phobia of puke

Sarah7781 · Mar 4, 2009

To be honest, before I was a nurse assistant, I hated washing pots and I hated to even touch left over food haha

Then I was a nurses assistant in a busy general surgery ward, I had to clean up projectile vomit, poo of all kinds and smells, menstruation blood and all sorts of fluids.

I even had to look through vomit for abnormalities!

At first I didn't eat for a week cause everything reminded me of what I saw.

Then I got over it and you soon find you can talk about such bodily fluids in description whilst eating hahaha

A lot of people think I'm odd, but gore doesn't bother me at all.

What helped me was feeling sorry for the patients and seeing how ashamed they were of you having to clean them. I then thought if that was my mum or member of my family, I'd hope someone was looking after then with as great of care and dignity as I was.

Seeing how appreciative the patients were of how you looked after them and seeing how I'd contributed to making them better, made it all worthwhile.

hikernurse · Mar 4, 2009

You'll get used to it :).

If it's any comfort (and it was to me, actually), most people who vomit in the hospital aren't contagious.

Carolinanurse2010 · Mar 4, 2009

So, I have no phobia of puke, but watching anyone other than my own children vomit does initiate the gag reflex. BUT, in a clinical situation, I just move on, it doesn't bother me. I have not been in a clinical setting very much, just in a CNA course clinical- Things that would normally bother me, just don't. I hope it is the same for you! By the way, after I had my second baby via C-section, I started feeling woozy as I was nursing my baby in recovery. I told the nurse to get my baby, and I immediately started vomiting. She just stared and took a deep gulp. I am pretty sure her gag reflex was initiated. It didn't bother me. I am sure it happens, but she was still a great nurse!

sarahlpnwannabe · Mar 4, 2009

thanks for the input...i guess i should just wait and see how to best deal with it. i have a little girl too and, sure i get really anxious when she's sick to her tummy, but once it happens i just kinda deal with it. so maybe it'll be the same once i'm in my work enviornment.

ashleypoo22 · Mar 4, 2009

Before I started nursing school I hated the sight, smell, and the thought of blood. I hated watching shows with guts and stuff. One day at clinic I had the chance to watch the surgeons perform an operation. I thought, gee once in a lifetime, I'll watch and if I don't like it I'll just leave. Well I stayed the whole time and it was the coolest thing I ever seen. Blood doesn't bother me anymore...and if it did it wouldn't have kept me from being a nurse.

greeniebean · Mar 4, 2009

I still hate puke after being a CNA since i was 16! I'll clean it if i need to but I always want to throw up myself while doing it! but it does get to where it doesn't bother you so much after awhile.

Good luck in your class!

Cellesse · Apr 21, 2009

I hate puke too and as a CNA I have had to deal with it. Once when the stomach flu was going around a woman puked on me and presto 2 days later I caught it. Didnt matter that I washed my hands and disinfected my shoes. I also once had to scrub a carpet where a lady puked old blood clots. I was gagging and the other CNA told me to just pretend its something else. Ick.

crazytonurse · Apr 21, 2009

I was the same way when it came to vomit and various bodily fluids. That is what stopped me from my dream of nursing for the longest. That was until I became a mother and those things just became part of daily life and routine, so I am now finally pursuing my dream. So I say yes its possible to overcome that fear.

PacoUSA, BSN, RN · Apr 21, 2009

I even had to look through vomit for abnormalities!

:eek: OMG, the visual got me queasy! :eek: LMAO!

At first I didn't eat for a week cause everything reminded me of what I saw.

Well, sounds like I won't have to worry about watching my weight at some point. :lol2:

sarahlpnwannabe · Apr 22, 2009

well I REALLLLYYY hope that I get over it because I'm seriously doubting whether nursing is really for me. Everyone I talk to for some advice kinda looks at me like "are you serious? Nurses can't have phobias of anything gross." things like that, you know? And mostly everyone tells me that if I really want to go into healthcare maybe I should try and be a tech, like MRIs and XRays and things like that. It's just that my "calling" is to be a nurse. That's what I know I'd feel most comfortable and love doing...this vomit thing (ugh just the word gets to me) well, it's something I think will take a HUGE effort to overcome!!! :angryfire:banghead: it annoys me to death!!!

PacoUSA, BSN, RN · Apr 22, 2009

And mostly everyone tells me that if I really want to go into healthcare maybe I should try and be a tech, like MRIs and XRays and things like that.

Like they don't see their share of puke either? How many times have I heard of patients barfing up their barium drinks mid-scan or claustrophobic patients hurling out of fright inside the tunnel ...

Puke is here to stay! :yeah:

Believe me, the more you see it the more it becomes nothing.