What can you tolerate the least?

FranEMTnurse, CNA, LPN, EMT-I · Nov 16, 2014

I once had a breast cancer patient with metastasis through the skin. It was all honeycombed, and had pus filled crevices in it. I felt so bad for the lady. Here's a photo of throat cancer.

Loo17 · Nov 16, 2014

Cleaning up a deceased patient in the ED that has an ET tube and forgetting to tape a glove or something to the end before turning them.

vokaybo · Nov 17, 2014

Blood and guts do not bother me. I hate feet. I cannot stand to have to deal with feet in any way.

No Stars In My Eyes · Nov 17, 2014

I was working in a podiatrist's office once and a patient asked me how I could stand feet all day long. I asked her what she did for work and she said she was a dental assistant. AUGH! Saliva! I have to turn off my mind if I have to remove and clean someone's dentures!

FranEMTnurse, CNA, LPN, EMT-I · Nov 18, 2014

I can't stand humidity. It makes me feel like I'm smothering.

No Stars In My Eyes · Nov 18, 2014

Ditto! Put me giving a shower to a patient in a small, hot bathroom, and I am completely drenched with sweat, my face is beet red, and if it takes too long, I feel like I'm going to pass out!

ixchel · Nov 18, 2014

I jinxed myself on this thread saying I can handle any form of poop. I met my match in a brand new, c-diff-ridden colostomy bag. It wasn't the smell initially. It ended up being the smell plus the look of it. I've seen colostomy poop at all stages of the intestines. This looked like nothing I've ever seen and smelled so terribly foul. The horrible state of health this patient was in, partially I wonder if it was so horrid because of some decomposing. Have any of you ever seen poop that is burnt sienna in color, with what looks like goldschlagger flakes in it? With a smell unlike any other? Seriously, what is that?

LilRedRN1973 · Nov 22, 2014

Gingerbread, ginger cookies, etc. I cannot tolerate the smell of them after giving milk and molasses enemas in the ICU. Apparently, the combo makes for a great enema but once you smell it mixed with the poop of a woman who hasn't had a BM in two weeks....well, it's hard to enjoy gingerbread after that!

And vomit. I just can't do it. Even my own kids. I have been known to call my husband and have him come home from work to deal with a child's vomit. Just.Can't.Do.It.

angiewdm · Nov 22, 2014

I am really bad with skin conditions that ooze and drain, and especially those sebacious cysts. I can handle everything else, but I have to soldier through it with bad rashes and the like.

No Stars In My Eyes · Nov 22, 2014

Gingerbread, ginger cookies, etc. I cannot tolerate the smell of them after giving milk and molasses enemas in the ICU. Apparently, the combo makes for a great enema but once you smell it mixed with the poop of a woman who hasn't had a BM in two weeks....well, it's hard to enjoy gingerbread after that!
And vomit. I just can't do it. Even my own kids. I have been known to call my husband and have him come home from work to deal with a child's vomit. Just.Can't.Do.It.

Well, Life_is_good_1973, Now you've gone and done it! Milk and molasses enemas? Never heard of such! All I know is that my mom used to mix milk and molasses for us as a TREAT to DRINK, believing it was healthier for us than chocolate milk!

AUGH!

middleagednurse · Nov 22, 2014

The worst thing I ever saw was a retina harvest from a recently dead person.imagine a scalpel going into your eye.

No Stars In My Eyes · Nov 22, 2014

AUGH! Retina harvest! AUGH!

One of the two times I almost fainted (left the room so I wouldn't) was when I observed a proctoscope: the lady with her butt in the air, and the doctor moving that scope around in her butt like he was Mario Andretti shifting gears.....