Don't Want To Touch Patients!

Everline · Mar 28, 2015

Is this for real?

I have no idea how someone would get through nursing school without touching patients. Just think about it for a minute. It makes no sense.

ShelbyaStar · Mar 28, 2015

What? That's the point of being a nurse. Physical care. It almost always involves touching. As people said, there's specialties where it doesn't, but it still takes a lot of touching to get there.

Why someone who is germaphobic to the point of specifically not wanting to have to touch people would consider nursing as opposed to psychology or something like that is beyond me. There are a lot of ways to help people. I can't wrap my head around this.

I mean I used to be pretty emetophobic and that kept me away for a long time. I've gotten much better about it, and I am still not thrilled about the idea but it's not something that's going to happen multiple times with multiple people, every single shift, so I can deal. Touching people? Not so much.

WookieeRN, BSN, MSN, RN · Mar 28, 2015

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

That's probably a good idea.

BlueChocolateCat · Mar 28, 2015

Nursing is not the answer.

Trauma Columnist · Mar 28, 2015

....and back to the topic at hand.....thanks

BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN · Mar 28, 2015

If EVER there was a time when we should be allowed to use the "T" word, right?

It's another joke post!
Hilarious. Where's the hidden camera?

westieluv · Mar 28, 2015

I was just thinking about the time that about 800 ml of slimy, pea green, N/G tube drainage dumped out of the cannister and spilled down the leg of my scrub pants. Also the time that we had a gentleman who was 88 years old, 6'6" tall, bedbound, and taking GoLytely in the evening for a colonoscopy in the morning and filled his bed with liquid stool almost continually, in spite of briefs and pads everywhere.

Nope, nursing is not for the faint of heart or the germophobe, that's for sure!

Jules A, MSN · Mar 28, 2015

I was just thinking about the time that about 800 ml of slimy, pea green, N/G tube drainage dumped out of the cannister and spilled down the leg of my scrub pants. Also the time that we had a gentleman who was 88 years old, 6'6" tall, bedbound, and taking GoLytely in the evening for a colonoscopy in the morning and filled his bed with liquid stool almost continually, in spite of briefs and pads everywhere.
Nope, nursing is not for the faint of heart or the germophobe, that's for sure!

Bless you and fwiw after this story I'm now reconsidering whether or not I'm fit to be a nurse.

Libby1987 · Mar 28, 2015

Uh, yeh, kinda. I didn't feel this way after "one of those days" during clinicals. Gloves and hand sanitizer didn't help that much...
I was assigned one of those patients that the floor nurses are thrilled to unload on a student. You know, a test, to see if the student will buck up or run off the unit crying.
I don't remember any other details except a bed-bound patient & cleaning up BM's, washing the patient & repeating over and over x 8 hours. Sometimes BM leaked out before we even got the patient turned back over.
It was a real test of my will to stick with nursing. Truly a case of _ _ _ _ happens.
I still remember it. Why? You'd think I'd want to forget it forever right?
Because I remember the other students pitching in to help. I remember the patient groaning with embarrassment, nearly in tears, saying "I'm sorry" over and over.

I'd found compassion and strength in myself that I didn't know was there.
I'd survived my baptism by fire, my make it or break it test from the floor nurses, and was yet another step closer to being a "real nurse."

I love this and it's how I've tried to explain to non nurses who ask "how can you do that work?!" Well, it's not because I love bodily fluids that's for sure.

Libby1987 · Mar 28, 2015

I guess there's no need to reiterate the obvious answer to OP's question.

KaityKait, EMT-B · Mar 28, 2015

i agree, hospitals are a safe haven for germaphobes in a weird way. all those gloves and protocol, its like a dream... and i was working housekeeping!! now i am a pre-nursing student and the real germaphobe cure for me was taking microbiology. learning how infections actually happen and the reality behind illness prevention took a HUGE weight off my shoulders. as for the not wanting to touch people thing--thats a second issue. sometimes that sentiment really changes when a human being really NEEDS u to touch them. and here, in my opinion is what makes the difference between a nurse and a great nurse... do they remember their first BM incident bc it was traumatic and they survived it in front of their mentors? or do they remember their first BM incident bc they helped another human being regain a shred of dignity and comfort during a moment of intense struggle? i have seen a lot of cynacism on floor, both as a caregiver and a housekeeper, but it was watching the nurses who DO because something NEEDS done that inspired me to pursue this line of work. Mopping up vom is gross and meaningless when it is detached from the reality at hand, but when you know you are wiping away a piece of someone's embarrassment or discomfort at a time when they are most vulnerable it can make even housekeeping a heartwarming and rewarding job.

-KK

krrbrr, ADN · Mar 28, 2015

ThinBabe, do you have a CNA license yet?

I struggled with some of these issues when I first started my journey 2 years ago and made the choice to start out by diving straight into CNA to see if I could handle it. Turns out that over time I felt more and more comfortable touching patients and I think I was more careful than other students in my class, because I wanted to ensure I was washing my hands correctly each time and taking all precautions needed that I noticed several students skipping.

If you haven't tried a CNA program I highly recommend you try it NOW so you don't find out later that you wasted so much time doing something you won't be able to handle.