Is it possible to be a nurse whilst hating personal care?
So ive been accepted to do adult nursing which I'm so excited for! The sight of blood and needles doesn't bother me in the slightest but the thought of doing personal care makes me feel a bit sick! Is this something I will get over? I wouldn't mind doing personal care to children as I have 2 children myself but adults for some reason it makes me feel really uneasy
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Reply 1
Original post by BA2020
So ive been accepted to do adult nursing which I'm so excited for! The sight of blood and needles doesn't bother me in the slightest but the thought of doing personal care makes me feel a bit sick! Is this something I will get over? I wouldn't mind doing personal care to children as I have 2 children myself but adults for some reason it makes me feel really uneasy
People are going to **** and vomit over you as a nurse. If you can't handle this, then you're in the wrong job.
Nurse Ratched, aka @squeakysquirrel, will have some views on this, views with which I will doubtless agree
Reply 3
Original post by BA2020
So ive been accepted to do adult nursing which I'm so excited for! The sight of blood and needles doesn't bother me in the slightest but the thought of doing personal care makes me feel a bit sick! Is this something I will get over? I wouldn't mind doing personal care to children as I have 2 children myself but adults for some reason it makes me feel really uneasy
No you not fit to be a nurse with attitude like that
You need to be upto doing the job or forgot about ever being a nurse
Unfortunately personal care is part of nursing regardless if its adult / children / midwifing as you do have to assist bathing and dressing patients .
If you can't honestly handle doing personal care then perhaps a different career would suit you as you get all aspects throughout the 3 years as a student nurse and you can't exactly say you don't won't to wash or dress anyone as its your job to help those unable to do it themselves.
Think about whether or not you can change your attitude towards personal care as if not then don't do nursing as I think you won't last to long as a student nurse if you can't do this .
Reply 4
Original post by Reality Check
People are going to **** and vomit over you as a nurse. If you can't handle this, then you're in the wrong job.
Nurse Ratched, aka @squeakysquirrel, will have some views on this, views with which I will doubtless agree
Nurse Ratched, aka @squeakysquirrel, will have some views on this, views with which I will doubtless agree
I agree with what you just said, you need to know exactly what you doimng when you sign up as a student nurse.
Reply 5
You could be surprised with yourself!
I'm not a nurse but I do a lot of personal care in my current job in care. I didn't think I could ever do personal care, but now it's second nature to me (hate to say it, haha). I have no problems doing it, but if you'd have asked me a few years ago, I would have gagged at the thought! The more you do it, the easier it gets - from my experience anyway. To me, it's just a natural thing now haha. & if you can wipe your own children down, you're halfway there. Sometimes the thought of it is a lot more disgusting/daunting to what it actually will be!
If Nursing is what you want to pursue, then don't let this stop you/deter you IMO!
I'm not a nurse but I do a lot of personal care in my current job in care. I didn't think I could ever do personal care, but now it's second nature to me (hate to say it, haha). I have no problems doing it, but if you'd have asked me a few years ago, I would have gagged at the thought! The more you do it, the easier it gets - from my experience anyway. To me, it's just a natural thing now haha. & if you can wipe your own children down, you're halfway there. Sometimes the thought of it is a lot more disgusting/daunting to what it actually will be!
If Nursing is what you want to pursue, then don't let this stop you/deter you IMO!
Original post by sourapples
You could be surprised with yourself!
I'm not a nurse but I do a lot of personal care in my current job in care. I didn't think I could ever do personal care, but now it's second nature to me (hate to say it, haha). I have no problems doing it, but if you'd have asked me a few years ago, I would have gagged at the thought! The more you do it, the easier it gets - from my experience anyway. To me, it's just a natural thing now haha. & if you can wipe your own children down, you're halfway there. Sometimes the thought of it is a lot more disgusting/daunting to what it actually will be!
If Nursing is what you want to pursue, then don't let this stop you/deter you IMO!
I'm not a nurse but I do a lot of personal care in my current job in care. I didn't think I could ever do personal care, but now it's second nature to me (hate to say it, haha). I have no problems doing it, but if you'd have asked me a few years ago, I would have gagged at the thought! The more you do it, the easier it gets - from my experience anyway. To me, it's just a natural thing now haha. & if you can wipe your own children down, you're halfway there. Sometimes the thought of it is a lot more disgusting/daunting to what it actually will be!
If Nursing is what you want to pursue, then don't let this stop you/deter you IMO!
Thank you so much for a nice reply. Seems like people on here like to be cruel!
I spoke to my husband who agrees with you. Some people go into nursing and hate the sight of blood! So I'm sure il get over it, i just need to do it once then il get used to it
I currently work in a childrens home specialising in mental health so if I can do that I'm sure I can wipe a bum or two haha!Thanks again x
Original post by BA2020
Thank you so much for a nice reply. Seems like people on here like to be cruel!
