Do you get used to gross stuff?

[EddieL]

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As I'm thinking about a career in some field of medicine, I noticed an image posted on an ER blog I read, and it really got me thinking.

Now, don't get me wrong, I don't have a phobia of needles, blood, guts, anything like that. But I was trying to see how I might deal with disturbing conditions that I may have to deal with one day as a medical professional, and some of this stuff really freaked me out.

The photo that was posted on that site was of a man who committed suicide with a gunshot wound to the head. Blood was everywhere, and it didn't look much like a face. Now while I wasn't really gagging or anything, in person, I'm not sure if I would be able to deal with that presently.

So I guess what I'm asking is, do med students eventually get over this?

Thanks!!

 

[Hoody]

not a med student, but a nurse...

the answer is....YES!

lol. butts are nothing. poop - meh. blood, no big deal. needles? cool.


the only thing I haven't really gotten over is sputum....

 

[Morsetlis]

Radiology.

 

[muhali3]

You become desensitized to it. The first time I went to the ME's office in my county, I fainted because all the dead and mangled bodies were pretty emotionally disturbing. But I kept on going and eventually I really didn't have any reaction to it anymore...which sort of made me feel bad for being so detached...but yeah.

 

[PrinceVersed]

not a med student, but a nurse...

the answer is....YES!

lol. butts are nothing. poop - meh. blood, no big deal. needles? cool.


the only thing I haven't really gotten over is sputum....

Nurse too. I have been NT suctioning a pt and eating chips and dip at the same time 🙂.

Not a lot bothers me anymore. Smells are much worse than sights. A guy came in with a lung abscess and it smelled so bad that it completely filled the unit. I also had a lady that OD-ed on correctol. The smell would actually make your eyes water.

 

[rowerontheriver]

It's really hard to guess how you would deal with something like that until you are actually faced with it. I worked as an EMT for 4 years and have done some shadowing time in the ED at school, and I can tell you now that pictures and especially verbal recounting of scenes have the potential to bother me far more than actually being in the situation and having it right in front of me, even to this day. Maybe I have an overactive imagination?

If you're unsure and worried about it, instead of guessing, I would try actually putting yourself in the situation by shadowing, and see what you think of it before committing to medical school. You might not get used to something the first time you see it, but you generally can get a good idea of whether or not it is something you'll be able to overcome. Most people can get used to it though if you see it as part of a job you are committed to.

The brain doesn't want to deal with the trauma each time, and eventually will get desensitized. If you've never been exposed to anything like that yet, it's reasonable that you're not comfortable. The good news is that most people get used to it, but only you know how you generally deal with things.

 

[Frazier]

online gore = step in right direction.

 

[MaryLennox]

yep, you absolutely get used to it. i used to be so squeamish about blood, guts, brains. but i wanted to do medical art so i told myself "you have to get used to it" and i actually desensitized myself by watching discovery health channel all the time. they have lots of medical shows with actual footage of surgery, gross injuries, etc. by the time i got a job in a hospital, i was excited to see surgery up close. same thing with cadavers- i thought i was gonna pass out my first time in a cadaver lab. 4 years later i did a cadaver-based research project. i barely notice the smell anymore or anything!

 

[FuSoYa]

As a healthcare worker I can say, yes. People think hospital staff are "insensitive" or "lack compassion" because we become desensitized to certain things. The truth is, these jobs would be impossible if everytime someone died you broke down in tears or everytime you saw a blood-soaked shirt you curled into the fetal position. The key is making sure you debrief/decompress afterwards so it doesn't "build-up".

 

[Hoody]

Nurse too. I have been NT suctioning a pt and eating chips and dip at the same time 🙂.

NG suction I can handle. ET suction makes me feel a little gross. Mostly, its the Patients that hawk up loogies into cups or tissues and then pile them around the room that make me shudder.

Not a lot bothers me anymore. Smells are much worse than sights. A guy came in with a lung abscess and it smelled so bad that it completely filled the unit. I also had a lady that OD-ed on correctol. The smell would actually make your eyes water.

. GI bleeds are stinky too. bleh.


PS - nice username. makes me think of space balls.

 

[MB333999]

hey can u post the link to the ER blog, sounds interestingg

 

[tinery]

i usually don't get grossed out by things, maybe i haven't seen enough. but this made me surprisingly queasy:

http://www.popthatzit.com/2009/12/ryans-cyst/

 

[RookTookIt]

i usually don't get grossed out by things, maybe i haven't seen enough. but this made me surprisingly queasy:

http://www.popthatzit.com/2009/12/ryans-cyst/

the comments alone are making me queasy.

