What do your hands say about you?

Nurses General Nursing

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I was watching CSI or one of the similar shows the other evening, and one of the investigators was examining someone's remains in an attempt to figure out their profession. She made a comment about "occupational markers" on the corpse's hands, little bony ridges on the first phalange of her right hand. It made me laugh (because apparently I have a morbid sense of humor!) to think of what an investigator might conclude about my gnarly hands. So, I want to know....what nursing battle scars do YOU have? Wonky fingers from charting? Random calluses? Funny "missing digit" story? (I hope not, and apologize for being offensive; I'm slap happy today!)

PS. Mine would be the large "charting tumor" as my DON calls it, and a complete lack of a R index/middle fingerprint d/t mouse useage (MDS/care plan related, lol) ;)

I have callouses on my hands from shoveling horse poop and riding horses. I have dry hands from washing them lots during patient care. I have three broken fingers from ski racing when I was a kid. Broken thumb also from skiing. Random scars from working around the farm.(and me being oh so graceful) Oh yea I forgot the lovely scar where I sliced open my thumb while tuning skiis. I think it would be pretty difficult to figure out that I am a health care professional by the way my hands look.

My hands would say a lot if I knew sign language. lol

Well, I could always read other people's hands when I was a truck driver...I was regularly told I was #1...Strange how they always used their middle finger, instead of their index to tell me, though...................................................

That I'm a nail biting, rugged fancy lady.

Specializes in Med Surg.

I have managed to break every finger on my hands and several of them more than once. Football, baseball, working cattle, and rodeoing do not make for asthetically pleasing hands. I can do a good job of predicting colds fronts though.

When I was a teenager I dated a girl whose father played third base for the Boston Red Sox in the late forties and early fifties. You want to talk about some crooked fingers!

Had a patient as a student and when I shook hands with him I knew immediatley he either worked in the oilfield or as a pipe fitter. There is no mistaking those hands if you grew up with those folks.

Funny. Yesterday I got suckered into stopping at one of those Dead Sea skin care kiosks in the mall - the girl took one look at my hands and asked "are you a nurse?". I haven't done bedside care in 20+ years. Go Figure!

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