I am wanting opinions on building up tolerance to things we are about to see in nursing school and or A&P etc... I tried an anatomy site to look at disection pictures.
I guess mainly I am wondering if this can be done? Can you train yourself not to have a weak stomach? I am a mommy so inevitably, I have seen my fair share of poop, blood, cuts, etc...
I know this is no where near the things I am about to embark upon, but I was hoping to get some advice in this area. Can you train yourself not to get grossed out? I hate the thought of gagging or puking on my lab partner. :roll
I have a feeling I will have problems with injections. I'm so afraid of hurting someone. If any of y'all have read "Intensive Care: The Story of a Nurse" by Echo Heron, the section where they learn to give IM injections is probably going to be repeated when I learn. However, I'm trying very hard to be optimistic. I've also started watching when I get injections, whereas in the past I couldn't. Any suggestions?
Injections are actually kinda gratifying. If you do it correctly, 9 out of 10 pt's won't feel it.
I work in surgery, and have scrubbed in on cases where I use both hands to move bowels outs of the Dr's way. I have held a beating heart, I have helped yank a uterus out, I have pulled necrotic tissue off a belly, I have held a tumorous breast mass in my hands, I have manuvered joints in unnatural positions, I have done the most unreal and some would say discusting things imaginable. Just today I assisted on a BKA. The hardest past is being the circulator and taking the leg off the field.
Yet nothing makes me gag like being on the floors and cleaning what we in the OR call a "code brown." I had children. Their nasty diapers never made me blink or bat an eye. But you take a 150-200 pound adult, and give them a healthy dose of golightly and I'm trying REALLY hard not to let them hear or see me gag. This is one of the reasons I HATE clinicals! No offense to the med-surg nurses out there, but my GOD how and WHY do ya'll do it?? There are so many specialties these medical detectives (that's what med-surg RN's ARE) could excel in. The only thing attractive about being a med-surg nurse is that you can REALLY gain an understanding of pathology, and that you get to have real patient interaction. We miss most of that in the OR, and I suspect many other specialties miss it as well.
Nevertheless, Blood and guts and sawing bone is no match for shit and sputum in the gag dept. Blood's purty and guts are no grosser than skinning a chicken. Even the smell of a bovie searing flesh is less gag inducing than an impacted 79 year old. Unless, of course, the flesh is gangrenous. Then, we all fight over the spearmint.:chuckle
Bottom line, if you look at the body scientifically, and take it from there, you really shouldn't be grossed out. It's a wonderous sight to behold.
I totally agree with CarolineRN! I haven't made it into nursing school yet BUT I work in a heart surgeons office in Billing. Just last Monday I had the opportunity to go to a Bypass Surgery and a AVR. This was my personal test to see if I could "handle" being a nurse. Well, I passed my test with flying colors!!! I was soo shocked at how calm and completely interested I was. Even my doctor and the entire OR staff was surprised, they kept asking me if I felt faint or maybe needed to sit down. I was soo OK with the whole thing! I even came home and told my husband that if I was 18 and had saw that I would totally be going to school to be a surgeon! Keep in mind...I only work in BILLING, never have seen blood or BIG HUGH CUTS in my life, except for last Monday.
I think you'll be surprised at how much you can really "take" if you have to!!
MidwifeWannaB
152 Posts
I have a feeling I will have problems with injections. I'm so afraid of hurting someone. If any of y'all have read "Intensive Care: The Story of a Nurse" by Echo Heron, the section where they learn to give IM injections is probably going to be repeated when I learn. However, I'm trying very hard to be optimistic. I've also started watching when I get injections, whereas in the past I couldn't. Any suggestions?