Queezy...help!!!

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I am a new nurse and working at my first nursing job in the ED. I'm in my 9th week and I am still getting queezy and to the point of almost passing out in certain situations. It's really only been with lacs that get me to the point of almost passing out. I'm starting to freak out that this isn't what I'm supposed to do!? Whenever I watch the doctor numb or suture any lacs I have to leave the room because I know if I stay, he'll have two pt's in one room.

I don't understand it...I'm not grossed out at all. It's like my mind and body are just disagreeing. Has this happened to anyone else? Will I get over this? Do I need to move to the floor? I love working in the ED and would hate to have to change to somewhere else. HELP!

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Specializes in ED, Med-Surg, Psych, Oncology, Hospice.

I work ED, too. I hate wounds, too. I stand by the patient and focus on them instead of what the doctor is doing. I've already prepared the suture tray etc. and they don't need me at their side anymore.

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Specializes in ER, education, mgmt.

so agree with above poster. we all have our things. sometimes your body does things we can't control. Still can't do open fractures, though. Something about bone protruding through skin makes me want to hurl. you will be ok, just give yourself some time.

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i try to go watch all lac repairs to try and get my body used to it. don't think it's working very well. I understand we all have our things, sometimes I just feel like too much blood is my "thing". and that's just not okay.

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Specializes in Clinicals in Med-Surg., OB, CCU, ICU.

Don't give up... hang in there! I do not know your work experience, but 9 weeks indicates one is still pretty green. I would urge you to describe your thoughts and feeling with a co-worker. I would also urge you to talk to a trusted counselor. If it is just this one area you have this experience, I really believe you can overcome it!:yeah:

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Specializes in NICU.

Are you eating? Make sure you have a breakfast with some protein. Your blood sugar bottoming out probably won't help the situation.

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Specializes in ER.

I could have written this post almost 2 years ago. I was queezy ALL time, no matter what I was doing. Even if I was just sitting at the desk charting. It had nothing to do with the blood or guts. I was queezy because I was nervous and anxious. It did go away eventually but it was not fun!

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Specializes in OB/GYN, Peds, School Nurse, DD.

I was the same way with my first job, in L&D. ANd I was the same way after I got married! I'm sure it was from stress. THey even had a saying for me:"Get a little basin for the patient and a big basin for Cathy.":uhoh3: I threw up, I passed out, I contaminated things left and right. I was just a double mess!

I have a few suggestions for you. Give yourself time. Nine weeks is nothing. You haven't even broken in your shoes yet. Lots of nurses feel like you do when the first take a job, even experienced nurses. It doesn't mean they can't do the job or they shouldn't be a nurse. Be sure you eat protein and a carb before you go to work and avoid caffeine. One of the things I did was put Vicks Vaporub under my nose, not for any smells but somehow it helped me not feel sick. I eventually got used to vomit and blood, for the most part. There are still some things that will do it for me and I've been a nurse for 32 years, and a darn good one might I add~ I just have to take a few deep breaths and get through it. As an older, wiser nurse once told me, "Sometimes you have to hurt people to make them well."

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It may sound like the same thing you would hear every day but i would say to you to just give it time. You have not been there all that long so you can not expect yourself to have nerves of steel already and to be immune to these kinds of sights and smells. When i was working on the maternity ward, the miracle of birth certainly did not seem that miraculous to me at first, actually it was quite the opposite for me, i thought it was awful, the sight and the smells i would encounter had me running out of the room and it took me a good four or five months to get more accustomed to it and for it to no longer bother me.

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