I would love to go to school to become a nurse, but the sight of blood or open sores makes me faint.?

Question

What could I do to overcome that?

Answer 1

You're having a vasovagal reflex. The most common way to overcome this type of reaction is through desensitization. Repeated exposure to the stimulus - in your case blood and gore - inures one to its effects. Understand? Go to a medical school library and look at pictures in books, go online and look at surgical and wound photos. Every chance you get, look. Got a steak or some chicken in the 'fridge? Look at the blood inside the plastic wrap. When you look at blood think about what a marvelous thing it is, all the good it does. When you look at a wound, think about what may have caused it and what the best way to treat it might be.

Not only do I want you to get used to seeing this stuff, I also want you to think about these things in a way that's different from how you regard them now. Instead of thinking "Oooh, gross!", think "This would be very painful. This would leave a scar. I wonder how much blood loss a person can safely have." After all, you see blood every month, don't you?

Start small, with photos, then try working your way up to the real thing. If you wish to become a nurse, you'll have to get over this. Blood and wounds are a part of both life and death. Best of luck in your endeavors, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you. If you have any other questions about nursing or nursing school, I'd be more than happy to answer them as long as you allow e-mails.

Although someone else said that everyone gets accustomed to this, I never had this problem. I was dissecting dead animals as a child to see what was inside.

Answer 2

It'll take some getting used to. I applaud you wanting to do this though. I feel that you should maybe start watching gore films.....then maybe you can volunteer to be a candy stripper at a hospital. Explain to the nurses about you wanting to become a nurse. You may faint a couple of times, but eventually, you'll become calloused to it. The sights of blood and open sores aren't the worse part.....it's the different scents of things that will take the longest to get used to.....if you can get used to that. Best of luck to you...and I say go for it.

Answer 3

Unfortunately volunteers and candy stripers are going to have virtually no patient contact thta will involved anything medical so the opportunity to get a taste of anything that way will be pointless. Meantime I should think you need to reexamine your reasons for wanting to be a nurse in the first place and go from there. Often times those involved in medicine have a few shakes at first but easily get over it.

Answer 4

Don't. You might overcome it, with continued exposure. But you may not.

If you want, volunteer in a hospital or clinic. You won't be able to handle patients, but you'll be around all kinds of ickiness. If, in a few months, you're still unable to deal with it... give up on the nurse thing.

Answer 5

From Health and Fitness consultant point of view: repetition will do magic. Try to expose yourself to the nursing elements in small steps and be persistent with your ultimate goal of being a Nurse (an honorable profession). Remember, most of others like you have had similar obstacles!

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Answer 6

With more exposure to these situation you will become accustomed to it, everyone does. You can experience this by volunteering at a hospital. Don't look away when you see these sights, instead, look more closely and try to learn from what you see. Study about the biological consequences of what you are looking at so that you can look at it from a scientific viewpoint in detail instead of looking at it as just a "bad thing."

Answer 7

Maybe you shouldn't. Having a job that will make you sick is not healthy. I have the same feelings. I don't think I can get over that anxiety, but if you can let me know.