I am very much looking forward to starting the nursing program this spring (I got my acceptance letter not too long ago). :) I have a genuine love for people and their well-being and am so thankful to FINALLY have the opporunity to pursue this goal. I am not squeemish to the sight of blood, internal organs, or even excrement.
I do, however, fear I am going to have an issue with smells. LOL I know it sounds contradictory... the SIGHT doesn't bother me at all... but the SMELLS of nursing, I am guessing, cannot be easy to deal with all the time. Can any of you experienced nurses offer any advice or relate to this? I am confident I will adapt, but am just curious of other people's experiences.
Specializes in acute care med/surg, LTC, orthopedics.
Smells don't bother me anymore. I don't know if I'm desensitized or just manage my reaction better. The menthol cough drops are a great idea.
One day you will be able to recognize many different smells. You'll get off the elevator and automatically know there is someone with c-diff or gangrene.
Ah yes, that very distinctive C-diff odour. One of my first experiences with C-diff was with a middle-aged man in a full body cast incontinent of very large watery stool. Yep, do the visual... it was EVERYWHERE. I will never, ever, ever forget that smell.
Never mind the swabs, I can diagnose them with just one sniff of the poo.
There have been a few times I have gagged and actually thought I was going to throw up over smells but the worst thing I have encountered so far (I'm just in my first semester of nursing school) was one of my residents has had this nasty cough with green and yellow sputum for MONTHS now. He has an emesis basin he keeps by his chair to spit in.
One day, I went to dump it and wash it. When I was trying to dump it, the phlem was sticking to it and FLAPPING! I nearly blew chunks for real and just thinking about that sound is grossing me out right now!
You know, for the first 10 years of my career I actually did vomit in front of patients. I was a very young grad, only 20, so practically no life experience. I had a very sensitive gag reflex and even the sight of someone retching was enough to set me off. They had a saying on my floor, "A big pan for C and a little pan for the patient." Sometimes the older nurses took bets on how soon I'd hurl. I eventually got over it, but there were quite a few embarrassing moments. I must say, my patients were very understanding. I just handled it as matter-of-fact as I could, as though every nurse routinely vomited in her patient's toilet.
I eventually got over it, but there were quite a few embarrassing moments. I must say, my patients were very understanding. I just handled it as matter-of-fact as I could, as though every nurse routinely vomited in her patient's toilet.
OttawaRPN
451 Posts
Ah yes, that very distinctive C-diff odour. One of my first experiences with C-diff was with a middle-aged man in a full body cast incontinent of very large watery stool. Yep, do the visual... it was EVERYWHERE. I will never, ever, ever forget that smell.
Never mind the swabs, I can diagnose them with just one sniff of the poo.