can i train my squemish stomach?

TopazLover, BSN, RN · Oct 18, 2008

I think knowledge is a good beginning. You will learn the anatomy and physiology of the body. With knowledge comes power over some of the stomach issues. There will be things that will upset your stomach. Each one of us has different things.

Similar to people being scared of spiders but not mice, or vice versa, each nurse reacts to different things differently. There are some things that most of us accept but none like.

Volunteer in a nursing home where you can spend quality time with an elder who needs company. You will become a little de-sensitized to some things.

As a nursing student be first to volunteer. Nobody expects perfection from the first one to do a thing. You will get more opportunities to sooth your tummy.

Congrats. I am glad you are thinking ahead. As a student you will be so busy studying that this might be a worry for nothing. :up:

softstorms · Oct 18, 2008

This brings back so many thoughts.....My first job as an aide...we all went to lunch and I could not think about eating after my first morning of cleaning up POO! They all sat around chatting about who did this and who did that.......I thought....I AM GOING TO LOSE A LOTE OF WEIGHT ON THIS JOB :) Fast forward to 20 years or so later.....Charge nurse at lunch...called back to floor for a GI Bleed. Send pt to hospital, finish paperwork and reheat dinner in microwave.

My thoughts...use Halls cough drops, stick one in your mouth any time you encounter smells, take a lot of shallow breaths and know that this too will pass and get better! Good Luck,

ERRN92 · Oct 18, 2008

This is something we all faced at one time or another. Phlegm!! I still have a problem with. This is how I deal with it....patients need us when they are at their weakest. I have to remind myself that this is someones parent, sibling, grandparent, child, etc...and I just suck it up and do it because someone has to. Yes, it may turn my stomach, but I dont let the patient know that. With time and experience, you will learn to handle it and what used to make you queazy wont seem like such a big deal. Dont sell yourself short. Give it a chance and remember that alot of nurses had to overcome the same thing. Good luck!

nessajune21 · Oct 18, 2008

If you think the sight of things will upset your stomach- just wait until you experience the smells!

jlcole45 · Oct 18, 2008

Don't worry too much about this. Your whole perspective on how you look at the body will change once you start to learn how it works and what things like blood cells do in the body. Do you understand what I am saying?

You will become less queasy and more interested because you will be looking at it from a different point of view. Instead of standing there and thinking oh my God that's a lot of blood. As a nurse you will be standing there and then immediately taking action, because if you don't this person could die.

Your training will be good at your university and your professors will introduce things to you in a controlled way to help avoid too much shock. And yes those first few times you see something you may feel like you'll pass out but these feelings pass with experience and time.

racing-mom4, BSN, RN · Oct 18, 2008

I always crack up when people tell me "Oh I could never be a nurse, I cant stand the site of blood and guts"....OK well I dont work in surgery so I can honestly say I have never seen "guts," and truthfully I rarely even see blood maybe a flash or a drop for an acucheck, but not gushing blood.

Phlem grosses me out, I despise suctioning but I get through it by taking shallow breaths and counting.

I could never be a manicurist as long yellow thick toe nails gross me out. Socks for everyone!!

keno138 · Oct 18, 2008

You really may not know if this has an impact on you until you experience it firsthand. I'm a student and I was afraid that my wound care rotation would bother me, but it didn't. One patient had a stage IV ulcer so large and with so much tunneling you could literally stick your hand inside it. My fascination and urge to learn how to care for these patients overshadowed any squeamish feeling. You may feel the same way. Good luck.

Straydandelion · Oct 18, 2008

No, it doesn't get better, but you can learn to deal with it to some extent. I STILL can't watch someone throwing up without doing the same.. I have learned to be supportive and focus my eyes a little above what is going on until they are done. It may not be the best answer but works for me.

prinsessa · Oct 18, 2008

I am still a nursing student but it is getting better. There are still some things that get to me and I don't think I will ever get over them. Emptying someone rectal tube....I have to look away while I do it. I also can't empty emesis or watch someone vomit. If my patient needs my help I can hold their hair up or hold the basin for them but I can't look directly at them doing it. There a ways to do it without being obvious.

I have had quite a few patients ask me how I can be a nurse (or want to be one). For me the good out ways the bad. I love helping people especially when they need me the most. And sometimes the smell will follow you home. There have been times where I have come home, taken a shower, sprayed myself with perfume and I can still smell something from that day. Those are the days where I need to go outside and take a long walk and some deep breaths of fresh air. Usually that helps. Good luck!

Blee O'Myacin, BSN, RN · Oct 18, 2008

I guess you are just going to have to find out, won't you? I applaud you for pursuing this field despite knowing you are bothered by the sight of blood, etc.

Another poster said that "knowledge is power" - agreed. If you see it and know what to do, it's not so bad. That being said, I can think about what to order for lunch while doing an assesment of a septic wound, but I can't watch gory stuff on TV or at the movies.

I also haven't breathed through my nose in a hospital since I started in 2001.

Blee

nickos · Oct 18, 2008

Off topic, but CONGRATS!! On knowing what you want to do and starting a program so young! I had no idea when I was a senior in high school that I wanted to go into nursing; my life just led me to it over the years after high school. Here in OR programs are VERY competitive to get into, and I have been trying locally for 3 yrs (only at 2 schools, but still!)...will have to move to another town and try again. Good luck! :)