Dr.'s, nurses and those aspiring to be Dr's/nurses

[bab]

How do you get past the gross? When I was younger I really wanted to be a physician. I did not stick to my guns and never completed the coursework necessary to apply.

I have since considered nursing a number of times but my only fear is being completely put off by gross/painful things. I feel like I would freak my shit if I had to stick people or insert catheters etc. These fears have become so much worse now that I am older.

How do you work through this?

[mypunkinpie]

Part of it is your desire to help the person is greater than your disgust for grossness.

[bab]

But what if you really want to help, but you gag when people blow chunks. You can't control the gagging!
(this is allllll very hypothetical)

[MWOS]

A healthy sense of humor. Camaraderie with other doctors/nurses that you're not the only one thinking something is gross.

When it comes down to it, shit needs to get done. There is a human being who is depending on you for help, and that trumps the gross.

[emjacobs]

I don't work on people but a lot of my coursework in college was related to being able to cover basic veterinary emergencies, doing your own vaccines, etc so that you didn't have to bug the vet. It was a large school and vets taught the program (we weren't just sticking stuff into unknowing ponies)

Some can handle sticking animals, some can't. For me it was no problem, the horse needed the vaccine, or needed an IV, or needed blood drawn. It wasn't a big deal it was just what needed to be done.

[MWOS]

There's also a lot of exposure therapy. It might bother you now, but 5000 times from now it's a lot less shocking.

[bab]

Jul 10, 2012 13:12:34 GMT -5 chilerellanos said:

I was nervous as hell the first couple of times I started IV's and such. Blood doesn't really get to me, but wounds do. Really infected wounds. Gross. And poop. Poop never gets less disgusting. But you do it because you're helping people. I love my job. Also, adrenaline is good, and gets you through a lot of situations. All of the good docto
rs and nurses I know like a good adrenaline rush. [/quote

This is the kind of stuff that would be the worst for me. Oozing sores, severe burns and poking people in painful ways.

[MWOS]

With regard to the "hurting people" part. This is something I've though about a lot. Obviously, nobody lets me touch patients, but I watch the doctors and nurses hurt people. But you are helping them. It's sad that it has to hurt first, but every one of those people has said "yes, please do this for me" because for them, the initial pain is worth it in the long run. This is also why I hate pediatrics. They don't understand that people are hurting them to help them, so that's not the field for me.

[bab]

Jul 10, 2012 13:20:25 GMT -5 MWOS said:

With regard to the "hurting people" part. This is something I've though about a lot. Obviously, nobody lets me touch patients, but I watch the doctors and nurses hurt people. But you are helping them. It's sad that it has to hurt first, but every one of those people has said "yes, please do this for me" because for them, the initial pain is worth it in the long run. This is also why I hate pediatrics. They don't understand that people are hurting them to help them, so that's not the field for me.

This is helpful.

[Deleted]

Sometimes I can't, lol. Poop is always gross.

Blood is whatever, wounds don't bug me. Really terrible tunneling wounds get to me, though.

Most of it really fascinates me, which is why I was drawn to the field in the first place.

Mary puts it the best. Shit needs to get done. People depend on us to make it happen.

[hi725]

I went into OT thinking I would not have to deal with the grossness that nurses have to put up with. I was wrong. You adapt. I have come to terms with almost everything I have to do now (helping patients to the bathroom, holding basins while they vomit, inspecting stapled incisions, checking catheters for kinks, etc.) the only thing I continue to have a really hard time with is phlegm. So now I know I have to stay away from cardio-pulmonary rehab.

You would be amazed at how quickly you get over something when you are more worried about someone else's comfort. Staples and scabs were a huge thing for me and I'm on an orthopedic surgery unit now, lol. Of course, I still have days that are filled with every kind of grossness imaginable, and I hate those days. Luckily they are few and far between.

[Deleted]

ALSO, I have to say, after four years in the clinical arena, I'm already burnt out and would love nothing more than a desk job.

[hbear]

I don't think gross ever really affected me. Don't get me wrong, I've seen/smelled some nasty shit (literally and figuratively) in my career, but most of the time it doesn't bother me at all. That being said, I don't think it is for everyone.

On the other hand.... There is still a lot that can be done in nursing that avoids the gross. Some nurses have desk jobs, work for pharmaceutical companies, doctors offices (way less gross than a hospital, IMO!). So it may be possible to pursue a career in healthcare and just avoid the gross. ;D

[drrn04]

How did I get past the "gross?"
I went into neonatal nursing. Volumes of "gross" are MUCH smaller there. Changing a 2 lb baby's diaper is easy-peasy compared to changing the bedding of an 85 year old man, and I bow down to those who can handle caring for adults. Ditto for puke, secretions, etc.

In nursing school, I actively avoided any clinical assignment that would have put me in the line of fire of large volumes of gross. We got to pick our patients, so I avoided patients that might be puking, and was all about wound care, diabetes, cardiac patients, etc. I had to handle some, of course, but that wasn't what I usually ended up with. Go me.

As for the hurting people to help people thing, maybe I'm a cold hearted bitch, but it didn't really bother me. Maybe a little the first time I started an IV, but after you give a couple shots/do a few pokes, it really is not a big deal. Some people have a harder time with the ideas of babies, but I found that in my specialty, people don't poke unless they're absolutely sure they'll get it. If you've ever watched a nurse start an IV on a baby, you'll see that she'll take her sweet time looking at all her options before she goes for it.

There are also a number of pain management techniques you can use to minimize the stress you cause the baby during any procedure/poke.

So if that makes sense, that kind of helped me get over that part.

And people in healthcare definitely have a kind of sick humor that help each other cope with things.

If you ever have any questions about things (different fields, education options, etc), I'm happy to try to help.