Very squeamish

Squeamish ... i think the smells get me irked ... such as empyema , GI bleed poop. Sputum suctioned through ET/Trach/or using a yanker .. that's all stuff that makes me think a bit.

But i've gotten better about it. Smells are the ones that make me wig out for a second. Get in , do your thing, and get the hell out hehe.

I haven't dealt with a lot of it yet...had a gal with VRE the other day who was poopy and a small amount splashed on my arm...we were so busy I didn't even really have time to think too much about it until after....I discontinued a NG tube the other day and surprised myself that I just did it and didn't think too much about it...have watched a Foley catheter be inserted, personally done some injections, watched while a PICC line was being inserted, and will have OR observation in a few weeks...I'm a bit worried about that...mostly because I am unsure how I will physically react when the time comes...we just learned IV insertion, so if that opportunity presents itself I will be doing those soon, and we'll start trach care and NG tube insertion....all new exposures to things I haven't dealt with and am a bit concerned about, but so far, I've even surprised myself....I haven't dealt with any puking on me, although I had a pt who got sick in to her bedside bowl the other day....I don't know; somehow it's just happened and I haven't really thought about it too much....and believe me, I spent plenty of time worrying about it before the fact....

diarrhea and vomit. I can handle blood, I can handle burns, I can handle surgery. Injections don't really bug me. I've watched a PICC line insertion and a bronchoscopy with no problems. But vomit and diarrhea just make my stomach tie in knots. Yuck.

(I'm not nearly as squeamish about it as I used to be, though. There's a lot to be said for desensitization.)

True, however the thing that does it for me tends to be bowel obstructed vomit....not really chunky, but the brownish liquid backup....not the best....

I had my OR rotation and there's not much blood, unless the surgery is in a spot where a tournequet cannot be applied, (trunk/hips/head)....all in all, I'm pretty much desensitized until after the fact. You often don't have time to worry about when the patients come first.

I HATE suctioning. The sound, the mucus, everything about it. Bring on anything else, and I'm OK.

Hey Robin:

I gather from your post that by squeamish, you mean that you feel faint? If so, I can tell you that I delayed nursing school for some time for exactly the same reason. Finally, I decided to try to "get over" my phobia of blood, and really any and all related medical things............lol. It is pretty silly now, but before even looking at a patient hooked up to monitors with an IV could get me to feel like fainting.

The best advice that I can give you is that once you get desensitized to whatever it is that makes you feel like fainting, you will be ok.

Like a previous poster mentioned, actually working as a cna, would expose to you a lot of stuff, yet you could always kind of leave the room if it got to be too much. I actually went to see a cognitive psychotherapist about my fainting problem and she helped a bit; however, eventually it was just being around it all that finally got me over it.

Now I am putting in IVs and pulling/hanging blood constantly in the ED. I have also managed to get to the point where virtually nothing bothers me, and I never feel like fainting anymore. Believe me, if I can do it, so can anyone!!!

After I started nursing school, I ended up working as a student nurse intern so that as well as my clinicals gave me plenty of exposure to the things that I normally would be unable to see/do. I also had the opportunity to get pretty comfortable on the unit that I was on, although after I graduated, I changed hospitals and ended up in the ED, which I absolutely LOVE now (I always thought I would end up in psych because there would be less blood, etc.).

So, don't give up on what you want to do. Remember to breath (I would feel like fainting because I would inadvertently hold my breath)......Good Luck!

Carla

Emptying a bedside commode with toilet paper in it! I can handle pouring the urine into a measuring container with NO problems, but when there is a wad of t.p. in there, I want to puke! funny, huh?

Getting a stool sample with that tiny, tiny stick when there is mucus in it!! Give me a formed stool... no problem. Got mucus? ...it will be the fastest thing I do all day!

Thanks everyone! Carla, you sound like me! Sometimes I wonder why I want to do this, but I do! You have given me hope! And some of you have made me think if things I never thought of before...eeewwww, but I know it comes with the job!

Robin

I have worked in homehealth and also in hospice. I can deal with blood, guts, needles, anything except vomit and diarehea(sic) but anythinbg else is cool with me.

Ear wax used to get to me. I worked in a clinic and had to do ear flushes. Those big, black, hairy balls of gunk *shudders*