Norovirus!?!

[katylee]

Heya everyone,
I am a student nurse and start placement at the end of this month on a childrens ward..

Iam soo scared that iam going to catch the norovirus. It is so common in hospitals and especially in children.

I am very OCD with cleaning my hands ect.. but im still petrified..

Just needed some advice really.

thanks xx

[Midnight Dream]

Wow that sounds really exciting. See you aren't letting emet take over your life and stop you from doing what you want to do in the future! Because that the way my life is heading right now. . . Snap on the OCD front, its horrible. But I mean despite the horrible downside of having OCD, it also means you are very aware of hand washing so you certainly dont need to worry about any germs on your hands etc and they have that special anti bac in hospitals that you can use frequently as you like, so there are plenty of things you can do in the way of hygiene. With the *nv you can only catch it if you come into contact with *v or *d. I mean obviously this is going to be more likely to come into contact with in a childrens ward. Im guessing you wouldn't want to mention your emet? Sorry if this message is a bit all over the place, im not feeling well mentally at the moment!! As you are going on work placement they might not expect you to deal with that kinda thing if you get what I mean? x

[grrlga30]

I wouldnt worry about it to much, i have been in healthcare for 8 years now, i only caught one sv..but thats when i didnt know much about them, and i didnt wash my hands, and i was sharing drinks and food with my co workers and we all caught it, after that i have never caught another one, and i worked around sick people everyday! Thats awesome that your doing it though, dont let this phobia get in the way of your dream

[summer77]

Hi! I am also nursing student. I am at the very beginning of my schooling. It is so wonderful to know that I'm not the only one with this ridiculous fear. It's even more wonderful to hear of people becoming nurses and overcoming our fear. When flu season hits. I live off of Lysol wipes bleach and hand sanitizer. Always washing the hands and keeping my hands away from my face (mouth, nose, and eyes). I also get my flu shot every year. When I know I'm being exposed I make sure I'm sleeping enough and eating right. Drinking lots of fluid to flush anything out that may think that it can infect me and boosting the vitamans.

Hope I didn't freak you out there. I am a bit excited today. I just discovered that we all share the same fear. I thought it was just me.

Good luck in your Studies.