Would I ever get over the fear of hurting people?

HTCC · May 17, 2015

I think it's a very common fear, and yes it is certainly possible to overcome. I work in physical therapy and causing my patients pain was the hardest thing for me to deal with in the beginning. The best advice I ever got was that being "nice" and "gentle" wasn't doing my patients any favors and could potentially cause harm instead. It took time, and sometimes it's still very hard for me to hurt a patient or see them cry, but I've seen the alternative when they don't get proper care and it's much worse!

la_chica_suerte85, BSN, RN · May 17, 2015

It is so scary -- there is no way to understate this. But, you get to practice with the equipment well in advance. If you feel like you need more practice then practice all you can until you have a muscle memory developing. This will make you feel less frightened of messing up. I still get scared when I do things even as simple as turning patients. I wonder if I caused them pain or if I complicated some joint issue or forgot to make sure their was ample padding for bony prominences and OMG what if I made them have a pressure ulcer (!). But, the more you do it and when you talk to the patients (especially the "frequent fliers" who have been through it all) and see that you didn't kill them, you start to realize how sturdy and resilient people are. You will also learn the instances where you must take special care (i.e. like the way the head of the bed should be for someone with increased ICP).

In other words: yeah, you'll get over it the more you get to do.

WanderingWilder, ASN · May 17, 2015

I've found the thought of doing something is almost always worse then doing it. There are plenty of things that I've dreaded doing but once in the moment it wasn't near as bad as I'd imagine.

Momma1RN, MSN, RN, APRN · May 17, 2015

Try to rationalize it- "I am giving this heparin injection so that patient does not develop a blood clot. The development of a blood clot could cause a stroke or a PE". You will cause pain when you are giving a shot, sure. Sometimes you will cause pain by rolling a patient to clean them up- but you're not going to leave them lying in their own urine are you?

rob4546, ADN, BSN, MSN · May 17, 2015

Yes this is a valid thought but I will tell you that once you have done it a few times it really isn't a big deal. I actually look for the patients that are nervous or skittish about needles and see how "pleasant" I can make it for them. Pleasant is not a great word for it but I do challenge myself. I make it kind of a little game by comforting the patient and taking the fear out of the intervention.

I started an IV on a 13 year old that was deathly afraid of needles. Five minutes of therapeutic communication, addressing and acknowledging her fears, and great timing made the experience easy for her. In fact I told her I was going to start and she kind of started to squirm but dad started laughing. While she was looking at mom, I tapped her and the procedure was all over even before I said I was going to start.

This isn't something I would spend my time fearing, it will come over time with experience.

RunnerD1987 · May 17, 2015

Ha I think I get laughed at drawing blood. I am no ICU nurse who can make stones bleed just a tech trying to get into nursing school. Anyways, I draw blood have a lot of people with wiggly wormy veins going in I always say sorry for some reason.

Purple_roses · May 17, 2015

I think that with experience, you will get used to it. I'm not afraid of causing a patient pain necessarily; for instance, I'm not worried about them feeling pain when they get a shot because I know that the shot is good for them. I'm terrified of making a mistake that causes a patient harm, though.

HisKonstantine · May 17, 2015

I don't know a single nurse that likes to hurt their patient. But it's just part of the job and yes, you will get over your fear and succeed with the tasks. I'm still in school but when I'm clinical and doing something to my patients that either hurts or causes them discomfort in any way, I do my best to make it as short and sweet as possible.

In nursing, we deal with people in pain and do things that cause pain. It's just the nature of the beast.

Potato 007 · May 18, 2015

Thank you all, your answers are very helpful. At least now I know that I am not alone, and I have a chance.