I spoke to my husband who agrees with you. Some people go into nursing and hate the sight of blood! So I'm sure il get over it, i just need to do it once then il get used to it I currently work in a childrens home specialising in mental health so if I can do that I'm sure I can wipe a bum or two haha!
Thanks again x
I spoke to my husband who agrees with you. Some people go into nursing and hate the sight of blood! So I'm sure il get over it, i just need to do it once then il get used to it
I currently work in a childrens home specialising in mental health so if I can do that I'm sure I can wipe a bum or two haha!Thanks again x
I think it’s ok to be honest and if you don’t fancy personal care that’s ok but it’s really important to understand that personal care as a nurse is not just about cleaning the patient and is really important.
It’s about talking to the patient, assessing how they they are in themselves, seeing how they feel, do they move ok, are they in pain?
it’s about checking skin integrity as well as making them feel better.
It’s about treating them with dignity.
it really helps me to think about my loved ones and I try to give care to patients I would want my loved ones to get.
Not all nurses end up in wards there are lots of nursing jobs that don’t include providing personal care to patients but as a student you will be required to do it and cannot palm it off onto HCA’s.
Try to remember why you are doing it and that may help you get your head round it.
Reply 9
Original post by BA2020
So ive been accepted to do adult nursing which I'm so excited for! The sight of blood and needles doesn't bother me in the slightest but the thought of doing personal care makes me feel a bit sick! Is this something I will get over? I wouldn't mind doing personal care to children as I have 2 children myself but adults for some reason it makes me feel really uneasy
Hi there!
I’m currently in my 2nd year of Nursing at Keele. Personal care is something that all nurses will have to do throughout their career. I’ve been on placements where the ward sister has had to chip in on patient washes in the morning due to staff shortages ect. I personally don’t mind personal care at all, I love making a patient feel clean and comfortable as that’s how I would want to feel myself! But obviously everyone is different!
It’s something you’ll have to get used to. It may be worth getting some care experience prior to starting so you know that it’s something you can cope with before committing to a nursing course, it’ll count as useful work experience to support an application if you then want to follow through with it.
Bit harsh, the OP was asking a question about nursing and you bite her head off telling her she’s not fit to be a nurse. We are supposed to be the caring profession, talking down to potential students like this doesn’t really sell the profession to them. While personal care is a fundamental component of nursing, lots of people coming into nursing or caring are going to find delivering personal care to adults quite an alien concept to them.
Original post by Tracey1995
No you not fit to be a nurse with attitude like that
Bit harsh, the OP was asking a question about nursing and you bite her head off telling her she’s not fit to be a nurse. We are supposed to be the caring profession, talking down to potential students like this doesn’t really sell the profession to them. While personal care is a fundamental component of nursing, lots of people coming into nursing or caring are going to find delivering personal care to adults quite an alien concept to them.
Reply 11
It is possible to be a nurse with that mentality, however patients may be able to sense that. I guess that could potentially be the biggest obstacle. But you never know, maybe things change once you get a job and actually start taking care of a patient. After all I’m sure none of the nurses are happy to be doing all the gross stuff anyway, but after a few times they just learn to deal with it and it becomes “normal”. In any case, good luck!! 🤞🏼
Reply 12
Original post by moonkatt
It’s something you’ll have to get used to. It may be worth getting some care experience prior to starting so you know that it’s something you can cope with before committing to a nursing course, it’ll count as useful work experience to support an application if you then want to follow through with it.
Bit harsh, the OP was asking a question about nursing and you bite her head off telling her she’s not fit to be a nurse. We are supposed to be the caring profession, talking down to potential students like this doesn’t really sell the profession to them. While personal care is a fundamental component of nursing, lots of people coming into nursing or caring are going to find delivering personal care to adults quite an alien concept to them.
Bit harsh, the OP was asking a question about nursing and you bite her head off telling her she’s not fit to be a nurse. We are supposed to be the caring profession, talking down to potential students like this doesn’t really sell the profession to them. While personal care is a fundamental component of nursing, lots of people coming into nursing or caring are going to find delivering personal care to adults quite an alien concept to them.
Yes I may had been a bit harsh with what I said like but sometimes the truth is required to let them know that its not something you can't get out of with nursing unless she applies for a job in outpatient department where there's no personal care involved once she eventually qualify as a nurse.
Everybody does handle the personal care side differently with lots handling it okay while others can't .
What you said about getting some experience in care prior to her ever starting as a student nurse may help her decide on things better .
She can handle personal care with her own family so you would imagine that she should be able to cope with this in nursing .
