Nurse Quirks

Nurses General Nursing

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Have any of you found yourself more and more disgusted with random things or processes as you moved through your education and/or career? For instance, if you have kids or domesticated animals -- did you start hypersanitizing? Or, did you perhaps start hypersanitizing anyway? Did your social habits change? Did your personal habits change? Did your kitchen habits or bathroom habits change? Please, unwind my spinning head....

Specializes in Pediatrics.
Oh how I do love those who contradict themselves. . . . .[/quote']

???? I'm not following my contradicting train of thought here. Please enlighten me.

Specializes in Pediatrics.

Outside of work: at a restaurant, I will do my best to keep sanitary. However, how do I know that the bar tender, who has a cold, did not forget to wash his hands before he touched my glass when preparing my drink? How do I know that they did not use a dirty spoon to ladle the sauce onto my entree before serving it to me?

There are some common sense things that can be done to stay healthy. On the other hand, I like being able to go out to dinner without being obsessed about who prepared my food and what their hygiene habits are. I like being able to do my job without constantly asking myself if I did enough to protect myself.

That's right: we don't know. Germs are everywhere, and with our fast-paced, fast-food obsessed society, you cannot escape it all. Think of everywhere we sit: benches, restaurant booths, chairs in school, hospitals, movie theater seats, busses and subways. everything we touch: doorknobs, shopping carts, rails on staircases, money, objects, elevator buttons, utensils, dishes, (I can keep goin, but we get the point, right?)

If we really though about all of this on a daily basis, we'd go nuts. But it seems some of us are already there :/

Specializes in Oncology/hematology.

The only thing that has changed for me is that I no longer chew my nails. That was immediate after the first day of clinicals. Yuck! I know people say that you can harbor nasties under your nails and now your chomping on that, but somehow, someone else's nasties made it real.

Sorry, but this is really gross to me. I have watched my dog lick his butt for 30 minutes straight. I have also seen him lick another dog's urine. He's not licking my face. I love him, but ewwwww!

"but, i only bathe my dog prn, dog's skin would dry right out, :unsure:

and also during shedding season, cuz bathing knocks off all that fur all at once. I can kiss on my dog, and don't see him as germy. I can hold a carrot or piece of cheese in my mouth, and pass it to the dog. Our mouths don't touch, though, but, i wouldn't have a stroke if they ever did. My dog licks my face,:cheeky: germs don't cross my mind.

i can hand my dog a bit of my food, and still eat the rest of my food, even if his tongue did touch my hand."

The only thing that has changed for me is that I no longer chew my nails. That was immediate after the first day of clinicals. Yuck! I know people say that you can harbor nasties under your nails and now your chomping on that, but somehow, someone else's nasties made it real.

Sorry, but this is really gross to me. I have watched my dog lick his butt for 30 minutes straight. I have also seen him lick another dog's urine. He's not licking my face. I love him, but ewwwww!

"but, i only bathe my dog prn, dog's skin would dry right out, :unsure:

and also during shedding season, cuz bathing knocks off all that fur all at once. I can kiss on my dog, and don't see him as germy. I can hold a carrot or piece of cheese in my mouth, and pass it to the dog. Our mouths don't touch, though, but, i wouldn't have a stroke if they ever did. My dog licks my face,:cheeky: germs don't cross my mind.

i can hand my dog a bit of my food, and still eat the rest of my food, even if his tongue did touch my hand."

oh before i had a dog, this seemed gross to me, too. Oddly, my dog almost never licks his own butt. But, yeah, while my dog and i rarely, if ever, touch mouths, but--- it wouldn't freak me out if that happened. I kiss on my dog every day, usually, on top of his head,

but, my dog doesn't even slightly, ever, creep me out, not ever. but, i realize, not everyone feels like i do. I have some close pals from other countries,

who are absolutely stunned, and are repulsed, that i even allow my dog IN the house, let alone kiss on my dog.

I've never gotten sick off my dog, not ever,

but,

i have come down with signs of oncoming cold after babysitting humans. but my dog? hasn't ever ever made me sick, ever.

Specializes in Oncology/hematology.

Yeah, my dog is probably cleaner than most people, but I just can't get over it. I adore him and yes, I kiss him on his head. It's the one place his tongue can't reach! :)

It's funny. Each country is different. I have been to Germany a few times and there are dogs in restaurants and the grocery store. I loved it.

Specializes in RN.

I wipe down my work area at the beginning of the shift. I have seen the people I follow :-0!! It is merely an attempt to avoid any junk possible. I use sanitizer in and out of rooms, I wash my hands. At restaurants I make sure my hands are clean before I eat. Even before being a Nurse I did this stuff with a seerious effort, too often do I see disgusting grown men, kids, whomever coming out of the stall in a restroom and not even considering washing their hands.

Specializes in Cardio-Pulmonary; Med-Surg; Private Duty.
I wipe down my work area at the beginning of the shift. I have seen the people I follow :-0!! It is merely an attempt to avoid any junk possible.

First semester of nursing school clinical, I was shadowing a nurse in a MRSA room. She was gowned and gloved, and proceeded to assess her patient, then chart on the COW. I saw her touch the keyboard, mouse, wristband-scanner, and COW handles with her gloves on immediately after examining the pressure ulcer on the patient's sacrum. She then removed her gown and gloves and pushed (with her bare hands) the COW out of the patient's room and into the next patient's room. :rolleyes:

Specializes in School health, Maternal-Newborn.

Way back in the late '90's I worked some in VRE isolation. The hospital provided scrubs and I dug out an old pair of sneakers and hid them near this area. Because what's the point of supplying scrubs when I'm wearing nasty shoes home or heaven help us all, over in OB?!!

At work I'm on standard precautions, At home and in public I'm chill. The people you see walk out without washing our hands might have hand sanatiser in our pocket. If there are no paper towels and only a weak hand dryer? I don't really want to have to dry my hands on my clothes!

When we travel as a family I'm a lot more vigilent because I've gotten colds or gi bugs on trips that my immune system didn't take care of. Flight attendednts have told me stories of spending most of their first year sick in one form or another. They also tell me to be aware that planes don't get cleaned in between flights in any way we would want them to be. Since learning that, and taking simple steps, I havent gotten sick on any trips. (came down with a nasty cold when I got home.)

You can be too clean at home. and there just aren't that many diseases that go from clean, healthy pets to us.

Specializes in Public Health, L&D, NICU.
I sleep more. And I'm on my fourth (probable) virus illness since December started. Those are about the only changes. Oh, and I eyeball veins wherever I go.

My brother will often say, "Quit staring at my veins, you freak!" I, too, scope out veins!

Specializes in Emergency, Telemetry, Transplant.
My brother will often say, "Quit staring at my veins, you freak!" I, too, scope out veins!

LOL, I think every ER nurse does...and I'm sure some non-ER nurses.

My brother will often say, "Quit staring at my veins, you freak!" I, too, scope out veins!

I salivate looking at my sons veins, poor kids only 8. LOL. When I'm looking he'll say "Go to work and like your patients mom, leave me alone" LMAO poor kid

Specializes in Trauma, Teaching.

My SIL in a med tech, so when we'd sit on either side of my husband we would both start stroking the huge veins on the backs of his hands; he'd start yelling to leave him alone!

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