What is your "thing" and how do you deal with it?

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One of my nursing instructors once told me that every nurse has their one "thing" that makes them completely gag and want to vomit??. Hers happened to be emptying colostomy bags. She dealt with it by using peppermint or lavender essential oils in her mask. I have discovered mine...sputum. I have been taking care of a gentleman who has quite a productive cough. Whenever he coughs he then has to spit out a large amount of sputum in a basin. I then obviously have to empty the basin rinse it out and give it back to him. His doctor asked for a sputum specimen to send to the lab. So this time he had to spit it into a cup and I had to put that into a specimen jar and send it to the lab. It took forever to get it into the specimen cup because it was super thick and stuck to the sides of the cup. Although I didn't throw up, I was gagging so hard, I peed a little ????. I can completely understand the need to get that out of the back of his throat because I have chronic post nasal drip myself - it's so gross. My question is how do you deal with your "thing" and what is it?

Specializes in Med-Surg newbie.
On 9/14/2019 at 9:46 PM, Crash_Cart said:

Nothing... I upgraded to a cast iron stomach. lol

But some people do have pretty gross feet though. Hate when all that dead skin flies around when pulling their sock off. Try not to breathe any of it into your lungs okay? ?

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On 9/14/2019 at 1:00 PM, Puella said:

Feet... clean feet, dirty feet, crusty feet, feet that flake skin everywhere when you pull a sock off, Wal-mart feet, fungus feet... just no... I can't... no. ?????????

?

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Specializes in Med-Surg newbie.
23 hours ago, hawaiicarl said:

I don't really have a thing, but I do enjoy trolling people who do. I have a co-worker who can't stand skin flakes, and we had one guy who looked like a snake molting his skin come in. Remember that scene in Austin Powers Goldmember? I peeled a good one off, and was pretending I was gonna eat it, when one of my buddies walked behind me and pushed my elbow so the damn thing almost went in my mouth!! I was laughing so hard I almost inhaled it. "Mmmmmm that's a keeper!"

??

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Specializes in ER, ICU, MS/Tele, Corrections.
On 9/14/2019 at 1:00 PM, Puella said:

Feet... clean feet, dirty feet, crusty feet, feet that flake skin everywhere when you pull a sock off, Wal-mart feet, fungus feet... just no... I can't... no. ?????????

Yeah that. ::gag::

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Specializes in Neuro ICU.

Tunneling wounds!! Never seen one, only in nursing school. Gives me the heebie jeebies. Also not a big fan of measuring GI residuals... and then reinstilling them ?

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Specializes in LTC/Rehab, General Hospital Medical.
On 9/14/2019 at 1:00 PM, Puella said:

Feet... clean feet, dirty feet, crusty feet, feet that flake skin everywhere when you pull a sock off, Wal-mart feet, fungus feet... just no... I can't... no. ?????????

Wal-mart feet, I'm so done ?

I've found that nothing in particular bothers me....yet.

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