. It took two showers and washing my nose out with saline to get the smell of the XO out!

Mommy TeleRN, RN · May 29, 2006

I am really glad to read this thread. i do "pretty" good with seeing stuff now that I've had kids. But the smell..oh the smell. I have a VERY sensitive gag reflex. It just doesn't take much to stimulate. I have a very hard time breathing through my mouth. It's literally like my throat closes up I start gagging so badly!

just this weekend my family has had a stomach virus. Thankfully so FAR I'm the only one not to get it (I swear i think my immune system has really gotten strong) Anyway, i bet I've witnessed oh at least 20 vomiting episodes, not to mention all the diarrhea. I'm trying to just jump in and deal wiht it for the experience lol. I have done pretty good until my 7 yr old had major diarrhea in our tiny little bathroom....oh I started gagging and lighting matches to get rid of the smell.

I will definitely have to invest in the mints and vicks! i know that in A&P when we had cadavers I was able to handle the smell by sucking on cough drops (technically not allowed..but hey ya gotta do what ya gotta do!) LOL

I admit my husband often changed poopy diapers if they were really bad like if the kids were sick. I sure hope I can learn to deal with it... adding Vicks to my shopping list! lol

Mistify · May 29, 2006

I am just about to graduate(working in Med/Surg) and I am having the same problem but for different reasons, I am pregnant(four months). I have worked in veterinary medicine for the last 15 years and have a stomach that makes cast iron look weak. But since I got pregnant, I can't even stand the smell of food most the time let alone anything else:barf02: . I hope to regain my strong stomach before too long.

Gwen

joelwas · Oct 12, 2006

Hi. I am about to start nursing school. The thought of nursing, ie helping people and having a medical profession appeals to me. My main worry is how I might deal with a gag relex or maybe the temptation towards nervous laughter at first. Is this something all nurses deal with? And how often?

slou! · Oct 12, 2006

I am so relieved to find this thread! I am am only in my first semester of school, and I'm a pre-nursing student, but the thought of being a nurse really excites me! Except, vomit. I am really worried that I won't be able to handle it! This makes me feel a tiny bit better about it, knowing I'm not the only one. I always thought all nurses could handle that stuff without any problem and I was kind of embarassed that I was trying to become a nurse when I can't even handle it! Now with these suggestions hopefully when the time comes I can be prepared. Ofcorse when the time will come in nursing is still atleast 4 years away but still..