fainted during a procedure at work!!

[NurseKate16]

Okay, so I'm telling this as kind of a funny story that happened yesterday.

First let me state that I am in my first year of nursing but I have seen many gross and bloody procedures and don't have an issue at all with them. I have assisted with vasectomies at my current job since I started in August and none have bothered me at all. Yesterday I had done a few procedures with doctors that morning and we had the laser running for a few hours. It was really hot in the room and I had been struggling with that all day. I also did not get a chance to drink anything since early that morning. I was assisting a doctor with a frenulotomy and started getting REALLY hot and a bit dizzy. I turned and looked at my boss who had come in to see that everything was going well and I just said" I'm really hot...and kinda dizzy". And I woke up on the floor with her cradling my head... She caught me THANK GOD because I would have hit my head on the equipment behind me. I was fine immediately and didn't feel dizzy anymore but I was SOOOO embarrassed. Of course it was my only patient of the day that was under local anesthesia only so of course he witnessed the whole thing. Poor guy comes in for surgery on his man parts and watches his nurse pass out! I apologized to the doctor over and over and to the patient because I felt so bad and was so embarrassed. They were both really understanding. I of course will not be living this down at work for a while I'm sure. Just wanted to share because I think the idea of a patient on the table wide awake during his procedure on his man parts seeing his nurse fall down next to him is kind of funny. Poor guy got dressed after the procedure and walked into the room and looked at me..."you ok?", he says. I started laughing and said, "yes, im so sorry. how are you feeling?". He was better off than me! I have only ever fainted one other time in my life. I am not squeamish or anything but I definitely have learned to make sure I take time to have something to drink throughout the day.

[heathert_kc]

That's hillarious, when it happens to anyone but yourself... I had a similar experience a couple weeks ago. I have been an LPN for a couple years and am half way through my first of two semester for my lpn-rn bridge. I have been fortunate enough to see lots of gross stuff in my work and school clinical experience (ambutations, joint replacement surgery, etc.), never once felt the slightest bit faint. But while in OB/nursery, same unit in a small rural hospital, the nurse I was shadowing was doing a newborn's PKU and it was taking forever to fill in the little circles on the paper, literally ten minutes and was only half done (seemed like a life time)... I said " It's hot in here" then stepped back thinking I ought to lean against the wall, but then woke up on the floor, feeling very disoriented for a minute. It was just me, the staff nurse, and one other student from my class, but I was so embarassed. Everyone was very nice about it even the clinical instructor wasn't mad, but I couldn't help but apologize over and over. Oh well, gotta laugh at yourself sometime... guess that'll teach me to skip breakfast...

[Not_A_Hat_Person, RN]

When I was in school, my lab instructor told everyone that she fainted the first time she gave an injection.