Stupid Question

charles-thor · Sep 25, 2004

First of all, your question is not stupid. I do believe, however, that there is a very clear distinction between what you witnessed on the internet and what you will see in the operating room. The beheading of an innocent civilian is a malicious and utterly inhumane act. In the OR you, and hopefully everyone else, will have only the best intentions for the patients that come through. Assisting those in times of need is the antithesis of these unspeakable acts that unfortunately take place elsewhere in the world.

louloubell1 · Sep 25, 2004

I saw that video as well. My husband found the entire video as had been posted by the militant terrorist group responsible for it, and this morning I watched it. It was horrific. I felt disgusted, and my stomach turned at what I was seeing too. I would be so bold as to assume that your visceral reaction to watching this horrific act was not a matter of seeing the blood and gore, but instead was a reaction to the cruelty and brutality of what was being done to that poor man, as well as an empathetic response to the terror he must have been feeling. It was absolutely shocking to hear his screams, and then to hear the change in the sound that continued to escape from him as his airway was severed. I will never, ever forget what I saw today, and even now I want to cry at the thought of what he went through.

Working in a CTS ICU, I have seen several chest reexplorations, and viewed the beating heart and inflating and deflating lungs. At those times, I was not filled with the same kind of feelings I experienced today in watching that video. I was in awe of seeing the miracle of the human body as I participated in those patient's reexplorations. I think it would be normal for anyone to be sickened at viewing such an act of terror, but I'll bet your reaction to viewing a "bloody, gory" procedure taken with the intention of increasing the well being of a patient will be far different.

SleepyRN2B · Sep 25, 2004

Yes, but sickened to the point of possible passing out????? ... This was a video... I didn't see the blood in actuality, I didn't smell the smells..... I was recently talking to a student SRNA that got to see a total organ transplant.... I am now questioning whether I can view that.... I think I can, but what if I get in there and I can't??? am I out of school for this???? I know that like anything else, you will get used to the smells, sounds etc.... but will I be used to it before they boot me out on my buttocks.... .... Intubations NO PROBLEM.... Insertion of Swan-Ganz NO PROBLEM.... but can I handle total hip replacement.... That is what I'm thinking about... I think I can... but if I get sick... am I out?????

hypnotic_nurse · Sep 25, 2004

There are NO stupid questions. So put that part of it right out of your head.

In the OR they drape everything as much as possible (at least that's what I observed from my clinicals). By the time they get done draping, what you see is so minimal that it could be a shaved chimp under there and you'd never know. :)

Orthopedic surgeries (like knee replacement) are a little more involved because of the power tools, but it still wasn't bad.

Plus there's the whole "We're making them better" thing -- plus the anesthesia -- plus the sterile setting...don't worry. It's not bad at all. And I have a very queasy stomach.

athomas91 · Sep 25, 2004

do you think that there might be a possibility that it was the situation (someone dying of a horrific death) that may have been what set you off - if you didn't see blood etc - i would think that it isn't a "queasy" thing but more a humane response...i nearly cried when i saw that !

you will be fine - if it does bother you - don't worry - you will have plenty of other things you are focusing on - you won't have time to let it bother you and eventually you will desensitize!

Athlein1 · Sep 25, 2004

I will honestly admit that on occasion, I get queasy and nauseated by what is happening in the OR. But, it's okay to be sensitive as long as it does not distract you from the sole reason you are there - the patient and his/her safety. You must determine whether you have the ability to focus and maintain vigilance when there are funky things going on in the OR. Any chance you could job shadow in a busy OR with a trauma department?

For me, the routine stuff is fine, but major ortho (where there is a lot of blood and bone grinding against bone, with limbs being twisted in very unnatural ways, or amputations where the whole gangrenous limb is removed and -thunk! - put on the table) and trauma (especially when there is facial disfigurement) can make my stomach flipflop. And let's be truthful, the revolting smell of nasty abscess I&D and necrotic bowel surgeries are enough to make anyone sick. Also, late-term TABs are difficult, not only visually, but emotionally.

This is an excellent question, because most of us have not been exposed to surgical procedures prior to our CRNA programs. I hope you get the opportunity to see what some major surgery is like before you decide if the CRNA path is for you.

