Nurses with a needle phobia

[PhilInt]

I'd like a sanity check please to see if my thinking is faulty. My sister is dating this guy who is a nurse. He told her yesterday that he is scared of needles and when she asked about how he was able to inject other people, he said that it didn't bother him as it wasn't happening to him.

My AIBU is: doesn't that show a lack of empathy?

So YABU = it's not a sign of a lack of empathy

YANBU = tell her to run a mile

Spare a thought for how he might have got the phobia. 20 years ago I got a HIV infected needle stick injury from a spring loaded glucometer needle. I had to have regular tests and antiviral meds. Yes the risks are low, but your head isn’t always logical. I got had CBT Sessions to get over it… we’re as human as everyone else. No magic wand when you put on the uniform.

What? Totally YABU! Phobias are irrational. Receiving an injection/ having blood taken etc are not the same as doing then to others. I am a HCP and have had several colleagues over the years with needle phobia. The empathy comes when they have to take blood from someone with a needle phobia. I don't need much empathy when someone takes my blood/ injects me as it really doesn't bother me.

I am an emergency care assistant. I see horrible traumatic injuries in my job, no problem. I cannot watch operations on TV or look at people's veins without feeling very squeamish. Not logical but still happens.

You look at the world strangely, OP.

I used to be a midwife & I am extremely needle phobic due to a bad experience I had as a teenager with a cannula. It took me a while but I was eventually fine to give injections & take blood. I even quite enjoyed taking blood, it was satisfying to do well for people! But cannulating was always incredibly difficult for me & assisting with epidurals was nearly impossible I used to always nearly faint! Definitely nothing to do with empathy at all.

I don't understand your logic. I doubt many people like injections, but for most people they are just mildly unpleasant and not frightening. So why would he feel bad about injecting someone who doesn't mind? If they're unbothered, what is there to feel empathetic about?

I have a phobia of planes. It's not the flying bit that scares me, it's the plane itself. My husband plays a computer game where a plane flies close to the car he's driving and I can't bear to be in the room. It defies all logic. But I don't feel sorry for people getting on a plane, because I understand that they don't feel the same way about it that I do!

My anaesthetist when I was having my c section was a fainter when getting infections, fainted at her covid vaccinations both times but managed to jam the cannula into my hand and spinal needle into my back no bother! She was very empathetic.

I dont know how other nurses/midwives/HCAs feel, but I always felt like I could tunnel vision the traumatic injuries/almost block out the context to concentrate on doing what needing to be done. I assisted at a very traumatic RTA once and afterwards was surprised how calm and precise I was during the event. Pretty shook up after though. Professional focus perhaps?

I’m needle phobic and a HCP. I have to psych myself up to have an injection or get blood taken but it doesn’t bother me in the slightest watching someone else having one.
Vomit on the other hand, I cannot stand to be in the same room as someone who is vomiting and I absolutely can’t vomit myself, it sends me into a tailspin and I have a panic attack.

I think there's a big difference in having it done to yourself vs doing it to other people. I personally don't have a problem with needles, I could have them stuck in me all day long. Doing it to others (which I have had to do) Is another matter.

I had gestational diabetes and had to inject myself with insulin twice a day. It was fine. Last week I had my booster and looked away when they did it because I didn't want to see the needle going in. People are strange, but this case I think your viewpoint is stranger than his.

I am slightly needle phobic, in that I can't watch a needle going into my arm, or anybody else's arm, as it makes me wince and anticipate pain. I'm not frightened, I just need to look away. I wanted to become a vaccine volunteer but knew I wouldn't be able to overcome the urge to shut my eyes.

I can watch documentaries where people are operating on people, but can't watch anything involving people who are awake and in pain, whether it's a gory horror film or something nasty on the news. I just have zero tolerance to pain, even if it's not my own, so I would make a useless medic.

I know someone who became a blood nurse because they thought it might help his needle phobia

It didn’t, but he’s very good at his job

Is this a wind up? His phobia is specifically about needles being inserted into him. I'm scared of needles too, really have to build myself up to it every time and get panicky. I've taken my daughter for injections, and it did not make me anxious or panicky at all... I've also had quite a few nurses tell me they are phobic themselves and understand how I feel etc. They didn't go all shaky on me and seemed competent in their jobs, I can assure you!

LOL! Yes, you're unreasonable!

I imagine most people would be at least somewhat scared of being operated on, being cut with a scalpel, etc., and yet surgeons do it to patients every day. Certain professions require the ability to distance yourself and not constantly put yourself in the other person's shoes. If you can't do that, you can't do that job.

@ISmellBurnings

Most procedures I carry out I wouldn’t fancy myself, doesn’t mean I don’t care.

Basically, this.

@RoomOfRequirement

I'm dumber now for having read this. Thanks.

After reading this I feel justified in the suspicion that I may be entitled to compensation.

Yes, your thinking is extremely faulty here!

If you think nurses should only carry out procedures that wouldn’t bother them at all if they had them personally there wouldn’t be an awful lot of work done!
Receiving most healthcare isn’t particularly pleasant. No-one really WANTS an injection, or a smear test etc. We consent to and accept them as a means to an end.

I think your post is honestly ridiculous!

I'd like a sanity check please

I think that ship has sailed.

@PurpleDaisies

The only person with a lack of empathy is you.

Agree with this!

A surgeon recently performed an ACL reconstruction on my DD’s knee. I can’t imagine in a million years he’d want one on his own knee.

@Lex345

I dont know how other nurses/midwives/HCAs feel, but I always felt like I could tunnel vision the traumatic injuries/almost block out the context to concentrate on doing what needing to be done. I assisted at a very traumatic RTA once and afterwards was surprised how calm and precise I was during the event. Pretty shook up after though. Professional focus perhaps?

Yes, it's amazing how your focus becomes sharp, isn't it? I worked in ICU and when you have a very sick patient who needs a lot of care quite urgently, you fall into a pattern of actions and don't really think about each one individually - you just work through them in sequence until the patient is stable.

What????

YABU. The fact that injecting other people doesn't trigger his phobia doesn't mean that he can't have empathy with them. In fact, due to his own fears, he is probably brilliant with patients who also have a needle phobia.

Please do not meddle in your sister's relationship over this.

Not unusual.