 

[FloatOn]

As I'm thinking about a career in some field of medicine, I noticed an image posted on an ER blog I read, and it really got me thinking.

Now, don't get me wrong, I don't have a phobia of needles, blood, guts, anything like that. But I was trying to see how I might deal with disturbing conditions that I may have to deal with one day as a medical professional, and some of this stuff really freaked me out.

The photo that was posted on that site was of a man who committed suicide with a gunshot wound to the head. Blood was everywhere, and it didn't look much like a face. Now while I wasn't really gagging or anything, in person, I'm not sure if I would be able to deal with that presently.

So I guess what I'm asking is, do med students eventually get over this?

Thanks!!

If I just saw the picture you just described, I feel like I would be more disturbed by it being a suicide than the blood. I have these phases where I'll watch a lot of real-life murder mysteries, so that probably adds to the imagination. If I saw it in real life, I think I would be too shocked at the situation in general to be grossed out.

 

[mediterranean]

the comments alone are making me queasy.

LOL, they were all complaining how she kept screaming and I agree.

 

[The right Path]

Nurse too. I have been NT suctioning a pt and eating chips and dip at the same time 🙂.

Did you get enough out to frost a cake? Hehe, J/K, sick nurse humor. I can handle the gross factor of NT suctioning, it's the torturing of the 90 something year old full code patients that I hate.

NG suction I can handle. ET suction makes me feel a little gross. Mostly, its the Patients that hawk up loogies into cups or tissues and then pile them around the room that make me shudder.

. GI bleeds are stinky too. bleh.

ETT suction is inline unless you need to bag 'n suction, so it isn't that bad. Here's your solution to the random snot rags- give the patient a Yankaur, soooo much better. And be vigilant about the rocket launching trachs. I've been nailed on the shoulder from 6 ft. away! I hear you on the GI bleed thing, you can diagnose that from down the hall. I've actually had a patient with a GI bleed stand up to try to go to the bathroom and splatted so hard on the floor, that my pants and shoes got backsplashed. Yup, nursing is one helluva dirty job. For all those nervous pre-meds- Phyicians have much less in the way of encounters with nastiness, unless however you end up in ED or as a trauma surgeon. Furthermore, whatever nastiness you meet, it's obviously survivable. I didn't quit the second I got splatted on.

i usually don't get grossed out by things, maybe i haven't seen enough. but this made me surprisingly queasy:
http://www.popthatzit.com/2009/12/ryans-cyst/

You know what actually gave me the heebs in this video? Watching that woman use those ratty, bacteria laden towels- and did you see she even dropped one on the floor and put it back on his neck? Holy mother of God that was obscene! And the nasty chipped nail polish? All I could think of was MRSA, MRSA, seeeepppppssssisssss. All I can say is that dude has not seen the last of that infection. That local abscess is going to come right back and he'll be lucky if if hasn't spread systemically.

Oh yeah, and the f-bombs in front of the kids was poetic as well.

 

[sunshinevet]

You definately get used to it. But it does take time for some. The first time you think you're going to see something gross - make sure you've had something to eat! You're way more likely to faint then vomit, so being well hydrated and fed is a good way to minimise the risk.

As much as pus, blood, guts and maggots no longer bother me - there is one thing I can't handle - the avatar of one of the pod students. (He posts quite a lot, so head over to the pod forum...) Its of a foot broken in half. Like, literally, a foot with the top hanging off. Just typing this makes me shudder...

 

[Marcus Brody]

Gore isn't really that bad. What bothers me is terrible smelling stuff like gangrenous feet and ugly skin conditions like melanoma. Also, fat old ladies whose boobs are so big and out of control that they have open bleeding sores between and underneath them. Oh and pedal edema so bad their legs are like tree trunks and hard as a rock.

 

[startswithb]

not a med student, but a nurse...

the answer is....YES!

lol. butts are nothing. poop - meh. blood, no big deal. needles? cool.


the only thing I haven't really gotten over is sputum....

I agree on the sputum! I worked in a microbiology lab and cultured hundreds of sputums, and they are the grossest thing by far. I'm not sure what it is about them. I'd take a gangrenous scrotum anyday.

 

[Procyon]

Is anyone else also grossed out by barf?

 

[FloatOn]

Is anyone else also grossed out by barf?

No, I think other things can look and smell a lot grosser.

 

[TDX]

It's so very, very tempting to post a good gore link here...

