squeamish HELP!

Re: squeamish HELP!

Sal the 1st — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 18:46:28 GMT

PM me see if there is something we can work through that will help

Re: squeamish HELP!

Alison Clare Hickman — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 12:46:49 GMT

Good luck sweetie, am sure you will get through this!

Ali h

Re: squeamish HELP!

gemma durham — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 12:31:54 GMT

Thank you everyone for the help! I am due back at the veterinary practice on Monday to see how I get on, I am also consulting a hypnotherapist to see if it is a fear that I can overcome.

I really hope that I can get over it as i am beginning to get more terrified about the fainting/sick feeling than the actual ops! It's the fear of the fear?!

Re: squeamish HELP!

Sal the 1st — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 23:18:16 GMT

I used to work with a vet who used to react badly to rabbit fur and his nose used to run like a tap when a rabbit was in the building. We bought some of the extra large non woven swabs which were packed in fives and when his sniffling got too much to bear either for him or us it was the nurses job to stick a swab under his hooter and tell him to blow (we had tried getting him to wear a mask but it didnt go down too well)

I can remember a trainee nurse coming over a bit green when she found out I had done nose to mouth on a rottie that had collapsed in the car park once to try and keep it going until somebody else got there and could give me a hand to lift it

ours can be such a delightful job at times

Re: squeamish HELP!

Alison Clare Hickman — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 21:08:27 GMT

Nothing has, so far, phased me in the job, but.... human snot always has and I guess always will. Euuwwww, groooh, retch, gip, NASTY.

(Imagine my face (horrorstruck) when a scrubbed up vet with a green grozzly candle hanging, oozing, down from her nose needed me to wipe it off so she could stay sterile......cack - AND it was stretchy)..... blappppppp.

Yup, thought you'd all love me sharing that. Am off to be sick myself now.... ha ha!

Re: squeamish HELP!

Sian Pasquale — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 13:54:59 GMT

I used to be like this and you just have to stop worrying about it, make sure you have a good breakfast, sit down as much as you can & wiggle your toes & weight shift lots! Ive got low blood pressure but docs dont think I need meds.

Noises spark me off like the constant whirring of the ultrasound machine if its left on or the high pitch drill from the dental machine aswell as eye ops and external fixators when we have to do dressing changes for example and the animal is conscious and obviously a bit uncomfortable that makes me feel really quesy, and pretty much anytime my animals are in pain I cant cope and feel really sick and nervous which makes me faint!

If I start worrying about it then it usually happens! like a few weeks ago when I had to scrub in to help in an op and Id been standing in the same position for what felt like hours and the vet was getting stressed as it was very critical moment so I felt like I couldn't say anything.. I left it until I very nearly fainted before throwing myself on the floor with head between my knees and thank god the vet didnt need me anymore!

Try not to let it get to you, honestly I never thought Id be able to do this job and Ive been in practice nearly 9 years and the fainting is few and far between now! Good Luck

Re: squeamish HELP!

BTCC Fan RVN — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 13:16:53 GMT

I can not stand anything post mortem. I used to work with a vet who always wanted to open up rabbits, guinea pigs etc to find out what killed them. I couldnt bear it and had to go out on to reception and asked him to clear up after himself as i couldnt stop gagging.

Re: squeamish HELP!

ameliakp — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 10:49:03 GMT

On my first day vet nursing I had to leave theatre 3 times as i felt i was going to faint!

It takes time, and some training ;) but I got over it and now can sit through anything.

Make sure you have plenty to eat in the morning and drink plenty during the day. I had permission to keep a small glass of water outside our theatre so if i did feel ill i could pop out and take a sip. I also found that talking and discussing what was going on helped keep the faint feeling away. Its mind over matter! Always tell someone if your feeling funny.

It might be worth getting checked by a doctor, just to make sure your blood pressure and everything is ok. But if it is just squeamishness you should be able to learn to get over it like I did. There are still some occasions i feel weird, especially if i havnt drunk enough water, but generally it all worked out fine!

Re: squeamish HELP!

Roseann21 — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 10:39:19 GMT

[quote user="Princess Ophelia Hermione MacBeth"] I vomited on a vet once[/quote]

Haha!! If you're going to vomit anywhere......

Re: squeamish HELP!

Louise B — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 06:25:55 GMT

The smell of cadavers gets me . I vomited on a vet once as we rebagged a dead dog that had been left out of the freezer a couple of days during hot weather. The receptionist had to take over as everytime I tried I started to wretch I never got asked to go back and locum at that practice again

Re: squeamish HELP!

Laura Ringsell — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 05:42:26 GMT

[quote user="Sal the 1st"]

have to admit after 20 odd years (some of them very odd) I am still not good with eye ops

[/quote] Not as many years , 12 for me ,but me too Sal. I don't do eyes......

Re: squeamish HELP!

Celine — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 23:18:44 GMT

I can post-mortem ANYTHING, including chopping up brains.... but vomit of any species will have me turning around, heaving

Re: squeamish HELP!

Sal the 1st — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 23:03:08 GMT

have to admit after 20 odd years (some of them very odd) I am still not good with eye ops

Re: squeamish HELP!

Lee484 — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 20:25:21 GMT

Has this been happening from day one? About a year into my nursing the same thing started happening to me. It was only after I passed out for the second time in theatre that I went to the doctors-turns out I have low blood pressure, so standing still in theatre for long periods means my body can't pump blood well enough up to my brain so with the lack of oxygen I say hello to the floor. My doctor advised me to eat well (esp before theatre) carry juice with me (I leave it just outside theatre) and to move about in theatre or wriggle my toes if I'm scrubbed in. If you can buy a new easy to clean stool and just have it in theatre, sitting down may help a lot. It doesn't happen as often now and I can recognise the signs easily, a brief sit down with cool fresh air helps me a lot. Focus on your patient rather than the surgey site, wear loose scrubs to avoid getting too hot and don't be afraid to tell your colleagues, suffering through it will only make it worse. Maybe ask your doctor to check your blood glucose (or when your feeling ill do one at work) and get him to check your blood pressure, including a sitting to standing position rather than just sitting. Even if there's nothing wrong, it doesn't mean you aren't cut out to be a nurse! I actively avoid theatre as I much prefer medical nursing anyways and there are lots of places where you can specialise in one area. I promise your not the only one, and I'm sure more people will have some little tricks to try:) Good luck!!

Re: squeamish HELP!

Roseann21 — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 12:19:15 GMT

How long have you been working in practice? How many ops have you seen? I don't think it's unusual to feel a bit panicky/faint at first - although not everyone does, and in my experience you do get used to it. I think it's mind over matter a lot of the time too. At first I wasn't keen on surgery because I worried about feeling like you do, but after a while I started looking forward to it - it IS really interesting. Now - the gorier the better!! (Although I have been doing it for over 20 years so have had loads of time to get used to it.)

The main thing is to tell the people you are working with that you feel like this, they will understand, and ask if it's OK just to slip out and get a breath of fresh air if you need to. The last thing they want is you keeling over and having to deal with you in the middle of surgery!

I don't think it means veterinary care isn't for you - give it time, let your colleagues know - you may well find one or two of them were like that at the start too.

BTW I still can't watch human surgery on TV!