Please don't rule it out just because you have these fears that it might occur. Seems to me that if you can dress an open sternal wound, you will be able to handle the vast majority of OR cases just fine. Good luck!

Kiwi, BSN, RN · Sep 25, 2004

There is a lot of difference in feeling nauseated while witnessing a brutal murder. The OR is a controlled environment and goal-oriented towards patient care! And no, not every American needs to watch such a video. That's the media terrorizing YOU.

Great thread topic, by the way.

merricat · Sep 25, 2004

isn't it like everything else-- it depends on a bunch of different things? i got sick the first time i saw wound care, and the second. (nasty, odorous wound). then it just stopped, who knows why. i used to not eat before i went to work as CNA because of all the attends i would have to change. i had to struggle tonot gag. then i got over it (who knows why). and was fine for months. then the other day we had someone whose attends had not been changed (not my pt) for way too long-- she walked by me and i could tell-- so i got her in the bathroom and fixed her up and got the hugest headache afterwards, from the odor (i wanted to confront her aide but knew i waws too mad to do it then). the headache stayed for hours but was gone in the morning. things kind of go through their little stages. don't they? isn't it just natural development? it is entirely possible that if someone had coded that night, i would be more emotionally focused on that and not gotten a headache from a nasty attends. i think.

babynursewannab · Sep 25, 2004

Thank *(insert your own higher power here)* you were nauseated! It shows you are decent human being. Your reaction was not to the "gore" of the situation. It is not something that would transfer to your experience in the OR.

Your reaction was just like many others, myself included, who witnessed a vile, humanity crushing, slaughter of another human being. It not only strikes your senses, but your soul. You have empathy, compassion and moral reasoning embeded into your being. We have witnessed complete disregard of all of these things wrapped up in greed and filth on the part of the self-serving militants and anguish on the part of the victims and their families/friends/world.

Your reaction could possibly be looked at as a good indication that you will make sure your patients are in really good hands.

merricat · Sep 25, 2004

i thought about this this morning and did not see what it had to do with body parts. it seems to have more to do with violation, to me. i thought "why would i never watch that tape"... because i have been hurt before and have figured out a little baout not subjecting myself to being violated..it is sad the original offense gets perpetuated this way...throwing up seems a not inappropriate reaction, especially since this seems gross and unusual enough to be difficult to process by just talking. the only real comparison i can think of in my life was being raped. the reason i brough up body fluids and my reactions to them was the idea that people go through little things, process things, adapt different ways. who always knows why. ... i do have a friend who assists with autopsies occasionally. she says her job makes her totally hungry! she goes out for a big hamburger afterwards. i do not find this offensive; i find it life-affirming. people are different in how they react. i knew a little girl -- used to babysit her-- who diedin a car accident along with her pregnant mother. the paramedic said he threw up after he saw her. i wont get graphic but instead of saying "how she suffered" and being sad--although i did cry at first-- i thought, after they discontinued life support, well, it was certainly time. she is not suffering. anymore. because it was really, really bad, what happened to her. nobody thought anything of the paramedic throwing up. it is kind of weird that knowing exactly what kind of bad shape she was in originally after the accident helped me to feel better about the fact she was gone-- someone might have said it was weird of me to want to know. people are just different. her life would probably have been excruciating if she had survived-- one surgery after another-- brain damage--

louloubell1 · Sep 25, 2004

There is a lot of difference in feeling nauseated while witnessing a brutal murder. The OR is a controlled environment and goal-oriented towards patient care! And no, not every American needs to watch such a video. That's the media terrorizing YOU.
Great thread topic, by the way.

Not to change the focus of this thread, but I totally agree with you, ether, when you say that not every American needs to watch that video. I mean, the parts they had shown on tv were enough, minus the graphicness and the actual moment of death. I was saddened and angered at that brutality without being shown the more graphic rendering of it. My husband and I totally disagree on this point. I think part of his reasoning comes from his military background and having been in Desert Storm, but he thinks its our duty to watch that and understand why we can not deal with this matter as pacifists. I don't know. All I could think of watching that video was what that poor man's family was going through, and how much more difficult their experience must be made by knowing that there exists, caught on film, the torturous death their son, brother, uncle, husband, father, friend (or whatever he was to so many people) went through. So sad. :bluecry1: