Advice for Career Change

[clinic21]

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Hi All,

I've been lurking on these boards for a while, and am seeking advice on healthcare careers. Currently, I'm 31 and trying to make a career change into healthcare. Basically, I'm very motivated to move into a "helping" role of some sort – ideally a clinical role.

Originally, my plan was to go for a direct–entry nursing PMH–NP program. However, I have an unusually difficult time with guts/bodily fluids (especially the smell of feces/throw-up/etc)—it activates my gag reflex extremely quickly—and am concerned about getting through the RN clinical rotations. Stuff like blood/spit/urine I have no problem with at all, for some reason.

Anyways, I'm trying to consider other options that might still offer some sort of patient contact, a decent work life balance, a somewhat stable career, and a middle–class income. My undergrad was in a technical/STEM field, with a very high GPA. Currently, I'm taking basic science courses. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[futuremdforme]

Serious question: if body fluids make you gag, why do you want to help through healthcare? Why not some other method of helping? Since you'll have so much work to do with needing to continue with basic science then your actual training in whatever field, it seems like a lot of effort for something that might end up pretty miserable for you.

 

[eteshoe]

Yea... You may want to look into clinical psychology

 

[CBFutureHelper14]

What about social work? You could get licensed (LCSW) and work in healthcare that way.

 

[timephone]

Hi All,
However, I have an unusually difficult time with guts/bodily fluids (especially the smell of feces/throw-up/etc)—it activates my gag reflex extremely quickly—and am concerned about getting through the RN clinical rotations. Stuff like blood/spit/urine I have no problem with at all, for some reason.

How do you know this about yourself? Have you spent considerable time around gross-smelling stuff and failed to adapt?

Most people are downright disgusted by the smell of feces and vomit. That's normal. But you might find the more time you spend around it the more desensitized you are. I had a similar aversion to blood, but through a modest amount of clinical volunteering I've got no problem watching something like a phlebotomy (actually performing one or having it done to me is a different story!).

 

[GreenDuck12]

In my experience, there is a difference between experiencing the above out of context vs in a professional setting. In my private life, I have a hard time with similar things. When I am working, it does not pose a problem. I just "grit my teeth" and get the job done. Perhaps it will be similar for you.

 

[clinic21]

In my experience, there is a difference between experiencing the above out of context vs in a professional setting. In my private life, I have a hard time with similar things. When I am working, it does not pose a problem. I just "grit my teeth" and get the job done. Perhaps it will be similar for you.

That's a great point. I have had experiences, in my personal life, where I had a harder time dealing with such things (vomit and feces) than those around me, and, in fact, started gagging. It's the smell that gets to me and makes me feel nauseous. That said, I have not had to deal with it on a regular basis or in a professional context. The next step is to get some volunteer work in a hospital and see how it goes. That will provide direction.

Outside of nursing, what do you guys recommend? I have considered clinical psychology, and even general psychology, but the nursing route seems like a much faster, less expensive, and more stable path to a similar role (at least in a clinical context). Also, I'm not especially interested in a research career. The other field I've been considering is physical therapy. My state has a decent DPT program that is quite affordable. It may be a bit of a fantasy, but it seems that with physical therapy one might be able to mix psych/coaching with physical health/performance/movement, to help people. That sounds like a pretty amazing combination. There is a physical therapist my dad used to see; I'm going to reach out to ask if I can shadow him. Does anyone have insight on the PT career? Do most people rotate throughout different settings or specialize in one area such as athletes, geriatrics, acute care, etc.? Do you expect this career to remain fairly stable, or is the ACA going to really shake it up?

 

[Law2Doc]

PT patients can throw up too -- you have anyone on a lot of drugs and tell them to move around, some percentage are going to puke.

This is not so much something you can avoid, but might be able to desensitize yourself. Your reaction is mental not physical/visceral. It's not your "gag reflex" -- it's your brain, which can sometimes be retaught.

There are also likely various ointments you can put around/in your nose which have strong smells and for a time overpower everything else, but you probably won't enjoy food etc while you are using those, and I would be shocked if a strong peppermint smell in your nose didn't get old quick.

 

[clinic21]

PT patients can throw up too -- you have anyone on a lot of drugs and tell them to move around, some percentage are going to puke.

This is not so much something you can avoid, but might be able to desensitize yourself. Your reaction is mental not physical/visceral. It's not your "gag reflex" -- it's your brain, which can sometimes be retaught.

There are also likely various ointments you can put around/in your nose which have strong smells and for a time overpower everything else, but you probably won't enjoy food etc while you are using those, and I would be shocked if a strong peppermint smell in your nose didn't get old quick.

Someone recommended that I try Vicks Vapor Rub. It actually might work quite well, since it's the smell more than anything else that has an impact. Actually, you reminded me of one time, a while back, where I had to spend the better part of a day cleaning up feces and throwup – basically I threw on a face mask and a pair of gloves and had no problems at all.

But, in terms of physical therapy, is it actually a common occurrence for patients to throw up ? I've spent quite a bit of time in an outpatient setting – both as a patient and helping take care of my father. It seemed that most of the patients, every time, were either athletes who had injured themselves or elderly who were suffering from various sorts of arthritic, cardiovascular, metabolic, and similar such of ailments. It seemed, in that setting at least, that the odds of someone throwing up were no higher than at the local gym. Do most physical therapists rotate between various settings (outpatient, geriatric, acute care, athletes, etc.), or specialize? If a pt does become sick in some way, isn't it the responsibility of the nurse or CNA to deal with that – as opposed to the physical therapist?

 

[wholeheartedly]

So what if the blood, body fluids, and stool are in a much more controlled environment?

for example doing the diagnostic testing on them from test tubes and specimen cups (stinky stuff under a hood).

you're still dealing with it, but its contained.

If that sounds interesting you should go the the ASCP.org website and checkout things like Clinical Laboratory Science, Cytotechnology, and Cytogenetics. (the latter ones less gross stuff).

 

[wholeheartedly]

There are a lot of different options for careers in healthcare with varying levels of patient contact and varying amounts of exposure those things. In addition to the lab stuff I listed above, here are some others. I'll let you look into them further and see if any seem like they might work

Physical Therapist
Athletic Trainer
Nurse
CNA
Occupational Therapist
Dosimetrist
Clinical Research Coordinator
Audiologist
Cardiac Perfusionist (likely to much of that stuff)
Dietician
Psychologist
Social Worker
Cardiac Sonographer
Other radiology and imaging positions
Genetic Counseling
Molecular Genetics
Child Life Specialist
Pharmacy
Medical Physics
Respiratory Therapy
Chaplin/pastoral services

and then a whole bunch of other stuff that's probably not a good fit (surgical tech, pathologist assistant, phlebotomist, etc)

 

[clinic21]

There are a lot of different options for careers in healthcare with varying levels of patient contact and varying amounts of exposure those things. In addition to the lab stuff I listed above, here are some others. I'll let you look into them further and see if any seem like they might work

Hey, Thanks! 🙂