 

[The right Path]

Is anyone else also grossed out by barf?

Kinda- it smells really bad. Usually, though if it is going to be a problem, we drop an NG, throw it on suction, and then it is nicely contained. The worst is the fresh traumas that roll in with chunks of it in their hair. Regurgitated wine cooler and ham sammich, anyone?

 

[EddieL]

It's so very, very tempting to post a good gore link here...

Please do!

Is anyone else also grossed out by barf?

I'm not. Feces bother me more than barf, which isn't much.

You definately get used to it. But it does take time for some. The first time you think you're going to see something gross - make sure you've had something to eat! You're way more likely to faint then vomit, so being well hydrated and fed is a good way to minimise the risk.

As much as pus, blood, guts and maggots no longer bother me - there is one thing I can't handle - the avatar of one of the pod students. (He posts quite a lot, so head over to the pod forum...) Its of a foot broken in half. Like, literally, a foot with the top hanging off. Just typing this makes me shudder...

Glad to hear this. I've never fainted before, so hopefully it doesn't happen because I see some gross looking disease/condition haha.

hey can u post the link to the ER blog, sounds interestingg

Sure, that's http://erstories.net/. For anyone interested, picture of the man is toward the bottom of the first page. It's not horrible, but got me thinking!

It's really hard to guess how you would deal with something like that until you are actually faced with it. I worked as an EMT for 4 years and have done some shadowing time in the ED at school, and I can tell you now that pictures and especially verbal recounting of scenes have the potential to bother me far more than actually being in the situation and having it right in front of me, even to this day. Maybe I have an overactive imagination?

If you're unsure and worried about it, instead of guessing, I would try actually putting yourself in the situation by shadowing, and see what you think of it before committing to medical school. You might not get used to something the first time you see it, but you generally can get a good idea of whether or not it is something you'll be able to overcome. Most people can get used to it though if you see it as part of a job you are committed to.

The brain doesn't want to deal with the trauma each time, and eventually will get desensitized. If you've never been exposed to anything like that yet, it's reasonable that you're not comfortable. The good news is that most people get used to it, but only you know how you generally deal with things.

Thanks! I'll try to shadow in the ER. The worst I've seen in my shadowing was a pretty nasty looking bedsore.

 

[MedicalP]

As I'm thinking about a career in some field of medicine, I noticed an image posted on an ER blog I read, and it really got me thinking.

Now, don't get me wrong, I don't have a phobia of needles, blood, guts, anything like that. But I was trying to see how I might deal with disturbing conditions that I may have to deal with one day as a medical professional, and some of this stuff really freaked me out.

The photo that was posted on that site was of a man who committed suicide with a gunshot wound to the head. Blood was everywhere, and it didn't look much like a face. Now while I wasn't really gagging or anything, in person, I'm not sure if I would be able to deal with that presently.

So I guess what I'm asking is, do med students eventually get over this?

Thanks!!

Some.

 

[jl lin]

not a med student, but a nurse...

the answer is....YES!

lol. butts are nothing. poop - meh. blood, no big deal. needles? cool.


the only thing I haven't really gotten over is sputum....

OMG! LOL! So funny. Same thing. Critical Care RN to pre-med. I feel the exact same way.

It's not like we learn to love blood everywhere or anything else for that matter. It just, ey. Ya know. There. You deal with it.

But sputum, wow, I've never gotten over it; but I still deal with. Most of my patients are ventilated, so, though it can be contained, sometimes stuff flies upon suctioning or popping off the vent.

That's so funny how we can deal with the other stuff, but sputum still skeeves us.

 

[jl lin]

Did you get enough out to frost a cake? Hehe, J/K, sick nurse humor. I can handle the gross factor of NT suctioning, it's the torturing of the 90 something year old full code patients that I hate.



ETT suction is inline unless you need to bag 'n suction, so it isn't that bad. Here's your solution to the random snot rags- give the patient a Yankaur, soooo much better. And be vigilant about the rocket launching trachs. I've been nailed on the shoulder from 6 ft. away! I hear you on the GI bleed thing, you can diagnose that from down the hall. I've actually had a patient with a GI bleed stand up to try to go to the bathroom and splatted so hard on the floor, that my pants and shoes got backsplashed. Yup, nursing is one helluva dirty job. For all those nervous pre-meds- Phyicians have much less in the way of encounters with nastiness, unless however you end up in ED or as a trauma surgeon. Furthermore, whatever nastiness you meet, it's obviously survivable. I didn't quit the second I got splatted on.



