The Sight of Blood

SaltySarcasticSally, LPN, RN · Dec 16, 2016

When was the last time you ate? Kind of sounds more blood sugar related. If it has not bothered you in the past, it could have just been a one time thing as well.

violet87, BSN, RN · Dec 16, 2016

I had a bagel and a cup of orange juice about an hour before the incident, so it couldn't be related to blood sugar. Would have been my first thought too if someone was telling me this happened to them.

HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD · Dec 16, 2016

It's absolutely a natural reaction to upsetting things.... as a nursing student who covered all of this information in your A&P classes - can you recall what type of reaction this is? (sorry - educator here. Trying to turn everything into a teachable moment because I can't help myself). If you said "vasovagal response", you win the kewpie doll!!

Your sensitivity to most types of unpleasant stimuli will decrease with repeated exposure. Think about a new parent changing a horrendous diaper for the first time.... within a very short time, even changing a defcon 1 diaper won't even elicit the slightest reaction. You may never be completely impervious to the sight of blood, but your reaction will become more nurse-y .. "is that venous or arterial? Need to apply pressure, where's the gauze? How long will I need to hold pressure?. ." as time goes on.

Don't worry - we've all been there. It actually indicates that you are an extremely empathetic person - a wonderful quality for a clinician. Next time, if you feel "it" coming on, step back, take some deep breaths through your nose & if you feel very shaky, sit down & put your head lower than your heart if possible. Most important - remove yourself from the patient care area when this occurs - upchucking into an open wound or fainting in the middle of the sterile field will not go over well.

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · Dec 16, 2016

Good advice above. I'll also add that sometimes when people are upset by something, they hold their breath and do a val salva, without even realizing it. This can exacerbate a vagal response. So keep breathing through it, and put yourself in a safe position so you don't fall and hurt yourself or someone else.

violet87, BSN, RN · Dec 16, 2016

HouTX,

Thank you so much for your response. I feel a little silly for not having known that about the vasovagal response, but I did a little extra research after reading your post and now I'll never forget it! And thank you for the great advice. You're right, next time I'll step back and take a few breaths. I was afraid that if I made it apparent that I was feeling ill after seeing the blood that I would be looked down on and that my ability to become a nurse would be doubted. However, upchucking into an open wound as you said would be a problem, and now that I know it's a normal response I won't feel so embarrassed if it happens again.

Horseshoe,

Now that I think about it, I probably was holding my breath and doing a valsalva! I tend to do that a lot when I cringe. I'll be much more conscious of that next time.

Thank you both for your responses, I really appreciate it. I didn't think this would be such a learning experience. I'm going to share it with my class on Monday :)

Wuzzie · Dec 16, 2016

I had a bagel and a cup of orange juice about an hour before the incident, so it couldn't be related to blood sugar. Would have been my first thought too if someone was telling me this happened to them.

Might want to add some protein to all those carbs so your sugar doesn't bounce all over the place. Especially once you're a nurse and breaks are practically non-existent.

verene, MSN · Dec 16, 2016

I think this is not unusual for many students, particularly if you haven't seen much blood before starting school.

As a child I shadowed a veterinarian and one of the procedures she did was pull a rabbit's teeth. It was not particularly invasive or gruesome and the rabbit was sedated, but that first drop of blood had me feeling woozy and sitting in the corner on the floor of the exam room trying not to vomit or black out. She assured me my reaction was normal to being in such an unfamiliar situation, and that I would become less sensitized with time and experience. The more situations I've been in since where I've been exposed to blood, guts, and gore, the easier it has gotten for me to not have an issue with the sights, sounds or smells. Or if having a reaction to bring my focus back to the task the needs to be completed which usually works to distance myself a little from the shock. Every once and a while tough something will still trigger a bit of a reaction and I've had to back away, or even leave the room.

Make sure you a well hydrated, well fed, and not locking your knees while observing. If you start feeling light-headed try wiggling your legs a little (sometimes if you've locked your knees this restores blood flow, and if not it can still distract you from the trigger). If you need to step back, step out, or even just get out of the way and sit on the floor, do so. It's better to get out of the situation and recover than to faint and become another patient.

tcvnurse, BSN, RN · Dec 17, 2016

That's normal, and it happens sometimes, especially the first time you see something like that. I nearly fainted during my first clinical while watching a nurse put an IV in. My clinical instructor found me in the hallway, and when I told her i thought I might faint or vomit, she just sighed and said, "What did you see?" She had me put my head down for a few minutes and do some breathing, and then I was fine.

The next week, I got to follow around the IV nurse as she put in line after line, and you know what? Since I knew what to expect now, I didn't have any trouble at all!

But wow, looking back I went a little crazy in my head. (OMG I am going to fail out of nursing school, I'll have all these student loans to pay off and I'll never get a job, and I'll be homeless living on the street!)

As an RN, I have seen plenty of students get dizzy cause they didn't eat breakfast. Or faint upon seeing a doc pull a chest tube. You know what? Those kids went on the be REALLY good nurses, and I see one of those nurses all the time at work.

Trust me, it doesn't make you a failure or a bad student or someone that can't be a nurse. The first time for anything is always the hardest.

Semper_Gumby · Dec 17, 2016

I used to get lightheaded sometimes in C-sections waiting for the baby to come out. Never had to call for backup but sometimes when there was more blood than usual it made me feel a little woozy! It was definitely worse when it was an unplanned section and I hadn't eaten for a long time. I also recall feeling a little sick after opening a diaper several hours post-circumcision and finding...lots of blood. Yikes! :nailbiting:

You'll get used to it and likely won't react as badly in the future, but even if you do, it doesn't mean you won't be a great nurse. There's some weird things in nursing to get used to!

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · Dec 17, 2016

When I had my gallbladder out, they wouldn't give me pain medicine in PACU because they said I needed to wait until I got to my room (crazy, but not the point). My DH was there in my room when I arrived. All of a sudden, everyone is gathered around HIM, saying "Sir, Sir! Are you okay? Okay, sit down, sir. Put your head down between your knees and take slow deep breaths." I was waving weakly, whispering "Hello? Umm, I'm the patient. Can I have something for pain?"

Turns out DH fainted because he said "You looked really pale." Are you serious?!?!?!

Sometimes when I work a gory surgery, I think "OMG, if DH were here, he'd be LAID OUT right now!"