Feel really sick in L&D?

[luka_sagitta]

Hi there! This is my first post here. :) I hope this is the right place.

I'm a 2nd year nursing student in her first round of clinicals. One clinical alternates between post-partum and L&D. Once we got to the L&D floor during the tour, even without seeing any patients, I felt really sick--nauseous, dizzy, sweaty, etc. Once we returned to the postpartum floor, my symptoms disappeared. Assuming it was a fluke, I just dismissed it.

Fast-forward to today--I spent 6 hours feeling absolutely awful on that floor exclusively, even though I have worked on other floors without any problems. Headache, nausea, dizziness, eye strain, and I sweated through parts of the scrubs they gave me (I ended up wiping sweat off my forehead quite a few times!). Of course, as soon as I left, I was back to normal.

I asked my instructor if there was something different in the air quality or something, but she said she'd never heard of anything like that happening and had no suggestions.

For anyone who has worked on an L&D floor, do you know of anything that would cause this kind of reaction? Air quality, chemicals, smells, something? I'm not sick (obviously, since it vanished both times I left the floor), I sat down plenty of times to rest, I had a smoothie for breakfast, I'm not squeamish (and I was sick without seeing anything nauseating anyway), etc.

[AngelMama]

Tell me your overall feelings regarding labor and delivery.

[NicuGal, MSN, RN]

Classic anxiety.

[luka_sagitta]

Angel Mama: My thoughts on L&D? Well, aside from my body freaking out, I loved it! I was able to see a lot in a short time and got to interact with the mom and her husband for the rest of it. My nurse was the nicest I've had so far and walked me through everything. The most stressful part of it was when I had to put in a catheter in front of surgeons at the beginning, but I did great, so... I just wish I could have enjoyed it more. The lecture component is by far my favorite class this semester too.

NicuGal: I understand why you would think that, but I'd rather explore other possibilities first. I've had plenty of experience with anxiety, and this felt nothing like mine ever has. Even when I was just talking about football with the husband, or when I didn't see a single patient at all during the tour and knew I had no obligations that day, or when I was just looking up things on the computer before post-conference, my body was going haywire. I'm far more anxious during MedSurg because the patients tend to be less patient and not quite as happy. The reason I thought it might be chemicals/smells is because it reminded me more of when my mom would drag me into candle stores and my body would freak out the same way.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

Angel Mama: My thoughts on L&D? Well, aside from my body freaking out, I loved it! I was able to see a lot in a short time and got to interact with the mom and her husband for the rest of it. My nurse was the nicest I've had so far and walked me through everything. The most stressful part of it was when I had to put in a catheter in front of surgeons at the beginning, but I did great, so... I just wish I could have enjoyed it more. The lecture component is by far my favorite class this semester too.

NicuGal: I understand why you would think that, but I'd rather explore other possibilities first. I've had plenty of experience with anxiety, and this felt nothing like mine ever has. Even when I was just talking about football with the husband, or when I didn't see a single patient at all during the tour and knew I had no obligations that day, or when I was just looking up things on the computer before post-conference, my body was going haywire. I'm far more anxious during MedSurg because the patients tend to be less patient and not quite as happy. The reason I thought it might be chemicals/smells is because it reminded me more of when my mom would drag me into candle stores and my body would freak out the same way.

A possibility, certainly. I suggest you make it through your rotation as best you can, and see what happens when you go to other areas. If you have some spare time, (Hah!) you can get the MSDS* from the unit and see what chemicals and other substances they use there. (Do this on your own time.) You might be able to connect with the hospital employee health department to consult there, too. An industrial hygienist is your next stop, to see if s/he can find any correlation.

Good luck!

*Materials safety data sheets, a required element for any business