Nurse Phobias?

[pattycakeRN]

Just wondering, since I have one of my own... what are your phobias as a nurse? I know some people don't like sputum (the deeeeep down thick stuff) and so on, but is there something of which you have a deep down, debilitating fear? I guess it doesnt even have to be related to nursing...

FYI, this crossed my mind because I have a memory of being 6 years old or so and the movie Mask being on the TV (the Cher one, not the Jim Carrey one) and I cried and hid in the closet. Now, maybe that didn't do it, but I honestly have a fear of that kind of deformity. I can't even watch the FX channel because I saw on the channel guide the other day that it was on. And recently, there was a yahoo news picture of a severely deformed boy's face, and I nearly passed out. I haven't been to my 'My Yahoo' page in over a month now. Weird? I dunno, but I get upset just thinking about it at home alone.

[lakerette01]

I am not a fan of eyeballs either.. I have always been "weirded" out by contacts and even using Visine.. Seeing a couple eye lid surgeries in Nursing school just confirmed my phobia of them.. :) glad to know that I am not the only one! :)

I am also a bit scared of suctioning pts, esp trachs.. Not sure if its just that I have not done it a lot, and its just the unknown that I have a fear of or what..

[Scrubby]

i can handle faeces, urine, sputum but i cannot handle bile!

I saw a documentary not so long ago about families who have children with Harlequin icthyosis and survived to adolescence. What these poor children and their parents have to go through is horrendous. The families have to use industrial washing machines because of all the shed skin on their clothes. Because of the scratching on their cornea, they usually end up blind by adolescence. It was hearbreaking to watch.

[Nurse!Nurse!Hello?]

Well, I can handle sputum, GI bleeds, bile, eyeballs, feet, smegma, trach suctioning, earwax, belly buttons, clogged toilets, vomiting, and exploding O2 tanks.

What I CAN'T handle is when a patient's upper denture slips and hangs down! I just can't even look at it. I call the CNA to fix it because I'm oh-so-busy...:icon_roll

[MIRockstarRN]

Feet....Yuck! The absolute worst is TED hose. The flaky skin that comes floating through the air when you pull them off is awful, i hold my breath because i'm afraid i'm going to inhale it! And putting them on you have to contend with there thick yellow nails, i'm always afraid i

'm going to get cut on the pts nails. I don't touch feet without gloves, ever!

[NoahNS]

FEET! I hate feet. It is one of the reasons I'm in pediatrics now. I'm OK touching feet from about brith to 8 years, after that, I will put gloves on if I'm dealing with them. Old diabetic feet give me the heebie jeebies. Though my husband does have nice feet (if such a thing can be said) I have him wear socks to bed because I can't deal with the possibility of his feet touching my legs in the night! Ugh! I really dislike summer or when people walk around in open-toe sandals/flip flops. I don't want to see your nasty feet!

LOL... so funny, how people can be so different. I LOVE feet... which can be so expressive (hope I'm not grossing anyone out). I find my attention being drawn to them during the summer months all the time. Of course there are all different kinds of feet... and some of them have certainly been terribly abused, but like the OP acknowledges children probably have some of the most attractive feet. What is an added bonus is that most people generally respond favorably to empathetic foot care.

[AuntieNursey]

vomiting. I'm hoping I'll get over it. I actually reflexively gag when I hear the noises.

I feel your pain. This one took me lierally years to get past. A patient/resident would throw up, I would usually gag uncontrollably or actually vomit a little or spit up into the trash, then clean it all up, still gagging. Slowly (way slowly it seemed) it did abate and I can handle most of it at this point, except for liquor vomit - always smells so spoiled and seems to trigger some primevil spot in the "lizard brain" and I just can't help myself. Sputum is also a biggie, trach suctioning is also a bit gag inducing

[Sarah Bellum]

Is it weird that I don't really have any yet? My dad has had dentures since before I was born so to me they're just normal. As a doula I've had a laboring mom puke in my lap (in a towel or a bowl) a few times not to mention being showered in my own kids' pee, puke, poop, etc. I watched most of my own c-section with my twins. In CNA clinicals we had all incontinent pts. None of it phased me.

Karen

[unique7, ADN, BSN, RN]

Bridges. I'll had a reoccuring dream for years that my mother and I were driving over a bridge and it collapsed. I'm always about 5 in the dream. But, I hate bridges. I get tachycardic, sweat, really nervous. And I live on the Gulf Coast, and they are everywhere

I to dont like bridges, I think of all aweful things that could possibly happen driving over them, It really feels creepy!:typing

[Sarah Bellum]

I to dont like bridges, I think of all aweful things that could possibly happen driving over them, It really feels creepy!:typing

Oh yeah! If we're talking non-nursing stuff I am a TOTAL wimp about bridges. I accidentally drove over the bridge from Mt. Pleasant to Charleston, SC, not the nice new one but the old rickety one that was just barely 2 lanes wide before dropping off into the river below and about a thousand miles long, and about had a heart attack. I've never been comfortable driving over any bridge but this sealed my phobia.

I love looking at bridges though. I think many of them are marvelous pieces of engineering. I like admiring them from the underside though. :wink2:

[BlueRidgeHomeRN]

:barf01:

vomiting. i'm hoping i'll get over it. i actually reflexively gag when i hear the noises.

i feel your pain. this one took me lierally years to get past. a patient/resident would throw up, i would usually gag uncontrollably or actually vomit a little or spit up into the trash, then clean it all up, still gagging. slowly (way slowly it seemed) it did abate and i can handle most of it at this point, except for liquor vomit - always smells so spoiled and seems to trigger some primevil spot in the "lizard brain" and i just can't help myself. sputum is also a biggie, trach suctioning is also a bit gag inducing

me too--was tough when i was an ob nurse--post-op c/s moms with the pukies at 2 am. i guess mommy brain trumps lizard brain, as the only time i didn't retch right along was with my own kids when they were little and needy.

[slsampson]

I can't stand for anyone to touch my belly button either! My boyfriend tries to poke it all the time and it drives me crazy. It makes my stomach feel funny when he does that!

[AuntieNursey]

:barf01:

me too--was tough when i was an ob nurse--post-op c/s moms with the pukies at 2 am. i guess mommy brain trumps lizard brain, as the only time i didn't retch right along was with my own kids when they were little and needy.

me,too. i did ok, not grat mind you, but ok with my offspring and, very surprising, my husband. most of the time, except that guiness :cheers: spout, that was just nasty. he was very grateful i still loved him after that...right down my back. that was just a whole lotta bad.