How long does it take to get over being squeamish??

nlctmrk107b · Aug 31, 2006

Some people never do and others quickly, this is one area where someone else's experience really means very little. What exactly are you sqeamish about? A little more info might help give you an answer worth typing out! :twocents:

c18436572 · Aug 31, 2006

Mostly needles and open wounds. I'm more worried that I am going to pass out during clinicals, once I begin. Does anyone else feel like this? Every nurse I talk to seems to be steady and unaffected by these aspects of nursing. I think maybe it takes a special breed of person to be able to deal with seeing these things on a daily basis and not be as effected by them. Maybe I am just not that breed? I am just wondering if anyone else started out being concerned about this problem and eventually got over it? If so to what extent were they effected by it and how did they manage to get over it. I really want to be a nurse, but this is a big issue for me that is making me second guess my decision. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for writing me back nlctmrk107b!

rsmcc · Aug 31, 2006

Mostly needles and open wounds. I'm more worried that I am going to pass out during clinicals, once I begin. Does anyone else feel like this? Every nurse I talk to seems to be steady and unaffected by these aspects of nursing. I think maybe it takes a special breed of person to be able to deal with seeing these things on a daily basis and not be as effected by them. Maybe I am just not that breed? I am just wondering if anyone else started out being concerned about this problem and eventually got over it? If so to what extent were they effected by it and how did they manage to get over it. I really want to be a nurse, but this is a big issue for me that is making me second guess my decision. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for writing me back nlctmrk107b!

I was very sqeamish when I first started. I remember going into A&P and looking at all of the eyeballs in the bucket and feeling like I was in the twightlight zone.

Then in my first semester of clinicals, I was in the OR and watched a nephrectomy....very bloody. I was really afraid that I might pass out. At first I was very nervous, but I slowly got used to it. After watching a few surgeries....needles, IV's, etc....all seem so less invasive, not much bothers me anymore. Stick with it, you will eventually get "desensitized."

c18436572 · Sep 1, 2006

LOL, Man I hope so! I don't want to be "That Girl" that passes out during a surgery. Thanks for the input! It's helpful to know that other people had the same struggles.

RebeccaJeanRN · Sep 1, 2006

Exposure is the key, just like above poster said. With more exposure, you will get desensitized to blood, guts and gore and who knows...eventually you could become like so many nurses I know, who run to watch really weird procedures & treatments and to sneak a peak at unusually large or dramatic wounds. The sadness of the human experience with suffering and dying is not something I've ever gotten inured to, but the amazing things that we can do to our bodies and still live to tell, fascinates the heck out of me!

cookielady,rn · Sep 1, 2006

Never been squeemish. There are somethings I definately prefer not to see or smell. Not sure if lots of exposure will help desensitize you.

cookielady,rn · Sep 1, 2006

Never been squeemish. There are somethings I definately prefer not to see or smell. Not sure if lots of exposure will help desensitize you.

ArizonaMark · Sep 10, 2006

Before I became a nurse, I could pass out simply upon entering a doctors office ! LOL.

It took me awhile to become accustomed to the blood and guts. I started out as a CNA, and I think that made the transition a little easier to take. Now, I'm more fascinated than queasy. I got to observe a colectomy last week in clinicals. The lady's guts were literally lying outside of her open abdomen. The surgeon even allowed me to peer inside the gut to observe the metastized cancer on her liver.

Man, I couldn't have imagined in a million years that I could have ever been able to handle something like that. I mean I've passed out probably a dozen times from injections or blood draws.

Bottom line is: Hang in there, don't ever let anyone tell you that you're not cut out for the profession. You will get used to it !

c18436572 · Sep 11, 2006

So how did you get past the dizziness? Can you PM me and give me some pointers? What made you decide on nursing if you were squeamish to that extent?

Thanks!

tferdaise · Sep 21, 2006

Anybody?

I'm not squemish at all but thing I partiluarly do not like was hearing/feeling too bones rubbing together. In the Trauma room, U would help the Ortho Doc's place pts in a splint and could feel the bones rubbing against each other...

But I can take everything else....

Tony:monkeydance:

Christa_Gunnewiek · Sep 21, 2006

A tip that we are always told by our instructors, clinical teachers etc, is to make sure that you eat before you go to placement!! Especially if you are working days, EAT BREAKFAST!!!!

Good Luck

Christa