What is your Nursing Kryptonite?

You know, your weakness ... your one "thing" that makes your stomach flip over when you see a patient with it/them/whatever. I had my first "maggot" patient recently (maggots living where they shouldn't be, you understand), and it really grossed many of my coworkers out. I was relieved to find that the maggots didn't bother me ... apparently my only Achilles heel thus far is nasty dentures, LOL -- EWWWWW.

When I was a tech, I had a nurse offer me $5 to suction a patient because sputum makes her queasy.

[StrwbryblndRN]

I get queasy with insertion of iv's. I can do them (not well) but watching someone palpate the inside arm and then stick the needle....shiver. It is a tender area for me and just thinking about it makes me shiver.

All else is great. But there have been two times where a usually simple task made me gag. 1)the smell of a particular pt's urine. (she did not even have a urinary problem) 2) a big thick mucous ball stuck to tip of yankeur after suctioning a trach. When I saw it I thought nothing of it but gagged anyhow. Surprised me too.

[twois]

Can someone explain to me what the big thing with phlegm/trach suctioning thing is? I say this as someone about to start NS, so clearly I've never done it myself, but I've volunteered in the MICU and watched trach suctioning being done and it didn't bother me in the least... in fact, I found the sound to be so incredibly satisfying. Am I weird? Or is there something else that's going to sneak up on me? Some awful smell or surprise or something?

[CNL2B]

I'm not so bad with smells. However I cant stand certain sounds.

The sound of someone suctioning a trach.

The sound of bone being pulled apart during open heart surgery.

The sound of an episiotomy will make me hit the roof. I nearly fainted when I heard my first one.

An episiotomy makes a sound? I've had two -- how did I miss this?

[emtb2rn, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

If I was gonna hijack this thread, it would be: What are you having for dinner tonight?

But I won't.

Yeah, suctioning trachs can be gross. Strangely though, I find the thought of trach suctioning worse than the actual procedure.

And we're having leftover Indian food. Paneer tikka masala.

[crb613, BSN, RN]

Mucus,flem, phlegm, and any sounds that go with it. I cannnot take it! sheeeww! makes me sick to even type it! I can't stand toenails either. I will do anything to get away from it. My co workers think its really funny to chase me with a specimen cup or sit it down beside of me.....Devils!

[LilgirlRN, ADN, RN]

Ya know, you're taking care of the poor lil old man from the nursing home. He's dried up, dehydrated, feverish. I'll think he's comatose and then he opens his mouth to speak and has those white stringy things of dried up spit going up and down as he opens and closes his mouth.....ewwwwwwww. Reminds me of when my son was just a little guy watching Thundercats cartoon. The evil guy, Mumra, he had those stringy thingies. YUCK!

[GHGoonette, BSN, RN]

Heh heh, I'm reading all these posts and I can't help cackling a bit... not because of all the things nurses hate or are afraid of doing, but because I know if it has to be done, and no-one else who is less squeamish is available, YOU'LL GO AND DO IT ANYWAY! I remember a recent article on this site which queried "What is a nursing hero?" Well, here's your answer: anyone who does anything they hate or fear doing because it needs to be done is a HERO!

One of my friends hates sputum, or in fact any secretions gurgling through the suction tube. Doesn't stop her reaching for the yankauer though!

Congratulations to all of you! You are all HEROES!

[Scooty Puff Jr]

Yet once again I start my day off by coffee exiting via my nares! This is the funniest...and grossest thread.

[murphyle, BSN, RN]

Secretions don't bother me in general. (Did a TON of ETT and trach suctioning in nursing school preceptorship - I suspect because a few of the nurses on my unit had secretion issues, and said "Oh yay, we'll make the SN do it, and she'll be falling all over herself for the 'patient care experience' too!") Blood, bones, not a big deal. Eyes I actually find fascinating. (Blame a high-school/college love affair with ophthalmology for that one.) Infected wounds, I'm more likely to be peering at in fascination going "Now how do we fix THIS mess?"

My weakness? Distal small bowel obstructions. Specifically, that thick liquid stool-scented vomitus that goes along with them. It's two horrors for the price of one. Extra added points if they've managed to develop a Mallory-Weiss tear with repeated vomiting. (Yes, you really CAN have poop, blood and puke all at the same time, from the same outlet!)

[RaziRN]

I really shouldn't have tried eating while reading this thread. *queasy*

[back2bRN]

The smell of amniotic fluid....gag---breathe through mouth, excuse me from room. Everything else, ok even hearing someone vomiting, no problem.

[EmergencyNrse]

The smell of amniotic fluid....gag---breathe through mouth, excuse me from room.

Yep! That and more. I don't know how you women do it.

Never trust anything that bleeds for 7 days and doesn't die...