03.09.08
What has happened to me?
I have always had a rather over sensitive sense of smell and a stomach prone to want to chuck up its contents if that smell was unpleasant. I have also been sensitive to unpleasant sights in that I have tended to come over faint in inappropriate places. I prefer to be too cold than too hot, as again I have at times been a little prone to coming over weak at the knees in hot situations. This person is and has been a nurse? I hear you cry. How on earth then did she ever get through 3 years of nurse training and then over 20 of clinical practice? Well actually when faced with a situation where I might embarrass myself in front of a patient or indeed a colleague I have been able to cope and make myself keep on my feet without throwing up. I learned how to hold my breath at times, to breathe through my mouth and for quite a period of time to not be put off by anything unpleasant for example bodily fluids such as vomit and faeces.
But it is now about 6 years since I last had to deal with any kind of unpleasant task in the line of duty. Of course much less time has passed since I have had to deal with such stuff at home, but actually I would now rather not. This morning the cat threw up on my living room floor. It was only because I hadn’t yet eaten anything that I didn’t come out in sympathy with the cat. I have actually started to avoid seeing even fake blood on TV and certain smells are beginning to make me nauseous in a way that never happened before. If I was planning to go into nursing now, I’d tell myself perhaps not to, because I am not sure I am made of the right stuff, although I do of course have other vital skills that would still make me a good nurse.
