What makes you want to vomit?

I have just read an interesting article about nurses which says that there are certain things we do or see as Nurses which makes us want to vomit.

http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/2012...lite=obnetwork

So what makes you want to vomit?

I don't really have much that makes me want to vomit, but a couple of incidents come to mind from my early days.

One was the first man who was incontinent of feces and it was spread everywhere

Second one was trying to take a specimen from an episode of malena

Both times it was the smell which caught me unawares
I can deal with BM and blood all day long, day long...but pus, snot, and puke and I'm gagging!

I never "want" to vomit, and cannot think of anything that would cause me to hurl, except for being actually sick or having eaten bad food. Many years ago, we had an ER nurse who could not stand the sight of sputum. When holding up an inverted sputum sample cup (for purely clinical reasons, of course - if it "hangs, it is sufficient for lab/micro use), she took off in a big honkin' hurry.

I can handle poop, pee, vomit, even sputum. No problem with sputum. Colostomies, I don't like to empty them but I've gotten better...But I can't stand a dirty nasty, smelly MOUTH. Ew... I just can't hardly do mouth care. Blehhh... can't stand it. I'll do it if I have to but... ewww...

I have BIG problems with sutures and staples. I gag when they're put in, and I GAG when they come out. I try to get somebody to do them when they need to come out - can't do them. I cringe when PICC lines are sutured in and I have to pull the line before a discharge.

Here are a few similar threads on AN:http://allnurses.com/general-nursing...ng-528549.htmlhttp://allnurses.com/emergency-nursi...te-491180.htmlSo funny how we're all wired so differently! Haven't found my own personal kryptonite yet, but I'm sure it's out there, just waiting to surprise me!

Questions like this.

Quote from MulanQuestions like this.

Quote from brilloheadHere are a few similar threads on AN:http://allnurses.com/general-nursing...ng-528549.htmlhttp://allnurses.com/emergency-nursi...te-491180.htmlSo funny how we're all wired so differently! Haven't found my own personal kryptonite yet, but I'm sure it's out there, just waiting to surprise me!

I have been working in the hospital for nearly 8 years and I can count on one hand the number of times I've actually gagged. (The first time was when I emptied my first bed pan full of stool. I attribute that to it being my first time because poop does NOT bother me.)One time I did have a lady with a tru close draining an abscess in her abdomen. It tested positive for EVERYTHING, including Pseudomonas. Oh man was that a bad night. It looked like chunky Sambuca. But again that is a fluke because drains, NG tubes and the like are my thing. And the most recent time was when I went to straight cath a very nice young woman. Let's just say I have so much gratitude for OB nurses. Sorry, got on a terrifying train there, didn't I?Anyway, speaking of vomit...yes. That's what does it. Not bilious emesis or GI drainage or even GI bleeds (lower AND upper). But vomit with food in it. Oh dear Heavens that is the worst. The smell, the sound, the imagery. I am getting faint...

I absolutely hate trach care and respiratory secretions. That awful hacking sound gives me the skeeves:***: Also, not a fan of being wrist deep in a necrotic Stage 4 cleaning and packing that thing knowing full good and well it will never heal.

Vomit and dentures. I'm good with everything else.

Ileostomies with a GI bleed. Worst smell I have ever experienced!!! And the ileostomy had a lot of output, too, so I had to empty that thing multiple times... Mouth care on patients who have not received mouth care in a long time. I received a patient from a nursing home with aspiration pneumonia. Patient was supposed to be on a full liquid diet but was given solid food so the patient vomited and aspirated. Apparently the patient stayed at this nursing home for a little while before coming to me. No one even bothered to clean out their mouth. I did some meticulous mouth care on this patient and what I found was NASTY. Yellow crusts on the lips, teeth, and tongue...things coming out of the mouth....yuck. I almost wanted to gag, but I saved face because even though this patient was NOT alert & oriented, I could tell they were having their mouth actually cleaned for once. And the family seemed to be more at ease knowing that this patient is finally getting some basic care they have been lacking.