Is it normal to start work in a medical field but be a bit queasy?

91% Normal
8 Comments

I'm starting my formal education in a medical field (phlebotomy). I'm not a weak person nor do I get sick easily but I keep getting a feeling of (mild)uncertainty about going into this work! Sometimes when I think about drawing blood I get a weak feeling-however it's not bad, I just am unsure if it will pass or if it will affect my studies and work. It's too late to turn back as I've enrolled and paid tuition-and I WANT to do this, I am not a quitter. I'm just wondering, did/does anyone else in a medical field have the same feelings? Is it normal to have to get used to the medical duties and studies and get over that mild queasy-ness??

If you have a story to share or something inspirational, please share!! Thanks!!

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91% Normal
Based on 23 votes (21 yes)
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Comments ( 8 )
  • buckman
    13 years ago

    Hey that's what I want to do! :)
    Good luck, I'm sure you'll get over that feeling. Kind of like how parents learn to clean up poop and puke.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      13 years ago

      Excellent point! You are absolutely right!

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  • Mimi69
    13 years ago

    !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  • tori
    13 years ago

    My father was a medical technologist. He loved his work. To try and save doctor office visits he would try to draw blood from my arm. His department just so happened to be the one doctors would send the blood vials to. He would get the shakes every time he tried to get my blood. I would get queasy only because of the repeated tries.

    The medical field has always fascinated me. Even though I didn't take that path. Should have.

    Learn lots for me!!!!

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  • dappled
    13 years ago

    Many of the medics we teach start off queasy too. The anatomy lecturers who teach them for the first two years usually pull stunts to de-queasify them. If an anatomist at any point during a dissection asks for a volunteer to hold closed (with clamps) any part of the digestive system, do not volunteer to be that person. It's nothing to do with queasiness. This one is sheer messiness.

    Good luck with your studies. The world needs more good phlebotomists. The last person to draw blood from me took seven attempts in both arms and left me looking like I'd got gangrene, I was that bruised.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      13 years ago

      OK, I feel a bit better now. I didn't think I could possibly be the only one who felt this way, but the medical professionals I have dealt with in my life seemed so cool and collected!! I was hoping it was just a matter of getting used to it!!

      I'm a tough one to draw blood from too! I have veins that hide when confronted! What got me one time was that I actually heard the blood filling the vial...ugh, not pleasant.

      I'm a great student and I'm confident in my ability to grasp the academics, I am just a tad worried about the practice!

      Thanks for the good wishes! Being that I am a tough blood draw, I think I can lend some empathy to the patients! That's my aim, to make it as easy as possible as it's always been a fiasco for me!

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      • dappled
        13 years ago

        I'm the same. My blood retreats to whatever part of my body is furthest from the needle. Even when they've found a vein, it's so reluctant to come out that I never fill a vial. People always get sick of waiting and say, "oh well, that'll do" after about a third of a vial.

        And, yeah, so many of our students start squeamish but none of them are when they're released into the real world. You'll be absolutely fine. I'm as squeamish as anyone but even I can walk through the morgue now with uncovered cadavers and their chests cracked wide open and not even bat an eyelid. Funnily enough, what bothers me most is the looks on their faces. I don't like it if they don't look like they were at peace.

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        • Anonymous Post Author
          13 years ago

          Ohhh, dappled, you have made my day! Whenever I think I can't do it, I'll think of you and I with our scardey-cat veins and I'll make it my mission to be the best I can be!!

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