Scared of gross things!

mavnurse · Sep 10, 2004

I'm the exact same way - or thought I was. I can't even look at my dog's business without gagging, and the same goes for vomit or anything else. Yesterday I had my second clinical. So far I've changed dirty linens and even wiped up diarrhea off of one of my patients. For some reason, things in the hospital are completely different and I was not grossed out at all. I still can't clean up after my dog though. The only bad thing about clinical is that when you get out, you know you've touched things, and no matter how many times you wash your hands, or how much alcohol foam you use, you never ever feel clean. I was wearing my glasses that day and I was soooo afraid to push them up because I didn't want to get germs on them!

:imbar And I know my scrubs are dirty and I'm afraid to touch my nursing shoes, but at the same time, I don't know how to do laundry and I don't want to take my scrubs home and spread any germs they may have on them. Right now they're in a freezer bag with tons and tons of Lysol. Sooner or later I'll have to figure this out...

ADNCyn · Sep 10, 2004

Oh my goodness. But as a NURSE I have to respect others "idiosyncrasies"... Nursing is a dirty job, let me repeat, dirty job. Nothing cute about nursing at all, besides wearing that title and cashing that paycheck... So you have to decide for yourself if this is really cut out for you... But please consider why are in wanting it in the first place, maybe the benefits I already mentioned...hmmmm.... Think it over... GOOD LUCK to the both of you previous posters.

luckymichelle · Sep 10, 2004

Hi all -

I could've written this post myself. I start my clinicals in October, and I'm a bit nervous. I left corporate America to become a nurse because I'm fascinated by medicine and pathology. And because I truly want to help people.

That being said - I have to say, I've a horribly weak stomach. I can't watch some of the violent war movies because I think of all of the horrific suffering and can't stand it. I can pick up after my dogs with no problem, and clean my horses, well, umm, "sheath", with no problem, but I'm freaked out a bit by the dirty part of nursing.

Let's face it though - when has the average Joe been exposed to seeing other people naked, cleaning other people's peri areas, sticking needles in people, seeing people opened up, seeing blood, vomit, stool, urine, sputum, etc.? Most people never see those kind of things on a daily basis... soooo, I think that just because we're sensitive to those things, doesn't mean we can't be excellent nurses. I look at it this way - I'm compassionate, I can't stand to see people suffer uneccessarily, so isn't that exactly what the profession needs? I want to become desensitized to the "dirtiness" of the job to be efficient and professional, but not so desensitized that I ever become cold or uncaring or just look at it as "dirt". Does that make sense?

Sorry for the long ramble....

Michelle :)

hypnotic_nurse · Sep 10, 2004

I originally got a teaching degree because I was so grossed out by stuff and would actually faint at the sight of blood. Bad smells would make me vomit.

Now I'm a nurse. After having pets and kids, I've been desensitized to at least how things look...enough that I managed to make it through nursing school and now have a job where, although I have to look at blood, I don't have to smell anything icky. :)

ItsyBitsySpider, BSN, RN · Sep 10, 2004

I used to get totally grossed out before nursing school but that's all gone now. Bring Vics to put under your nose for smells and that seems to help alot. The visual is nowhere near as bad as the smell, at least for me.

SoulShine75 · Sep 10, 2004

I'm the exact same way - or thought I was. I can't even look at my dog's business without gagging, and the same goes for vomit or anything else. Yesterday I had my second clinical. So far I've changed dirty linens and even wiped up diarrhea off of one of my patients. For some reason, things in the hospital are completely different and I was not grossed out at all. I still can't clean up after my dog though. The only bad thing about clinical is that when you get out, you know you've touched things, and no matter how many times you wash your hands, or how much alcohol foam you use, you never ever feel clean. I was wearing my glasses that day and I was soooo afraid to push them up because I didn't want to get germs on them!
:imbar And I know my scrubs are dirty and I'm afraid to touch my nursing shoes, but at the same time, I don't know how to do laundry and I don't want to take my scrubs home and spread any germs they may have on them. Right now they're in a freezer bag with tons and tons of Lysol. Sooner or later I'll have to figure this out...

LOL, sorry. I'm not laughing at you. Just the whole lysol and freezer bag comment cracked me up.

fluffwad · Sep 10, 2004

LOL, sorry. I'm not laughing at you. Just the whole lysol and freezer bag comment cracked me up.

:roll Love it!

We take digital pictures of wounds for documentation. Then we download them onto my PC and print them on the color printer. The administrator called me for instructions on how to do this (I was elsewhere that day). When the butt pictures came up on the screen I swear it sounded like he gagged on the other end of the line!!!!!! :roll

But you get desensitized to it after a while. I'm just happy when they don't piss in my sneakers. But barf-noises and barf smells get to almost everyone.

Vicks under your nose will help if you ever have to deal with really nasty necrotic tissue smells. Peppermint oil in a humidifier will cut almost any odor.

Toby's mum · Sep 10, 2004

The first thing I want to say is I really, really want to be a nurse! I genuinely want to help people and hope to one day work L&D. I've been accepted to a school and can start in January.
The problem? Gross things. Well, things that seem gross to me. For example, when I have to pick up dog poop because of an accident on the floor I gag! This morning my little boy vomited in the convenience store and out of courtesy for the employees, I cleaned it up. I thought I was going to vomit myself! I was gagging and feeling a bit faint. Also mucus just grosses me out too. I can't even stand the word.
As experienced nurses, do you think nursing is the wrong career for me? Or, do you think I will adapt and get used to dealing with these things on a daily basis? Any advice is welcome!

LilStudent--no one 'likes' the 'gross' things--you learn to deal with it--some things will be more difficult than others. It may help if you focus on the physiology of the projectile, wound drainage, etc. You may also learn to keep some vicks in your pocket to put under your nose to mask certain smells. I think you can get used to most things.

There definitely is a sense of innocence that is lost when you begin walking down the path of nursing. Once you start to see the conditions etc., it's hard to block them out of mind. You can never go back to not knowing. No one seems to address this loss of innocence, but I think it's a pretty big deal and certainly takes a long time to adjust to the sights, sounds, experiences of being a nurse.

Toby's mum · Sep 10, 2004

LOL, sorry. I'm not laughing at you. Just the whole lysol and freezer bag comment cracked me up.

I want to know how many pairs of uniforms she has so she can keep putting on new ones without doing the laundry. Too funny :rotfl:

mavnurse · Sep 10, 2004

LOL, I have two sets and I've used them up!!! I have to do something with them before next Wednesday. :imbar

WAstudent · Sep 11, 2004

Pets and kids definately desensatize you. I worked in a laboratory for years and got used to some pretty gross smells and sights. Once you're around things like that enough and experiance them, you'll get desensetized too...or at least more tolerable.