Facing Abjection

Today the lecturer gave us an intriguing lecture on dealing with burns. The skin is the largest organ in our body and it covers nearly all of us apart from a few holes. If enough damage is done to destroy the skin, it loses sensitivity and the ability to sweat, thus affecting the body temperature regulation. That is why sometimes when we water in a paper cup to patients, they may crush it because they lack the sensation to know how much pressure is applied to the cup.

Perhaps the most difficult part in dealing with these patients is due to the visuals. Skin is something we all take for granted. When all is well, we give skin little thought and some of us even use it as a canvas to put art on. But when illness strikes or something happens to the skin, people tend to put a lot more emphasis on their skin. Skin can determine who we are, our culture and how we belong in society.

When skin is disrupted it can cause a lot of uneasy feeling and bring in chaos to ordinary life. The loss of something they had will cause a horrible feeling that he/she is unwhole. The patient will feel this emotional hole in their life through abjection, especially if the burns are severe.

I feel that nurses must be able to empathize with the patient. Even if we don't want to, the sight of others suffering will cause sadness within most of us. Will we be able to handle the amounts of depression that accumulates within us seeing all these patients in suffering? How are we as caregivers able to cope with the pain?

One of the students asked those questions and the lecturer told us that often there is no way to avoid that kind of emotion as caregivers. Many simply quit the burn treatment department whilst some got 'de-motionalised '.

I don't think I am able to become a burn treatment specialist because I have a weak heart. Speaking of abjection, I will be experiencing it in around 8 months, when the one I truly love will leave me forever.