You know what actually gave me the heebs in this video? Watching that woman use those ratty, bacteria laden towels- and did you see she even dropped one on the floor and put it back on his neck? Holy mother of God that was obscene! And the nasty chipped nail polish? All I could think of was MRSA, MRSA, seeeepppppssssisssss. All I can say is that dude has not seen the last of that infection. That local abscess is going to come right back and he'll be lucky if if hasn't spread systemically.

Oh yeah, and the f-bombs in front of the kids was poetic as well.

Yes but you know some of them you really need to take off the vent to suction well.

Mostly with babies, we don't use the inline sx. But they aren't that bad.

Then there are those big kids that are bleeding and it is filling up in the vent tubing and you could just take a garden hose to them. Or someone is doing compressions or you are bagging and have to sx anyway or somehow things pop off. One of my last major codes was one hell of a nasty nightmare, and the supervisor took forever to get me new scrubs--none avail on unit that night.
God it went down into my bra.

So guess who brings full back-up of everything, including unmentionables whe she goes into work now? Yep. And that's after working as an RN in Critical care for 20 years. It's ridiculous getting to clean replacement scrubs anymore. Darn economy--but you still would need back up undies. It does happen--even if you are fully gowned up. Nastiness abounds. You just have to deal with it.

 

[Zona Pellucida]

It's weird. After volunteering in the ED, feces, blood, etc doesn't bother me at all. The one thing I still hate is the smell of warm urine (soaked into the bed sheets). Ack.

 

[Morsetlis]

Sights don't bother me.

It's the SMELL.

I might adopt animal facilities practice and start wearing masks everywhere in the ED. People would stare at me, though. :/

 

[TDX]

Please do!

Trust me, you don't want me to. What I was thinking of is a video that shows one of the many dumb things that people can do to end up in the ER. It involves an idiot, a rectum, a glass bottle and quite a bit of blood

 

[jl lin]

Trust me, you don't want me to. What I was thinking of is a video that shows one of the many dumb things that people can do to end up in the ER. It involves an idiot, a rectum, a glass bottle and quite a bit of blood

Yes, this is true. What is with the light bulbs and bottles up the rectum? Haven't they heard of dozens of others that have had to be shipped off to the OR after internal shattering. Yet, they still keep coming in. I've accepted the fact that I will never understand this phenomenom.

 

[FloatOn]

Trust me, you don't want me to. What I was thinking of is a video that shows one of the many dumb things that people can do to end up in the ER. It involves an idiot, a rectum, a glass bottle and quite a bit of blood

Yeah...let's keep that away from this forum as long as possible. *shivers from grossness and stupidity*

 

[apumic]

...

 

[The right Path]

Yes but you know some of them you really need to take off the vent to suction well.

Mostly with babies, we don't use the inline sx. But they aren't that bad.

Then there are those big kids that are bleeding and it is filling up in the vent tubing and you could just take a garden hose to them. Or someone is doing compressions or you are bagging and have to sx anyway or somehow things pop off. One of my last major codes was one hell of a nasty nightmare, and the supervisor took forever to get me new scrubs--none avail on unit that night.
God it went down into my bra.

So guess who brings full back-up of everything, including unmentionables whe she goes into work now? Yep. And that's after working as an RN in Critical care for 20 years. It's ridiculous getting to clean replacement scrubs anymore. Darn economy--but you still would need back up undies. It does happen--even if you are fully gowned up. Nastiness abounds. You just have to deal with it.

Undergarment contamination?!? Gah! So, so, sorry. Bag 'n suction can definitely be dicey, so given the choice, I'll offer to do do the bagging, staying well behind the HOB and let the RT do the toilet snaking. I guess in a NICU, it's maybe not as much of an issue, but on our crash carts we hang a bag with plastic gowns and full face shields- but still even the best preparations can fail.

The greatest risks are the ones that you don't predict. We had a patient in for C-spine injury/quad who was trached and on the vent. I actually never cared for this patient- but he was in the bed adjacent to my patient separated by a curtain. So, at some point, well into his hospitalization they send his sputum for AFB testing and yay, he's positive. EVERYONE in the unit had to be retested twice and my friend actually converted to positive and had to do the INH marathon. I can't count how many times I heard him pop off the vent next door and had to put the vent hose attachment back on. I dodged a major bullet there. I was still nursing my now toddler at the time, and that would have ended that.

 

[FloatOn]

Am I going to hell because this thread definitely reminded me of Porsche Girl...

Don't know who that is and don't want to either. Let's keep that away too.