Things that gross you out..

[vintage_RN]

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?

[SaoirseRN]

Oh and when they brush their teeth and I give them water to swish around in their mouth, and instead of spitting it back out they swallow it. All that old food, toothpaste, gunky water...makes me gag inside every time![/quote']

I have to turn my head for the "spit moment" when patients spit out the toothpaste water, and then I'm fine as long as I don't look at the spit vessel when I'm throwing it away. I don't know if I could handle the swallowing!

[Mommy&RN, BSN, RN]

I'm good with all ostomies, SBO emesis, even undigested food/pills in an ostomy. I am great with wounds of all sorts (packing, wound vac, smell, etc.) I'm getting better with sputum.

1.) undigested vomit, can not do it! I'll take your incontient cdiff please.

2.) mouth funk, and please for all that is great in the world, do not try to hand me your dentures (when not in a cup) :shiver:

[kikiz147]

I had a peg tube this week that was so occluded with jevity it took me a good 4-5 mins to get it milked and unclogged. Omg. I don't know why, but the smell of the old feed and picking the pieces out of the Lopez valve just made me wanna up chuck like never before! Just, ugh!!

Mucus-y diarrhea gets me too. Just the mucus part. And foley bags. Nothing is worse then stale urine. Blegh.

[ellaballet]

My first job was at a nursing home, I had a woman who would spit loogies all over the place..mainly onto the floor or into napkins and scream "Here! Be a good little girl and take this from me!" until I did. I also once watched her throw up her dinner onto her tray and continue to eat her vomit until I ran over and took it away. Now my new job most of my patients are trached and vented and require a loooot of suctioning. Needless to say I'm no longer grossed out by snot! Or vomit. Lol.

I don't mind cleaning up BMs but getting guac samples makes me queasy. Having to smear it. Blah.

[LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN]

I had a peg tube this week that was so occluded with jevity it took me a good 4-5 mins to get it milked and unclogged. Omg. I don't know why but the smell of the old feed and picking the pieces out of the Lopez valve just made me wanna up chuck like never before! [/quote']

Because Jevity and any high caloric feeds seem to smell like vomit...gagg..

The worst are the ones with high caloric feeds that have the worst gas that when doing rounds, you find the feed disconnected...sometimes you can smell vomit on your way in...Sometimes a specimen bag with a small hole and tape to prevent gastric runoff into the bed helped if it got disconnected. Heck, it helped me get through the shift without feelings of up chucking!

[ready4nu]

The vomit eating got me. I'm pretty good with all the gross stuff but that would have done me in. Eek!

[Happy2beICU-RN]

Oh my. I just couldn't resist this thread! It amazes me how we deal with the grossest stuff every day!! So I hate formed adult stools! I can deal with diarrhea all day but a formed poo and I'm gagging! I absolutely hate touching patients hair. Thank goodness for the nurses who like to play beauty school bc I just can't handle it! And also, touching jewelry of any kind grosses me out to no end. Anything to do with an ostomy ? the smell gets me every time. I work in a MICU so I deal with vents and trachs constantly so I really appreciate some good sputum! And irrigating a rectal trumpet is one of my greatest joys

Thanks for sharing everyone!