Tonsillectomy

[ttpurtee]

Well, as some of you know, I have considered going into nursing. However, I struggle with vomit, so I thought that meant I would not make a good nurse.

Also, my DD just had her tonsils removed and she was in really bad pain, which really upset me, I don't know if it was because she was my daughter or if I would be like that with all patients. If so, that is probably a bad thing. It was like I wanted to make the pain stop and make it stop now.

Then I had to look in the back of her throat where the tonsils were removed and I was scared to look at, a part of someone's body that had been cut off or cut open. I finally did it, and it was okay, however, do you think these things would make me a horrible nurse. Or do you think I would get over things like this?

[leslie :-D]

yes definitely, you will adjust to most stuff.

most of us still have our quirks, and have never become immune to certain things, i.e., suctioning, odors, mucuous,. etc./

but somehow we still endure.

you'll be fine, i'm certain.

personally, i've never gotten used to unrelieved pain.

but that has also provoked me into further action and advocacy.

best of luck to you.

leslie

[RockinChick66]

You'll get use to it.

[xtxrn, ASN, RN]

Vomiting almost kept me out of nursing school . I'd get pre-syncopal (almost passing out) if someone SAID they felt sick !! For the first few years, my standard response to nauseated patients was "let me see what you have ordered for that" and I was out of the door!! (unless they weren't fully conscious, then it was haul out the suction and get it turned on so I could vacuum them out before anything actually fell- or flew- out of their mouth).

Time went on- and now (I haven't worked for several years d/t disability- but still am the first one called from one side of the family) all I ask is "just don't hit my shoes"..... By about 5 years in, I had been free of the pre-syncopal response for a while. I'd get clammy and pale, and sound would dim- it was awful !

Nurses get used to a lot. We clean up diarrhea, then go eat bean soup. I used to put my Lean Cuisine chop suey in an emesis basin because it was the only thing around (back when LC came in plastic bags). We'd drink tea/beverages out of urine collection triangular pitchers... we're gross !!

About the pain- I'm not sure you get used to it- but you learn how to deal with patients' pain better. You get tools to manage things, and if those don't work, you call the doc.

But I was a puke wimp- and now I could care less..... kind of like cow poop- it's just grass and water :) (ok, so some bacteria, but I'm trying to keep this helpful !).

[ellen 12]

Nurses receive training. Usually when I need to do something,I don't think about the unpleasantness of the task, I think about the patient, and my want to make them more comfortable and help them to relax.

[xtxrn, ASN, RN]

Nurses receive training. Usually when I need to do something,I don't think about the unpleasantness of the task, I think about the patient, and my want to make them more comfortable and help them to relax.

That does work when you aren't already spooked by something :)

[anurseatlast]

I think many nurses do better on the job than dealing with family members, especially your own kids. It is hard to see anyone in pain but harder still when it is someone you love. On the job, I think most tend to focus on what they need to do for their patient. I have a friend who can handle a crisis at work while staying calm but in her personal life, it is a totally different thing - she tends to fall apart.

As others have said, we all have things that bug us (for me, it's gunky trachs! Yuck. Fortunately, I don't have to deal with them in my job. If I ever do, I'll just have to get over it and I am sure I could.) but often are able to do them anyway. Nurses don't necessarily like vomit, blood, guts, etc. but we get past it to do our jobs for the good of our patients.

[Nascar nurse, ASN, RN]

25+ years...still can't do vomit. I make that known early in a job and always am willing to trade if someone else comes across something they can't handle. Rarely has it been a problem.

[momto2j's]

My son, age 4, also just had his tonsils removed. I think training is the key thing. For this proceedure, they (ENT and staff) do not do a good job preparing parents at all. All I heard was that the first few days would be a little painful but kids bounce right back. Well 14 days and 3 extra IV's for fluids later, lots of vomiting, rectal suppositories and forcing acid tasting lortab down his throat we were finally on our road to recovery. We both survived the experience. I will say that in the experience I had a few good nurses and a few that were completly out of their element when dealing with a kid that was awake and a mother that wasn't leaving his side. I think I can do better than a several I encountered.

[xtxrn, ASN, RN]

25+ years...still can't do vomit. I make that known early in a job and always am willing to trade if someone else comes across something they can't handle. Rarely has it been a problem.

Yeah, I found this too- on one neuro floor I worked on, the lone male nurse wasn't always received well by LOLs (little old ladies- not laugh out louds :)) who had to be cath'd...so one of us females would do those, and he was always willing to do something for a male patient who didn't want a 20-something female (or we'd get the 40-something female, who had a good way with the older guys).

Some of us would suction a trach all day long, and trade that for dealing with a puker. Good thing that we all have different strengths.

[redessa]

I had my tonsils out at almost 19. My mother had been a nurse for about 17 yrs at that point. She'd been in ICU most of that time and was working on her nurse practitioner's license. Needless to say, she'd pretty much seen it all.

So I get my tonsils out and she was there in the recovery room when I was waking up. I don't know what had happened, but they'd put an O2 mask on me. I started coughing and blood splattered the mask. My mother FREAKED! I wasn't even fully out of anesthesia and I still knew she was losing it.

Later, I asked her what in the world!?! How could a little blood after something as routine as a tonsillectomy possibly have upset her so much? Her answer, "That was MY baby." So yes, it's different when it's your own child. There's no professional detatchment when it's your baby.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

After all my years of experience......I can easily freak over my kids! The worse thing that ever happened to me was iI was 9 months pregnant with my son and my 10 month old daughter was in the shopping cart and she threw a fit, smacked her face and bloodied her nose/lip. I was hysterical!!!!! When they offered to call an ambulance I pulled myself together to say it was "OK" I was an Emergency Room nurse and she'll be fine. When I glanced up I saw many expressions of......She's a nurse and acts like that!!! Remind me not to go to that hospital...

I can do vomit:barf02:.......What I can't do is a great big thick, tenacious hocker!!!!! YUCK!!! (shudder). and I have always been a big smells girl like B.O. or sweaty unwashed feet! That's where Vicks Vapo rub under the nose really helps.

Everybody has something they REALLY can't stand and you get used to some and negotiate with your peers for others.....