Hi... I am a 1st semester student and I had my first clinical yesterday. I do fine with blood, mucous, pee, and such but I can't control my gag reflex when around poop. I even did a foley cath that morning on a little elderly lady who did not smell the best but when I went to help another student hold a lady on her side so that she could be cleaned up I could no longer control the gag after about 5 minutes. I feel so embarrassed and I never want to make a patient feel bad about needing to be cleaned up. What can I do to stop this and will I ever just get used to fecal odor. Becoming a nurse is very important to me I just hoope that I can move past this. It also does not help that I quit smoking 2 months ago so I can really smell now. Please help...
Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
When I start clinicals, I am going to conquer my fear of poop by picking it up (If its not mushy!) and playing with it like playdoe. I will mash it, make animals or other intersting sculptures, and then dispose of it! Hopefully after that i will be able to deal with poop! What do you guys think of my plan! Would you endorse it!!
Uh, no that doesn't sound like a very good plan to me. I can't imagine any clinical instructor would endorse that for one of his/her students.
I'll never take it that far. I've got a pretty bad gag reflex when I see poop, specially dog. Not sure how I'll react to the human portion, but I'm going to buy large jars of vicks! My mom thinks it would be a good idea if I started cleaning out the cat box.... nope, she's not getting out of it that easy!!! MUAHAHAHAHA!!! I know when I was in elementary school if anyone puked I'd be the next one too, but now I don't know. I'll see when I get to clinicals!
Hi... I am a 1st semester student and I had my first clinical yesterday. I do fine with blood, mucous, pee, and such but I can't control my gag reflex when around poop. I even did a foley cath that morning on a little elderly lady who did not smell the best but when I went to help another student hold a lady on her side so that she could be cleaned up I could no longer control the gag after about 5 minutes. I feel so embarrassed and I never want to make a patient feel bad about needing to be cleaned up. What can I do to stop this and will I ever just get used to fecal odor. Becoming a nurse is very important to me I just hoope that I can move past this. It also does not help that I quit smoking 2 months ago so I can really smell now. Please help...
Thanks,
Val:o
BM no problem what is bad? False teeth yuuuuuuuuuuukkkkkkkkk!!!
nah false teeth are no problem. My grandpa has a tendacy to stick his bottom plate out at us for fun, so I've been around them for a while. That and I love it when my mom has hers out and she gets a lisp!!!
I can handle poop, but can't do vomit or sputum. Even with my kids if they get sick and vomit, hubby gets vomit patrol because I can't handle it. We just started clinicals (LVN school) and haven't had to deal with vomit...yet. Another thing for me that has a high "ick factor" is warm urine in a collection cup or warm tubes of blood. They just gross me out for some reason.
Yup, you're not alone-for sure. Everyone has their "thing". Mine is the smell of pureed food in the morning! People think I'm crazy, I can't help it, it will sick me out everytime. I take very shallow breaths and hope I don't pass out from hypoxia!!!!!!! Controlling your breathing is a bit more practical than saying, "just a minute, let me grab my mints and vapo rub..."
Good luck, suck it up-it gets easier...at least that's what everyone keeps saying!!!!
Vomit, poop, blood all that I can handle. My experience in clinicals really has nothing to do with the previous things. My friend and classmate asked me to assist her with a wound change. I said sure, I've done plenty before, but none like this one. It was a lady with a fresh amputation......with no skin flap. It literally looked like a pack of rabid dogs ripped her leg off. Talk about turning pasty white and almost passing out. She was on a PCA pump but obviously it didn't help too much. She was screaming so bad when we did the wrap, I almost burst into tears. I know she was hurting in general but.. I couldn't help feeling absolutely awful.I've never seen anything like it, and I don't think I'll ever see anything like that ever again...or at least I really hope not.
Specializes in ER/Nuero/PHN/LTC/Skilled/Alzheimer's.
I worked in a humane society for a year and a half before going in to nursing. I'm in my second year now and the only thing I've seen that made me nausous was a guy who had bilat AKA's, one which was healing fine and the other which was dehiscing at one side and had tunnelled into a V-formation at the medial aspect. The exudate was an army green and it smelled horrific! That's not what got me. It was the oozing site and the dehiscence that got me.
And to make myself even more of an idiot, I almost passed out in LAB not clinical when our teacher was teaching us to drain Hemovacs. She had put cranberry juice to represent serosanguinous drainage and I drink that all the time. It was right before lunch, my blood sugar was down, and we had been in class since before 0700. The room was spinning so hard I had to sit down. And it was just cranberry juice! It's amazing what your mind can jump to off of visuals like that.
I'm actually ok with everything - except spit. I cannot stand to be there when the nurse is suctioning, and if I ever have to do that myself...:uhoh21:
Oh and the other day a patient had really bad gas and
I had to go stand out in the hall until the smell faded so I wouldn't gag and make him feel bad. :imbar I said something like "Oh, haha, look what I forgot - be right back!"
Welcome to nursing. soon you will be able to get up from eating pizza, go change a patient and return to your pizza.
We'll get there one of these days huh?!
It really has gotten easier for me. I used to never be able to sit through dinner if someone was talking about something gross, but now I find myself, during lunch at clinicals, talking about procedures and all kinds of stuff!
I just love this thread because no one else would understand this stuff :chuckle
Dear Val.....I admit I did not read all the posts before I responded but vicks rubbed in your nose and around does help..I also keep a toothbrush and toothpaste in my pocketbook because sometimes I feel like the smell is in my mouth...remember you are a nurse and not a robot , you are going to see things that make you cry,smell things that make you gag and feel things that we as nurses are not supposed to feel..but being human and having these feelings etc.. is what makes us good nurses..we all have encountered this problem and our main concern is the feelings and maintaining the dignity of our patients..I appauld you for asking for advice and feeling like you needed to preserve the dignity of your patient.Oh, and Teaberry gum is good too....God speed and keep up the good work!!!
klone, MSN, RN
14,857 Posts
Uh, no that doesn't sound like a very good plan to me. I can't imagine any clinical instructor would endorse that for one of his/her students.