So... do you get used to the blood and guts??

[lucysmama]

I agree that it's very different watching on TV than in real life. I get sick to my stomach watching on TV, but when you are involved, it's very different. There are still things that are yucky, but having a little bit of involvement diminishes the ick factor greatly. Until afterwards. When you start thinking about it...

[LobotomyPlzThx]

Shadow a surgeon and you'll instantly know if you can be around blood and guts. Watch Gross Anatomy dissections on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98OGlpPRC2A&feature=channel

 

Some are naturally unaffected by it, while others have to acquire tolerance. If it's really a problem for you, you might want to consider a career change.

 

Just remember that while we have deep respect for our patients under the knife and for the tremendous privilege of being allowed to operate on them, it's essentially just meat.

 

I've never worked in an ER, but I imagine that it's not as calm and controlled as the OR. People walk in off the street bleeding from gunshot wounds, suffering from shock after just being raped, little children's necks snapped in half--that's what's really horrifying to me. Seeing horrible things happen to children.

 

Edit: Another non-bloody job that I didn't see mentioned is Rehab medicine. You might check on some healing wounds, but it's not the same caliber as ER or OR.

[EMSArtist]

let me just say that you will have your "things" that gross you out. I've always been good with blood, guts, poop, vomit, etc, but as soon as someone starts coughing up lung cookies I am out the door.

 

I second- my thing is poop- can't stand it- don't like it- learned to deal with it. My Husband is anti- mucus. My partner hates vomit. Everybody has their number one thing that grosses them out, and everybody will have a different way of dealing. I try to always carry something that smells nice, and after it is over and done. After I have conquered the poop all over the gurney/floor/cabinets etc. I treat myself to something different. It even works on listerine-drunks.

[jschmitz47]

I think maybe everyone has something that grosses them out. For me, it is phlegm / saliva - especially the stuff in the mouth of an old person with dysphagia. Sweeping it out still makes me gag.

[Hemegroup]

A funny thing happened to me on my Surgery rotation last week ... ... I was not scrubbed in, for a simple incision and drainage of a large sebaceous cyst on the back of a man's head. So the Attending was working on the right of it, and the Resident was working on the left of it, and I was standing behind them in the middle, just observing from a safe distance of about 4 feet or so. Even tho I wasn't scrubbed in and sterile, I was still wearing my safety glasses and nose/mouth mask. Good thing too, as the cyst decided to erupt from the local anesthetic that they had injected into it, 'peeing' its contents straight out into the air, about 4 feet or so, all over my forehead and shirt. I was in shock for a moment, not only because it felt like someone was peeing on me in a steady stream, but because of the stench from the pus that was now on my skin and clothing. Good times, good times.

 

Seriously, there is nothing that smells worse than pus that's been festering. Nothin'.

[macadamia813]

A funny thing happened to me on my Surgery rotation last week ... ... I was not scrubbed in, for a simple incision and drainage of a large sebaceous cyst on the back of a man's head. So the Attending was working on the right of it, and the Resident was working on the left of it, and I was standing behind them in the middle, just observing from a safe distance of about 4 feet or so. Even tho I wasn't scrubbed in and sterile, I was still wearing my safety glasses and nose/mouth mask. Good thing too, as the cyst decided to erupt from the local anesthetic that they had injected into it, 'peeing' its contents straight out into the air, about 4 feet or so, all over my forehead and shirt. I was in shock for a moment, not only because it felt like someone was peeing on me in a steady stream, but because of the stench from the pus that was now on my skin and clothing. Good times, good times. Seriously, there is nothing that smells worse than pus that's been festering. Nothin'.

 

 

Man, on my ER rotation, the attending and I decided to drain a sebaceous cyst on a pts back. It should have been a surgical case instead - especially since there was no way to get the capsule. It was 10cm in diameter. We were pushing on it and the pus was flying though the air...got all over the attending's arms. We were squeezing stuff out for about 15 minutes and there was still more material that we did not get. The smell...I almost gag thinking about it.

[Hemegroup]

Man, on my ER rotation, the attending and I decided to drain a sebaceous cyst on a pts back. It should have been a surgical case instead - especially since there was no way to get the capsule. It was 10cm in diameter. We were pushing on it and the pus was flying though the air...got all over the attending's arms. We were squeezing stuff out for about 15 minutes and there was still more material that we did not get. The smell...I almost gag thinking about it.