Original post by Tracey1995
Yes I may had been a bit harsh with what I said like but sometimes the truth is required to let them know that its not something you can't get out of with nursing unless she applies for a job in outpatient department where there's no personal care involved once she eventually qualify as a nurse.
Everybody does handle the personal care side differently with lots handling it okay while others can't .
What you said about getting some experience in care prior to her ever starting as a student nurse may help her decide on things better .
She can handle personal care with her own family so you would imagine that she should be able to cope with this in nursing .
Everybody does handle the personal care side differently with lots handling it okay while others can't .
What you said about getting some experience in care prior to her ever starting as a student nurse may help her decide on things better .
She can handle personal care with her own family so you would imagine that she should be able to cope with this in nursing .
There are quite a lot of nursing roles that don’t require you to do personal care.
Specialist Community public nurse (hv)
Practice nurse
Research nurse
Diabetes specialist Nurse
Many more specialties
111 nurse
Probably many more
Sheesh, some of the replies 😱🤦
It will feel a bit strange or uncomfortable to start with, it's not something we are used to doing unless you look after an adult or work in care etc, but just remember, the person you are looking after will feel 100 times worse. The more you do the easier it will get.
It will feel a bit strange or uncomfortable to start with, it's not something we are used to doing unless you look after an adult or work in care etc, but just remember, the person you are looking after will feel 100 times worse. The more you do the easier it will get.
(edited 4 years ago)
I think you should maybe do some other form of nursing. If you don’t like personal care or aren’t willing to put up with it then patients will be able to sense that from your body language. It can be quite uncomfortable for them.
I’m a student radiographer and while I don’t have much involvement with personal care, I have had patients throw up on me or wet the bed while I’m taking their x rays etc. Initially I hated the sight of any body fluids but you honestly get used to it
it’s part of the job and when you’re doing your job you forget to even have reactions like that because you’re so busy. It’s only after cleaning everything up and doing their x rays I’m like “omg they just vomited on me, ew!”
I’m a student radiographer and while I don’t have much involvement with personal care, I have had patients throw up on me or wet the bed while I’m taking their x rays etc. Initially I hated the sight of any body fluids but you honestly get used to it
it’s part of the job and when you’re doing your job you forget to even have reactions like that because you’re so busy. It’s only after cleaning everything up and doing their x rays I’m like “omg they just vomited on me, ew!”(edited 4 years ago)
Original post by Fermion.
I think you should maybe do some other form of nursing. If you don’t like personal care or aren’t willing to put up with it then patients will be able to sense that from your body language. It can be quite uncomfortable for them.
I’m a student radiographer and while I don’t have much involvement with personal care, I have had patients throw up on me or wet the bed while I’m taking their x rays etc. Initially I hated the sight of any body fluids but you honestly get used to it it’s part of the job and when you’re doing your job you forget to even have reactions like that because you’re so busy. It’s only after cleaning everything up and doing their x rays I’m like “omg they just vomited on me, ew!”
I’m a student radiographer and while I don’t have much involvement with personal care, I have had patients throw up on me or wet the bed while I’m taking their x rays etc. Initially I hated the sight of any body fluids but you honestly get used to it
it’s part of the job and when you’re doing your job you forget to even have reactions like that because you’re so busy. It’s only after cleaning everything up and doing their x rays I’m like “omg they just vomited on me, ew!”As a midwife you get used to poo and amniotic fluid and blood, then you go straight out after delivery and eat toast
😂😂😂
Obviously you wash your hands And change clothes first👍
I’ve been drenched in amniotic fluid!
Most women vomit in childbirth too.
Bless them, you really don’t think about it, you just feel sorry for them as it must be awful.
The conversations at the dinner tables of health professionals are interesting too.
My sister was midwife and she tended to throw vomit bowls at women , she hated vomit
she’s management now 😂😂😂
Don’t honestly think anyone loves it, that would be odd😋
You get desensitised to It as the ultimate aim is to make patients feel better.
Original post by BA2020
Thank you so much for a nice reply. Seems like people on here like to be cruel!
I spoke to my husband who agrees with you. Some people go into nursing and hate the sight of blood! So I'm sure il get over it, i just need to do it once then il get used to it I currently work in a childrens home specialising in mental health so if I can do that I'm sure I can wipe a bum or two haha!
Thanks again x
I spoke to my husband who agrees with you. Some people go into nursing and hate the sight of blood! So I'm sure il get over it, i just need to do it once then il get used to it
I currently work in a childrens home specialising in mental health so if I can do that I'm sure I can wipe a bum or two haha!Thanks again x
How did you get on? I feel the same. I need to get through my training, I know I don't want to be a ward nurse when I qualify.x
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