I ask this question as I am about to start nursing school and other students all seem excited to get into lab work and learning about needles, being in accident and emergency but I’m so scared and really am unsure if I can handle it all.
I want to care and being a Nurse is something I have wanted to do for a very long time, but what if this is not something I can do? Will I get used to dealing with uncomfortable and squeamish situations?
I’m not a nurse, but I did have a clinical rehab setting where we were constantly exposed to blood, bile and urine. Perhaps some of the ER nurses can give you their opinions.
I could never get used to the smell of certain fluids and I definitely could have done without certain visuals. I always felt badly when the clean-ups were bad and they wouldn’t let me help.
Able to handle it? They need to be because unless they’re at a desk job (and those come after floor experience), gore can happen. Blood is very likely to happen.
Nursing is very different than it used to be. If you’re looking for a career that’s about “caring,” you may be headed in the wrong direction. You need to be polite. You need to be able to make people comfortable while you measure their urine output, but remember nursing is a science degree and a medical profession. You assess. You administer treatments.
Can you get used to dealing with gore? Yes. You can.
What if nursing isn’t for you? Well, it may not be. And that’s ok. Give yourself permission right now to change directions if it doesn’t work out. And if it does, I think you’re all the better from having questioned and come out the other side.