Nurses grossed out by spit/mucus

[rnmi2004]

I'm starting this thread in hopes that I will read of some techniques to help me overcome my aversion to mucus. I can deal with foul BMs, emptying JPs and NG tube containers, draining clotty purulent foley bags, etc. but I have the darndest time keeping my cookies when it comes to snot! I was once helping a bilat AKA wipe his behind after the most awful case of smelly taffy doo-doo and had no problem until he asked me to dab at the clear snot dripping from his nose. I almost puked while doing so. What is wrong with me?

The usual Vicks/peppermint oil/other scent under the nose won't work here, because mucus (usually!) has no odor.

The last two semesters of clinical rotations, I have specifically asked to be assigned to a trach client just so I can force myself to have to deal with this. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) there have been no patients suitable for me at the facilities I've been at. I am approaching my last semester starting the end of August, and then hopefully I will be off to med-surg. I know at some point I am going to have to deal with this.

Is there hope for me? Does anyone have ANY suggestions?

[missmercy]

my only suggestion...."embrace the snot within grasshopper"

:rotfl: Someone has been watching too much cable TV!!! :rotfl: My husband quotes "grasshopper quipts" frequently!! Scarey, very scarey!!:rotfl:

[nursemike, ASN, RN]

One of my favorite nurses was suctioning a pt once and for some reason I had to be there--can't really remember why. She noticed me turning green and started talking to me about anything to distract me. It helped, a little. Doing suction myself grosses me out, too. It's definitely the sound, although sputum on me is a solid 6.0 on the urp scale, too.

I've never suctioned a trach. I've never barfed in clinicals. Coincidence?

(The urp scale is the barfing equivalent of the Richter scale.

An urping event of 7.0 entails actual vomit, but may be delayed. 8.0 is instant and usually projectile. Somewhere around 6ish is where you are making actual urp noises.)

[tommycher]

One morning I got this in report on a pt who was elderly, unclean, and obnoxious, "We needed a sputum sample, so I gave him a cup, put it on his bedside tray by his drinking glass and asked him to spit into it when he coughed up sputum. At 0300 I heard him coughing, so without turning on the light asked him if I had a sample yet. He answered, but his words were garbled. I turned on the light, and sure enough, there he was, drinking from the glass full of sputum! His mouth was full of it!" I nearly gagged all day long as I could not for the life of me get this image out of my head!