Common Nursing Themes

[nurselsteele]

I might be out of my mind but the more i read & the more i talk to my co-workers & friends the more i sense trends with Nurses!

#1- Nurses tend to be involved with law enforcement officers in one form or another? :loveya:( i know i am & 80% of my friends who are nurses have dated or are married to law enforcement)

#2- OCD is a common trait among nurses? (I think our jobs demand perfection so we develop that trait over the years! )

#3- Addiction is one of the horrible realities of nursing if you arent careful?

(i have been blessed not to have fallen victim to this but I know its a big big issues with Doctors & Nurses alike, I teach Drug awareness at the Correctional & Police Academy)

#4- Nurses tend to be work-a-holics? ( i think this goes with the OCD issue, our job isnt done until its done)

#5- Nursing is challenging no matter how many years you have under your belt & typically burn out comes more often the longer you stay in the career? ( i know i have to step out every 3 yrs for a long vacation in the islands or i would be insane by now)

#6- Eating Disorders seem to be endless with nurses? ( i know i have suffered myself from this & have read in depth on this board that it still exists throughout the nursing community, why do we fall pray to this?)

What are some other traits or similarities that you have noticed about Nurses ?? I would love to hear from you!! :typing

[RNKel, ASN, RN]

Oh, and around here, there is a huge percentage of marriages that are nurses to firemen. LOL

[NurseCard, ADN]

i might be out of my mind but the more i read & the more i talk to my co-workers & friends the more i sense trends with nurses!

#1- nurses tend to be involved with law enforcement officers in one form or another? :loveya:( i know i am & 80% of my friends who are nurses have dated or are married to law enforcement)

nope... i'm married to a cook =), and have been for 13 years now. though i have known in my time, two or three nurses that were married to police officers.

#2- ocd is a common trait among nurses? (i think our jobs demand perfection so we develop that trait over the years! )

hmmm, i don't think i would say that i am ocd, though i do at times obsess over how clean or dirty my house is.

#3- addiction is one of the horrible realities of nursing if you arent careful?

(i have been blessed not to have fallen victim to this but i know its a big big issues with doctors & nurses alike, i teach drug awareness at the correctional & police academy)

i am a food addict, but i always have had a tendency to react to life's stressors by overeating, even long before i decided to become a nurse. so, i dunno...

#4- nurses tend to be work-a-holics? ( i think this goes with the ocd issue, our job isnt done until its done)

nope, definately not a work a holic. i was off for six weeks after i had back surgery and definately did not want to go back to work.

#5- nursing is challenging no matter how many years you have under your belt & typically burn out comes more often the longer you stay in the career? ( i know i have to step out every 3 yrs for a long vacation in the islands or i would be insane by now)

yes. =)

#6- eating disorders seem to be endless with nurses? ( i know i have suffered myself from this & have read in depth on this board that it still exists throughout the nursing community, why do we fall pray to this?)

i've never seen a nurse with anorexia or bulimia, at least that i was aware of. but i've seen plenty who tended to overeat, myself included.

what are some other traits or similarities that you have noticed about nurses ?? i would love to hear from you!! :typing

i'll echo the back problems.

[BethT]

One trend I often see/hear is that many nurses decided to become nurses due to something that's happened in their life: ie, they were ill as a child, they've lost a child to cancer or similar, or lost someone very close to them and they've decided to go into nursing.

I definately agree with you there. That is my reason, but mine is not due to illness. I had a crazy, crazy childhood, broken home, parents addicted to drugs, adopted at 16 then adoptive parent sucide, very crazy. I think I have a need to make a difference in someone's life. I always want to help someone through a bad time in their life, just like someone did me.

[Chaya, ASN, RN]

Add to the list:

-a large percentage of the nurses I know now talk to themselves. Never did before going intto nursing.

-anxiety dreams (a form of the OCD?). Most of the nurses I've asked have had that one about getting thru a whole shift and finding out there's a patient you didn't know you had...(there was a whole thread about work dreams!)

[Morettia2, BSN, RN]

hahaha I am engaged to a law enforcement officer, and I have had pt.'s say to me .."what's with cops and nurses?" I say, "well we work similar hours and the job stress is about the same..hahahah"...