I did my first ever shift in the Emergency Dept this morning, I was an extra person on the shift which meant I could float around and observe.
But when a woman came in after a fall in her bathroom with a 15cm/6in long laceration over her knee that needed to be washed out and sutured, I decided to hang around the bedside to be an extra pair of hands…until, all of a sudden while the doctor had his finger halfway into the wound, I actually had to excuse myself and have a sit down lest I faint by the bed.
I could blame it on not eating breakfast, or being on my feet, or being a bit dehydrated, or that I was observing the wound care rather than administering it, or the fact I haven’t been near a wound in 6 months….but I think I was plain overcome by the sight of a big ol’ wound being poked and prodded.
Which, as a nurse and soon to be med student, is highly embarrassing.
