Published
I have just read an interesting article about nurses which says that there are certain things we do or see as Nurses which makes us want to vomit.
So what makes you want to vomit?
I don't really have much that makes me want to vomit, but a couple of incidents come to mind from my early days.
One was the first man who was incontinent of feces and it was spread everywhere
Second one was trying to take a specimen from an episode of malena
Both times it was the smell which caught me unawares
I once worked in a chronic care hospital on a floor that took emergency respite admissions for DMR/DMH group homes. This guy had a trach, really thick secretions, and hadn't been using a trach mask/humidifier or HME. Well, it was the middle of summer, and the group home didn't have AC, and we're guessing they spent lots of time with the windows open, or maybe outside...long story short, this poor guy's trach was infested with maggots. I don't lose my lunch over even the chunkiest of trach secretions, but the sight of the wiggly maggots floating in the suction canister...
There's not a whole lot that make me want to vomit, other than vomit. I was very close to vomiting one day when emptying a foley, the patient was on palliative care due to the end stages of cancer and her urine was very thick with a very foul odor. I had also just found out a couple weeks before that I was pregnant, which I'm sure made it a lot worse :)
Trach care with thick secretions is pretty gross to me, but after having one pt on our floor for several months that required so much care I got used to it. The absolute, hands down, worst was when we had a pt with a gaping leg wound that had decay and dead tissue in it that had to be I&D'ed by a surgeon. The smell was like a rotting corpse and so strong that engineering had to come up to the room and make a special venting system to the outdoors. i felt so sad for the patient because she couldn't get away from it. I can handle most anything else and other wounds.
I'm cracking up that the ad in this thread is:
Throat Mucus Naturally Reduce Phlegm, Mucus & Throat Congestion. Guaranteed! www.NativeRemedies.com
Wonder if that would work for the trach patients we're all talking about? LOL
The smell from ileostomies. BUT the worst smell I have ever smelt was something I experienced back when I was a student. I am having trouble describing it (not a surgical nurse at all). It was an open stomach, with a raised transparent dressing covering it. The patient was still eating and drinking a little so when the nurse opened it to clean and change the dressing OH MY GOSH. It was UNHOLY. I haven't seen anything like it since in my nice little medical bubble. I would probably go as far to say that a lot of surgeries would make me squeamish. Anything other than the bronchs/trach insertions/central lines/EGDs, TEEs that I see at the bedside are a noooooooo thank you.
BrandonLPN, LPN
3,358 Posts
Any altered body functions related to cirrhosis or liver failure. Jaundice and ascities. That horrible brown, greasy urine that stains everything and just smells... septic or something. I've cared for many hospice pts who died of liver failure. Such a horrible way to go.