terrified of illnesses or death??

Big Bab's · Jan 17, 2004

You are not silly or stupid!!!.....Death is a scarey thing, especially when, as nurses, we see it everyday and its not always a peaceful thing.......Personally, the concept of death doesn't scare me, its HOW I get there that makes me terrified!!...I just don't want to die in pain, I'd rather have a massive coronary on the way to the mail box one morning, you know, quickly and painlessly....I try not to think about it too much, but sometimes its hard to avoid it.........I know how you feel!!:kiss

BarbPick · Jan 17, 2004

Every sophomore medical student suffers from this. In the second year of medical school they study mechanisms of disease, and they all think they have twenty four hour bubonic

plague.

Speculating · Jan 17, 2004

Originally posted by Big Bab's
You are not silly or stupid!!!.....Death is a scarey thing, especially when, as nurses, we see it everyday and its not always a peaceful thing.......Personally, the concept of death doesn't scare me, its HOW I get there that makes me terrified!!...I just don't want to die in pain, I'd rather have a massive coronary on the way to the mail box one morning, you know, quickly and painlessly....I try not to think about it too much, but sometimes its hard to avoid it.........I know how you feel!!:kiss

Exactly Bab's it's the how!

Big Bab's · Jan 17, 2004

Originally posted by Speculating
Exactly Bab's it's the how!

Thanks Spec!!....As nurses, we see way too much pain to NOT be affected by it.

TweetiePieRN · Jan 17, 2004

hi there! i work on an oncology floor as a CNA until i grad from nursing school in may. I used to be mortified of death. Since working here, i see people die very peacefully with family surrounding them and painfree!! I'm only 24, so i expect to live 100 more yrs, but i am not as fearful of the actual dying part (provided that it is a painfree transition) I am, however, afraid of ever having COPD. That scares the crap out of me!! I can't even handle when one of my nostrils is stuffed up!! I definitely fear COPD or any other restrictive lung diseases.

obeyacts2 · Jan 17, 2004

I think studying nursing or any med field can make you paranoid. I never used to be bothered by going to the MD, but now I have white coat hypertension.:) I still catch myself diagnosing myself with everything.........thinking the headaches are AVM or worse. for example. I was really feeling down on myself for doing that until I went to work and was telling a patient family member (and RN) about it. She laughed and told me her story.......she does the same thing.....but she developed a GI probelm and the MD decided to do a liver biopsy........she caught herself trying to give the surgeon instructions:roll I didnt feel bad after that.

Laura

NorthStar · Jan 17, 2004

I think it revolves around 2 different things. First being that you are acutely aware of "signs and symptoms" of diseases etc., and you begin to become psychologically physically aware.

Second is that you are afraid because you've seen the human aspect of medical care. Being afraid if you really are dying and not having anybody take you seriously enough to rule out a life-threatening condition/illness.

I fear stuff like "primary pulmonary hypertension". During nursing school I was afraid that I had Hodgkins Disease. Now that I'm in my early 40's, of course the biggest scare is breast cancer. I'm afraid there are lumps sometimes, even though I don't feel anything.

Lzrd938 · Jan 17, 2004

Thanks guys! I woke up this morning and read these posts and actually laughed. I guess I am not the only one that has these feelings and that makes me feel alot better. I think as nurses we see the "worse case senerio" too often. I mean the people who have chest pain and it is actually heart burn are probably 100 times more frequent than the one who is having a heart attack, but who do we see......the guy who is having the heart attack. And the lady who has a headache and takes tylenol and it goes away.......no we dont see her either, we see the one with an anneurysm. So naturally we learn to relate our symptoms to the worst possible outcome. Thanks for the input!

RN-PA, RN · Jan 17, 2004

I've always had an overactive imagination, and becoming a nurse has sometimes made my imagination worse. I've been more paranoid about cancer in the past few years since I work in a med-surg unit with an oncology emphasis. Also, being in my late 40's, I've witnessed the battles and sometimes, deaths, of friends, family members, and patients with cancer (as well as many other diseases), and you start to think it's not so much IF, but WHEN cancer or a life-threatening disease strikes closer to home.

I'm not afraid of death because of my Christian beliefs, but of suffering or long hospitalizations. I'm more afraid of just being hospitalized because of the feelings of vulnerability, potential loss of independence and control. And since I'm a very light sleeper, I'm afraid of not getting any sleep while hospitalized-- I'm surprised ANYONE can sleep with all the noise and activity on the units! (Makes me a good patient advocate-- getting orders for sleeping pills if needed, closing doors, making rooms dark, suggesting earplugs, etc.)

Also, after observing upper endoscopies and colonoscopies during clinicals years ago, I'm scared of having to undergo them. Hopefully, i'll be as knocked out as possible if my time ever comes. (I know I'm supposed to have a colonoscopy at age 50... TWO more years...:stone ) I'm also fearful of surgery-- of being intubated and of not having enough anesthesia to keep me unconscious or pain-free during an operation.

SHEESH! :eek: I guess I'm sort of a bundle of fears, since you asked. I'm sure I'd handle any one of these situations okay if the need arose, and I would communicate my concerns and needs to the doctor, anesthesiologist, nurse, etc. I like to think my feelings and fears help me to be a better nurse because I can empathize with my patients' feelings and fears, anticipate needs, and strive to make their hospitilization less scary and as pleasant as possible.

kc ccurn · Jan 17, 2004

I'm not so afraid of the diseases-MI, CA as I am about bacteria. have you ever seen the show Monk with the detective who is germ-phobic. Sometimes that's me. Not to that extent. But I think I'd drive myself and my family crazy if I let it take over my life. Could be the beginnings of OCD.:chuckle

Chaya, ASN, RN · Jan 17, 2004

Yeah, after we did OB in Nursing school I was terrified. If I'd known what your body goes thru and everything that can go wrong with pregnancy when I was younger I'd have had myself sterilized. OMG- so much for squatting in a field and going back to work.

On the plus side- I am seeing thing caught earlier. I am seeing pts recover from CVA with far fewer deficits and people surviving and coming back from MI's. And cancer is no longer a death sentence.