How do you handle the smells and control your gag reflex?

Published

As I anticipate starting a direct-entry program in the fall, I'm not too worried about the workload or the sleep deprivation or even being confronted with some very sad cases during clinicals. HOWEVER, what has got me anxious is my ability to handle the dirty (literally) side of nursing. While I don't consider myself a squeamish person, I'm not too confident in my ability to handle certain smells or clean intimate body parts, other than my own - oh, I could just see myself dry-heaving until my face and eyes are bloodshot! :uhoh3: SMH......I'm starting a CNA course next week to get some experience and get my hands dirty prior to the fall. I know for most of you, Nursing was the first time you ever had to bathe another human being or were exposed to such smells and sights. How did you overcome the "oh, I think I'm going to be sick" of it all? I'm sure you get used to it after a while, just like changing your babies' poo-y diapers (I don't have kids, so I'm not experienced in this area either, although I do walk my mom's pekingnese from time to time and am ok with scooping up her poop.....although I know that doesn't compare LOL :rolleyes:)!

I really don't want my sour stomach to get in the way of my dreams. So any tips you use to hold your breath, while keeping a calm friendly face, and not passing out, would be greatly appreciated!:)

Up Vote Up Vote ×

You do get used to it. Meanwhile, I try to mentally prepare myself to expect the smells and how to deal with them. I just try to stay calm and breathe shallowly. Cleaning intimate body parts is not really a big deal... You can do it.

I am starting nursing school in the fall and I am feeling a bit squeamish about starting IV's and things like that. Not shots, just the insertion of a needle into an actual vein... particularly a hard-to-find vein!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
You do get used to it. Meanwhile, I try to mentally prepare myself to expect the smells and how to deal with them. I just try to stay calm and breathe shallowly. Cleaning intimate body parts is not really a big deal... You can do it.

I am starting nursing school in the fall and I am feeling a bit squeamish about starting IV's and things like that. Not shots, just the insertion of a needle into an actual vein... particularly a hard-to-find vein!

Oh gosh, I totally forgot about this side :uhoh3:.........I think I just passed out at my desk!:crying2:.......I keed, I keed :lol2:! But this would have me more anxious than a hooker in front of a police station! :rolleyes::lol2:

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I was the same way before I started my nursing career. I became a CNA at the age of 17, so before I started nursing school, which im currently in now, I got use to all of that. At first it is nasty and unbearable but in the back of my mind I knew that this was my job discription and I had no choice but to do it. Eventually you get use to it. As for me, it is still really nasty to clean up poop and vomit (prefer poop over vomit) but im pretty much use to urine. As for not smelling it, u can breath through your mouth. I know that seems nasty also, but at least you are not smelling it. :) Good Luck!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

When we were doing CNA clinicals, we went to one nursing home that was..... not the best. One hall had the nastiest pee and poop smell. Every time we'd walk through there (it was on the way to the break room), I would hold my breath and practically run to get away from the stench. A few times I thought I was faint from lack of oxygen!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in LTC.

Breathe through your mouth..

When you are actually cleaning them, and changing their brief.. the stench and sight of poop isn't your concern. You want to get them clean and comfortable. Who wants to be sitting in a dirty brief? I don't. How do you feel when you haven't taken a shower in a day or two. You feel gross right? Imagine sitting in a bed 24/7 ...thats not even your own bed. I'd be miserable and very grateful for a bath/brief change

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Breathe through your mouth..

When you are actually cleaning them, and changing their brief.. the stench and sight of poop isn't your concern. You want to get them clean and comfortable. Who wants to be sitting in a dirty brief? I don't. How do you feel when you haven't taken a shower in a day or two. You feel gross right? Imagine sitting in a bed 24/7 ...thats not even your own bed. I'd be miserable and very grateful for a bath/brief change

That's quite understandable......however, just because you may become a little woozy at the stench of someone else's poop (hell, I don't even like my own) doesn't mean that you would not go out of your way to do your job in providing quality patient care and making them feel comfortable. And while that is the main goal, I think for new nursing students that are not used to it, they are trying to find their own comfort level as well, so that they can do a good job and become a good nurse. This is nothing against the patient.

That's what I was asking........but thanks for the insight.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I have to LOL at this, not because it's an unreasonable thought, but because I remember walking into my first few days of clinicals thinking "oh God, oh God, oh God...I hope nobody poops today" but of course they did and they continue to--you learn to deal with it. And like so many others have said, your main goal shifts from your own comfort to theirs. If things are really bad, we would double up on masks and put a tea bag in between the two masks--don't just put the teabag inside of your mask, if you sweat even one drop--you will dye your skin! Or--for patients that are incontinent of stool or have a fecal management system...you would find nurses putting instant coffee in cups and putting it on the shelf. That would help to take away the odor, very temporarily. Use your sense of smell though, because once you get a few whiffs of C-Diff or pseudomonas in a wound or a good UTI--those are things that will stick with you forever, and your nose truly is a good assessment tool--you'll be able to sniff out and diagnose C-Diff from a mile away in no time, trust me!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in pandemic, public health, disasters.

My entire childhood, my father had a colostomy. THE PUTRID SMELL, oh dear. You actually DO get used to it.

This sounds stupid, but try menthol chapstick. Lots of it. Always keep it in your pocket. I actually hate menthol chapstick but I swear when you put it on, it's the only thing you can smell.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Nothing sounds stupid! Thanks for the tips - believe me, I will try them - menthol chapstick, tea bags, vicks, anything that works is ok with me!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in LTC.
That's quite understandable......however, just because you may become a little woozy at the stench of someone else's poop (hell, I don't even like my own) doesn't mean that you would not go out of your way to do your job in providing quality patient care and making them feel comfortable. And while that is the main goal, I think for new nursing students that are not used to it, they are trying to find their own comfort level as well, so that they can do a good job and become a good nurse. This is nothing against the patient.

That's what I was asking........but thanks for the insight.

Oh no I don't want you to take it the wrong way.. thats just how I think of it. To put it in a easier way to understand.. put yourself in the patients "shoes' is what I'm trying to say.

I just don't feel its professional to be changing a patient and have even the faintest look on your face like "omg this smellz!" Some patients are very vulnerable and I wouldn't want them to feel bad about it.

A nursing instructor told a story about this.. when she was a new nurse she was taking care of a patient with a facial defect. The patient vomited up her breakfast which was eggs. When she emptied the emesis basin(filled with vomit and eggs.. don't mean to gross anyone out!).. she was gagging at the sink and the patient saw her facial expression in the mirror. She felt terrible.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Oh no I don't want you to take it the wrong way.. thats just how I think of it. To put it in a easier way to understand.. put yourself in the patients "shoes' is what I'm trying to say.

I just don't feel its professional to be changing a patient and have even the faintest look on your face like "omg this smellz!" Some patients are very vulnerable and I wouldn't want them to feel bad about it.

A nursing instructor told a story about this.. when she was a new nurse she was taking care of a patient with a facial defect. The patient vomited up her breakfast which was eggs. When she emptied the emesis basin(filled with vomit and eggs.. don't mean to gross anyone out!).. she was gagging at the sink and the patient saw her facial expression in the mirror. She felt terrible.

I completely agree, and this is why hearing what works for other nurses is helpful, so that you can continue to display professionalism and a comfortable environment for the patient, and do whatever you can to mask your own discomfort. I would never want to make anyone feel worse than they already do.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion