Nursing School: Been There, Done That #2

No PUKING Please

If you're planning to take up nursing or any medical related course, heed my warning: Prepare for something GROSS because working in the health care field requires a tough gut. Stool samples, oozing blood and wound abscess are just part of the tip of the iceberg, baby. So if you do not have a brave tummy, then I guess you might want to look at some pictures of gory stuff first. That might somehow give you an I'm-used-to-seeing-that confidence. However; the sad thing is (and let's face it) a picture, no matter how real it may look, can never substitute the real thing. So, the only remedy to this is to experience first-hand the look, the smell and the feel of the gore itself. Don't worry. You're allowed to freak out a little bit if it's you're first time. You'll get used to it in the long run anyway.

As for me, I don't mind blood and gore. My appetite wouldn't care if there's an eviscerated surgical wound in front of me. But what ticks me off is the sound of a suction machine especially if it starts to suck in phlegm. Do not get me wrong here. The sight of phlegm no matter what color or odor it has doesn't bother me at all. But God! When the catheter sucks in that sticky goo and starts to make that awful sound, it's downright disgusting to my ears. It even came to a point before that whenever I hear a loud slurp-like noise, even if it's not the suction machine working, my gag reflex just goes berserk. It's a good thing that I can stop myself from puking whenever I perform such nursing skill; it requires a great of effort, sweat, saliva and tears though. Just don't ask me how I do it. And Alleluia for face masks! Or else, my patient and my patient's relatives would surely see me make that shit-it's-so-fucking-gross-I-can't-help-but-puke face. But I am after all a mere human being. I guess I'm allowed to react that way. LOL.

If only I can wear earplugs whenever I use this, I most definitely WOULD.
http://jsmedsupply.com/respiratory.html

One thing is for sure though; let's keep our reactions to ourselves in times like this one. We do not want to offend the patient or his "bantay", do we?