Nurses with Vasovagal response problems?

[RyanAL]

I am a recent college graduate who has decided to pursue a career in another direction - nursing. I will be starting the science pre-reqs that I need to apply to nursing school this fall. I have a concern though. When I give blood, I generally experience what I have been told is a Vasovagal response. I get light headed/dizzy, sweaty, vision narrows, etc and need to recline. Recently I experienced the same reaction when having blood draw for a test. The nurse was slow and had trouble finding my vein, and I had the same reaction.

Long story short is I am concerned that I will go through a lot of work to get into nursing school and then be bounced out because I have this condition. I am not particularly put off by the nasties of the human body and receiving injections does not bother me, but I am worried about this. Obviously there is a whole LOT to nursing beyond drawing blood, but is this something that could be a game breaker for me?

[TerpGal02, ASN]

Would this type of situation hinder me in nursing school? If so what would be the best way to deal with it? Would similar situations only apply in a psych ward or ED?

I don't think so. You will just have to work to desensitize yourself to it. As far as restraining pts for painful procedures like blood draws, it will more more than just psych and ED. Off the top of my head, I can think of peds (kids like to wriggle a lot when they don't want something done, and usually have to be held for IV's, blood draws), and if you work with any elderly pt's with dementia, they can be pretty resistant sometimes too.