I am not worried about most things that I am facing when I start nursing school next month, the long hours, complex subject matter, or high expectations. I AM worried about one thing that I will encounter when I enter clinicals... vomit.
I am so sorry to be gross, but I do not deal with vomit well (ashamed to say, not even my own children's). I am terrified that when I encounter this in school that no matter what my intentions are, that I won't be able to block it out and be as professional as I need to be (vomiting on my own is a REAL possibility)
I have talked to a couple of nurses about this, and they say that all nurses have "that one thing" that grosses them out, but eventually you get over it to where it is not a problem anymore. Has anyone else encountered something similar??
Again, I am so, so, so sorry for this subject matter, I just really need some advice. I am not naive enough to think, this won't happen to me, I am just trying to get prepared.
Vomit doesn't really bother me, and neither does "blood and guts." Poop has never really bothered me, but I've only ever really dealt with the poop of babies and children. Not sure how I'll do with cleaning up adult poop -- haven't encountered that situation yet. I agree with the phlegm / cleaning out trach tubes -- I experienced both when shadowing my mom and just the thought makes me feel like my stomach is in my throat (and that is just from watching my mom, not actually having to perform the task). I've been told by everyone that it just "gets easier." Here's to hoping!! Haha.
Oh, yeah - as a CNA, I've run most of the gamut of bodily secretions; and, gagged at pretty much all of them. :barf01:
Surprised the heck out of me when I wanted to hurl during my first brief changes (on my first night as a CNA) but ended up being fine with it by the end of the shift. Mostly it was just the idea of what I was doing that set me off - after the 20th brief change I was pretty much settled in.
Through sheer repetition you tend to get used to all of it - although trach suctioning seems to be a perennial favorite for the "ain't ever gonna get used to THAT" club. Can't comment on it too much since the only pt. I've seen getting trach suctioning was my mother - and, at that point I had other things on my mind that kind of "softened the mood", so to speak. Having your mother dying in front of you tends to do that. Ahem.
i thought i was the only one with a vomit phobia....ever since i was young i had this...to this day even!...we have 3 kids and if you ask them what drives them nuts about mom and being sick....they would say, you always ask if our stomach hurts,or is your stomach upset,do you feel like you might puke....our youngest is now 15 and i still ask....or when they were younger in school and they told me, so and so went home sick today....O i would say,what is wrong with them...oh they puked in lunch...i would instantly get a knot in my stomach and be worried for the next several days wondering IF they were going to catch it.....AND if by chance someone in my family got the bug,i would clean like a mad lady....light fixtures,doorknobs,faucets and what ever else your hands would touch i would disinfect....AND to this day when someone has the bug....i have to have a BM within 30 mins of them being sick....yup each and everytime.....during LPN school i had an older woman who couldnt keep anything down...i gave her the morning meds and up they came...she asked for a vomit bag,i stood with her while she vomited,cleaned her up and told the RN...she had me feel and squish the bag around and look for any pills....OMG!!....i dont have the gag reflex but it wasnt pleasant!!....i even ate lunch after that...but i will NEVER forget it...EEWWW......
My "one thing" is kind of weird - penetrating injuries, especially concerning the eye. I have a weird fear of getting poked in the eye and becoming blind. I'm not really a fan of when I see a bone broken on TV either, even though it doesn't bother me to deal with ortho patients at all.
This is what freaks me out - penetrating injuries! I think I empathize too much with the feeling of "pain" when it's glaringly out there and obvious. I can just play the incident over and over in my head lol. Yikes.
My "thing" is poop- and at my very first day of clinicals I emptied 2 ileostomy bags! I would turn away like I was looking at something behind me and take a deep breath then hold my breath while I was facing the patient so that I wouldn't make a face.
During one of my rotations through LTC, a classmate and I were changing a patient's diaper after lunch. It wasn't incredibly foul or anything. About two seconds after I started wiping the large residents bottom, my classmate proceeded to let go (bringing her poop covered bottom down on my gloved hands but ungloved arms) and run to vomit in the trash can. Honestly, I felt terrible for the patient. I commented she must have gotten a bad burger at the fast food place, but I know the patient knew.
I guess my one thing (so far) is lice. I have long thick hair, and I'd probably die if I got that. Oh. That thought makes me want to puke.
I've worked as a CNA for over a year and I've never been really bothered by anything yet. But I know when I start clinical that I will be terrified if/when I work with really bad burns on the face or anything that has screwed up a persons face beyond recognition. For some reason, that stuff scares the hell out of me!!
It's all about exposure. I signed up for a GI surgery clinical. After my first day, my vomit/diarrhea phobia was cured. It literally only took one day. The anticipation is worse than the reality. Just get your (gloved) hands in there and do it.
afterseason, ASN, RN
189 Posts
Hahaha -- reading that kinda made me gag, too!