i am starting nursing school in september...and as far as what i will encounter, i'd say not too much makes me squeemish. blood, puke, defecation....doesnt bother me. open wounds, dead bodies, surgery....interests me. the one thing that makes me squeemish and i'm not sure how i'm going to handle once i see it in person is really weird.
the idea of putting a tournaquet on and seeing the veins pop out, and poking and prodding them...that makes me sick to my stomach. when i get blood drawn...i absolutely hate it...not because of the needle or blood....but the tournaquet. i cant even look at it, and the idea of it makes me sick. i dont know why...it seems weird. i guess the only way to overcome it is to force myself to do it when im in school...facing your fears i guess...
what are some things you have to do day to day that gross you out?
Big flakes of dry skin falling off when you take off someone's socks.
Emptying colostomy bags- rectal tubes, poop from a butt = no problem, but colostomy bags really get to me. Even when you just have to "burp" them. *shudder*Childbirth (just lady partsl), and lady partsl bleeding with pelvic exams...uh uh.
Specializes in Medical Oncology, Alzheimer/dementia.
I cannot handle phlegm. I hate when I'm walking and I see someone's fresh loogie on the ground, still wet and shiny. So I pretty much hate suction cannisters and trachs as well.
I am not squeamish about much. I admit that the thought of poking people with needles worries me. Not because of the "heebies jeebies" but more the fact that I don't want to cause someone unnecessary pain. I think my main nemesis might be vomit. Especially it I witness someone vomiting. I have a very hard time squelching my own natural reflex to vomit myself. I am okay with everything else, but vomit... I know it will happen eventually and I hope I can fake it and deal with what I must deal with and not lose it myself.
I was afraid to give shots my first semester (I am heading into the second semester starting August 20th)...
My thought was what if I go to give the shot and the needle doesn't go in?! No worries, it will :)
stool samples. abnormal stool, greasy, snotty and really strong smells. most stuff I can handle, but some smells it makes one want to puke. Today I had green diarrhea today, i was ok with that, but snotty smelly stool. i am cool with baby poop too. I have to convince myself the stool sample is really important.
Check out some ortho surgery and open heart on youtube. bone and joint surgery can be hard to watch.
Eye stuff. Injuries to the eye and such. We had to discect a pig's eyeball for A&P and I wanted to just take the F, LOL. My sister is an optho tech and thinks it's hilarious to tell me the stories of what she sees in her office. Like the gal who was separating her mascara-clumped eyelashes with an open safety pin. GAH!
Eye stuff. Injuries to the eye and such. We had to discect a pig's eyeball for A&P and I wanted to just take the F, LOL. My sister is an optho tech and thinks it's hilarious to tell me the stories of what she sees in her office. Like the gal who was separating her mascara-clumped eyelashes with an open safety pin. GAH!
Yeppers! I knew ya'll figure out how THAT turned out! I had a coworker reach into her closet and pull a top off of a hanger and it spun around and the hook part landed right in her eye. Joan Crawford was really onto something when she believed in no wire hangers...
Someone with a trach. They try so hard to cough it out several times (oh just that wet, hollow, gunky sound) and BAM!! that really yellowish, green,stringy, gooey sputum shots out and gets all over that nice clean collar you just changed, and when you wipe it up it just smears everywhere... GAG GAG!!
The only thong I have come across that has made me weak in the knees was on an elderly lady that was admitted for pneumonia but upon doing her assessment I found a 3" deep wound on her thigh filled with maggots and flies. The smell literally knocked me back. Made me extremely grateful for our wound care nurse!!
I can't stand anything respiratory related. Trachs, vents, ew. I spent some time on a respiratory unit and it was soooo disgusting. I can't even imagine wanting to be a respiratory therapist.
Oh, and I think the word sputum is the grossest word ever.
sapphire18
1,082 Posts
Dentures- cleaning and handling them.
Big flakes of dry skin falling off when you take off someone's socks.
Emptying colostomy bags- rectal tubes, poop from a butt = no problem, but colostomy bags really get to me. Even when you just have to "burp" them. *shudder*Childbirth (just lady partsl), and lady partsl bleeding with pelvic exams...uh uh.