Don't Want To Touch Patients!

Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN · Mar 27, 2015

Not without experience...and you def. won't get through nursing school w/o touching pts, as NS is very acute care focused. I highly recommend getting yourself some professional help if you're set on nursing. Wishing you the best!

SmilingBluEyes · Mar 27, 2015

Get treatment. Don't even think about nursing school until you get this under control.

westieluv · Mar 27, 2015

This is true. In order to get to one of those nursing jobs where you don't actually touch patients, you will need to touch a lot of people, and some of them will be sick, dirty, sweaty...it isn't pretty sometimes.

I am a telephone triage nurse and I never even see a patient face to face, much less touch them, but it took me twenty-five years as a nurse and a lot of gross experiences to get here. I earned my stripes. so to speak. :)

subee, MSN, CRNA · Mar 27, 2015

Cut your losses now and do something else.

elkpark · Mar 27, 2015

There are lots of other helping, "nurturing" occupations that don't involve direct, hands-on care (or, at least, involve a lot less of it) -- social work, psychology, PT, OT, etc., etc., etc. Would one of those work better for you than nursing? Nursing (getting through nursing school, at least) is going to involve touching every part of people's bodies and every kind of bodily fluid. If that's something you're seriously uncomfortable with as a pre-nursing student, I have to wonder how you got to the point of being even pre-nursing (not a criticism, just curious).

TexMex22 · Mar 27, 2015

It's another joke post!

Hilarious. Where's the hidden camera? :roflmao:

vanilla bean · Mar 27, 2015

I'm not a "total" germaphobe, but have germaphobe-ish tendencies. For me, it was not so bad that it was an actual barrier to being able to carry out the tasks expected of someone working in a healthcare environment and providing hands-on patient care. Only you will know if it will be prohibitive for you. If that's the case, and you truly want to be a nurse, I suggest taking the advice of seeking help/treatment. You could also consider other helping professions that don't usually require physical contact (social worker comes to mind).

On a lighter note, working in a hospital is oddly a comforting place for a germaphobe - I mean, there's an unlimited supply of gloves, hand sanitizer everywhere, and you can wash your hands a million times a day without so much as a side glance from someone!

Good luck to you!

TSL7286 · Mar 27, 2015

Get your hands dirty! Just always take your shoes off before going into your house and shower when u get home. Really not a big deal. If ur that much of a germiphobe, you probably won't enjoy nursing and being around sick patients, or patients with flakey skin lol.

MatrixRn · Mar 27, 2015

I cannot think of a way to make it through nursing school with out touching people. The same goes for OT, PT and RT....you have to touch people in those fields as well.

If you want to help people consider Social Work.

Barakibaraki · Mar 27, 2015

It's better to run away from nursing department if you don't like any physical contact with the patient!!

ThinBabe · Mar 27, 2015

Thanks for the replies guys. Maybe I'll rethink my choice of profession...