 

lol That paints such a wonderful picture! Good times, good times.

 

I remember once when I was shadowing a PA who was taking the wick out of an abscess in the butt crack of a 22-year old football player ... that stench hit me from across the room. No words, no words.

 

Mmmm, what's for dinner?

[istat2]

lol That paints such a wonderful picture! Good times, good times.

 

I remember once when I was shadowing a PA who was taking the wick out of an abscess in the butt crack of a 22-year old football player ... that stench hit me from across the room. No words, no words.

 

Mmmm, what's for dinner?

 

Come on. Nothing matches the day old GI bleed sitting at home fermenting (except for maybe butt pus).

[bradtPA]

Worst for me? a body thats been floating in water for a week or two. I was a research assistant for the forensic anthropologist for the state of KY 30 years ago; I will never forget the ripe smell of a new floater....

[EMSArtist]

I particularly hate burns....

 

Had a particularly nasty one a few months back... got home to find that the husband had gotten BBQ for dinner.... no good at all.

[Chica724]

It never seemed to bother me from the beginning at all. Sometimes seeing some stuff in the ER like gun shot wounds and stabbings or someone die in front of you can be a bit traumatic at first, but it was never a situation that made me sick to my stomach. Blood and guts has never ever bothered me no matter how much, but the thing that has made me gag to where my eyes water is sh*t and the smell of it. I used to think vomit would be my thing before going through rotations, but realized that sh*t is was makes me sick. Luckily, I see none of that in spine! Try to get exposure little by little such as starting off volunteering at a hospital ED and see if you can handle any of that first. Hospitals that allow volunteers usually don't have hardly any trauma (since the true trauma centers have plenty of help with students and residents), but it's a start. If you get sick by just looking at what they show on TV, then you might need to train yourself to get used to it if you really want to get into medicine because seeing that stuff in person (and worse since TV won't show everything) is more shocking than on TV and you have to go through an ER rotation and surgical rotation no matter what PA program you are in.

[JFarnsworth]

Seriously, there is nothing that smells worse than pus that's been festering. Nothin'.

Try the smell of an anal cancer re-section. You get the smell of poop, necrotic tissue, sometimes pus, and plain old badness.

[JFarnsworth]

Random info: I stopped eating meat for a long time after starting my first surgery job. The burnt flesh smell did not inspire me to eat.

[marilynpac]

Gee JFarnsworth, if you could only wrap that up and put it in a pill....the perfect diet pill. You could retire filthy wealthy!

[Craigk]

Don't forget lung abscesses, they may lack the visual gag factor but the more than make up for it in smell.

[rev ronin]

Random info: I stopped eating meat for a long time after starting my first surgery job. The burnt flesh smell did not inspire me to eat.

The Bovie smell didn't bug me so much. I'd much rather be in an OR than in a single-wide! :-)

[macadamia813]

Come on. Nothing matches the day old GI bleed sitting at home fermenting (except for maybe butt pus).

 

Yea, GI bleed is pretty rank too...it's a close match. Coffee grounds and vicks under the nose :)

[EMSArtist]

olfactory melange from last 2 days... temp 100F

 

1- Listerine excreted through the pores of a man who had not bathed in several weeks and was incontinent (bowel & bladder)

2- peculiar scent of cat piss and mold coming from another patient. (hepatic?)

3- MRSA pus

4- plain ole diarrhea

5- Blood w/ added peroxide bonus scent!

[JFarnsworth]

Gee JFarnsworth, if you could only wrap that up and put it in a pill....the perfect diet pill. You could retire filthy wealthy!

Working on it.

[botlahf]

This is the funniest thread! I'm so glad I read it though because these aren't things I've given a lot of thought. I'm going to be volunteering at a local hospital soon so maybe I'll have some exposure to the "less attractive" side of healthcare. Thanks for sharing!

[Guest]

Yep you get used to blood and guts and BM and vomit. I actually get really excited when some bloody trauma comes in. The more stuff is out of its place, the better is the trauma, and the more "awesome" it is. Sucks for the pt, but a learning opportunity for us all and we wouldn't know what we know now without these unfortunate patients. Blood doesn't bother me at the least. Vomit and BM does if I smell it but I've been able to control my gag reflex pretty well so far.