I'm Rose and live in Southern California. I've just recently started to seriously think about going into Nursing. I've got a bachelor's degree in Business Economics and was dead set on working in the entertainment industry. Right out of college, I worked doing facilities management because I needed a job. After realizing that I wasn't doing what I had planned out of college, I quit my job to try and break into entertainment. I worked in television production and even in celebrity PR. I recently resigned from my publicist position and decided to go back to school.
I was planning on getting my Master's in Communications, but still don't know what to do with that. Nursing has been in the back of my mind for the past few months. My mother is a nurse, but never really considered it until recently. Knowing how much hard work it takes to become a nurse and how rewarding it can be is what made me start to consider the field. I really need a career that I can jump into and feel like I'm doing something good for myself and other people, not just sending out emails or crunching numbers for 8 hours a day.
My dilemma is this... I don't think I'm totally convinced that I can handle nursing because of the needles, blood and such. What I wanted to know is if there are any nurses out there that have experience the same fear, but got over it once they became a nurse. Because of some negative experiences with bad doctors and dentists, I've associated needles, blood and pain with the medical field. Now that I am adult, I would like to try and get over that fear and try to get into nursing. I am just scared that I won't be able to do it. I guess I'm just looking to find out how much I should expect to deal with. I am convinced that I'd get over this fear because I will have to face it head-on on a daily basis.
I just feel like I'm alone on this boat. If you've been in the same boat, I'd love to hear from you and what you went through. I'm currently going to start taking my pre-requisite classes for the Accelerated BSN program. I really want to do this program, but I'm still scared that I won't be able to get over my fear and will not finish or like the field. I know I am the one who has to make the decision for myself, I guess I wanted to know if this was common among nursing students. I'd appreciate any insight or advice. Cheers!
I still have a hard time with feces and vomit. I think you start to develop a tolerance. I use to have to leave the room and dry heave when I encountered feces, now I manage to deal with, my stomach still turns, but I'm getting a lot better.
I did an accelerated degree program and my original degree is in Political Science. For a long time I thought that I couldn't ever be a nurse because I had a blood/needle problem. Once I passed out after seeing something bloody and messed up on TV, fell down a flight of steps, landed myself in the ER, and then passed out again when they tried to put an IV in me. I was fine except for a few stiches in my head. I reealized at some point that I had what it took to be a nurse and I really wanted to do it, but this one stupid little thing was holding me back. I got some help from my school's counseling center. They had a med school too and apparently were very good at helping all sorts of medical students with their blood-related fears. For me, it took some hard work, but I was happy that I asked for help. I'm a new nurse right now and I've been giving lots of shots and I've started a few IVs so far.
A really good tip is to tense the muscles in your body and relax them. Start in your feet and move up through your abdomen and to your shoulders. Concentrating on at least tensing your abdomen and relaxing it help. The fear of blood is the only type of fear/phobia that causes a drop in blood pressure so tensing your muscles would help to raise it. It really works! Also recognizing the fact that it's ok to be nervous rather than beating myself up for being nervous around blood has helped. Try to think thoughts like, "They are helping this patient, not hurting him."
you can do it! my mom (who is a nurse too) could not believe when i decided to go to nursing school. reason why? everytime someone in my family got sick or hurt, i sould get scared and run the other way! kinda weird for someone who has worked critical care for 27 years!!!!
there is one thing though, i have never gotten accustomed to people retching and making all kinds of bad noises when they are vomiting. i have had a few times where i have thrown up with them!!
needles------no problem------just as long as they aren't pointed in my direction!!!!!
I hate needles, but I know I can get over it after doing it a few times. The problem will be getting over it. I dont think giving shots will be so bad, but IV's and drawing blood will be my problem. I think if I could watch it a few times and then when I have to do it, I will be able to.
Oh, well, I have to get into the program first. I dont know why they have such a shortage of nurses being that everyone seems to be going for that. They are just too choosy.
My thing was BM and Vomit. Early on, when I was a student, I got over my vomit issue very quickly. How you ask, had a patient declare to me that she was nauseaous, and stuck a kidney basin in front of her mouth and then she vomited. THe vomit went into the basin out the otherside and onto me. I refer to that day as trial by vomit.
My feces thing taken care of as a tech on a neuro resp unit in a day that was pretty crappy. I changed more diapers that day then I cared to remember. By the end of the day I was handling BM like a pro. To the point where I went to turn a pt and stuck my hands into a chocolate suprise bare handed. It happens.
You will get over it. And yes, we all do pass out sometimes at the side of blood. I did so in a bloodless surgery after seeing Ears nose throat surgury which can be blood for days on end. ANd then a see a achillies tendon repair and pass out. Go figuire. It come with the territory. If you feel as if you are about to pass out, get your back to the wall. This way when you loose consciousness, you will slide to the floor and injury will be minimal.
Your story is alot like mine. I have a bachelors in Business Admin, my mom has been a nurse for 42 years (I'm almost 29) and I never really considered nursing until a few years ago when my hubby went into the hospital for diverticulitis. After that experience, I started my pre-reqs and I am now in month #3 of a 15 month Accelerated BSN program!
I thought blood and needles might be a problem for me, but I was really worried about the nasty wounds, BM's and vomit. Now that I have been exposed to all of these things - I found that my desire to be a nurse overcomes all! Somehow I go onto autopilot and just focus on the patient and it all works out.
The best advice I got when I was where you are, trying to decide if nursing was for me, was to just make the decision and do it! At that moment I did, and I have never looked back!
I was terrified of needles before I started nursing school. I wouldn't stand to look at or hold them. Ugh! Made me so squeamish. It made me sick to think about having to poke people with them. Now I'm fine and have no issues at all - although IM injections still make me a bit nervous - I hate the dart throwing/jabbing motion.
I use to be so bad that even talking about veins made me pass out. Forget about drawing blood, I would get so sick to my stomach. Fast forward, after going through IVF and having blood draws daily I was able to have them done as long as I was lying down but still got very woosey. I was so afraid of going through a&p b/c of not even being able to talk about veins and arteries without getting dizzy. I made it through and am starting nursing school in the fall. I still get faint thinking about it sometimes and am going to go through behavior therapy. I was told that this can sometimes be hereditary. My father is the same way. Anyway, I will be a nurse and I will not let this stop me any longer. You might want to find a therapist to help you with this.
I'm so glad that I ran across this thread. I was the child that would run kicking and screeming anytime the word needle was mentioned. I did donate blood this spring and went down twice. Why do they have blood drives in hot gymnasium's anyway. The good people running the blood drive said I would be an excellent nurse because I will feel compassion towards the fainters. I sure hope so!
Okay, I'm not afraid of the sight of needles or blood. I'm also not afraid of recieving shots or IV's. But, I am terrified of the thought of being pricked by a needle that was used on a patient, and/or coming in contact with a patients blood.
I am not a nurse yet, I am still in school. I am passionate about becoming a nurse, but worried that my fear is a huge warning sign that I should NOT be a nurse. I am SO glad I found this web-site and I can ask nurses from all over if they can relate. Were any of you afraid of being pricked? Do you get over it?
I am hoping that once I learn all the "procedures" and safety precautions I'll realize that it's not as scary as I thought.
I dont know why they have such a shortage of nurses being that everyone seems to be going for that. They are just too choosy. 
ladydame
38 Posts
I still have a hard time with feces and vomit. I think you start to develop a tolerance. I use to have to leave the room and dry heave when I encountered feces, now I manage to deal with, my stomach still turns, but I'm getting a lot better.