What do your hands say about you?

[AltaEnfermera]

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)

[sevensonnets]

Well here goes: cracked red cuticles from washing my hands 463 times a day, a big bump on my right middle finger (a charting tumor that's been there since 3rd grade and keeps getting bigger), a carpal tunnel scar, and a right pinkie finger that sticks out (broken years ago in a headon collision with an IV pump).

[SaraO'Hara]

Dry skin from washing, short fingernails for gloves, rather large "Charting tumor" (I like that ) on ® ring finger.

[nurse2033, MSN, RN]

I think that's a lot of bunk. Sherlock Holmes was good at that, but in a time of manual labor. I've got scars where my childhood warts were removed, a big one where my bone met my table saw, an arthritic thumb from falling off my mountain bike, a deformed nail from hitting the nail bed with a hammer (ouch), and rock climbing and weight lifting calluses. Not sure where nursing fits into that. Come to think of it, it's the only thing I do that hasn't damaged me, lol.

[AltaEnfermera]

Good point! :) I doubt an x-ray would tell Bones that knot on my medial metacarpal came from having it whacked against a door frame when my spastic horse decided she'd rather not come out of the stall that day, lol.

[canesdukegirl, BSN, RN]

Extremely dry cracked hands from scrubbing for surgery. I have to wear moisturizing gloves every night so the cracks don't bleed. My husband laughs at me and calls me "The Pink Gloved Monster"! Not terribly sexy, I might add :)

[ImThatGuy, BSN, RN]

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

[GHGoonette, BSN, RN]

They'd learn more from my shoulders and lumbar spine....

[Lurksalot, BSN, RN]

haha, its not my hands that would talk, it's my aching wrists from computer charting and writing papers for school. Ouch!

[TanyaBRN]

I'm a Home Care nurse so they would probably think I drive a snowplow or something...

[nurse simmy]

They would prolly decide that I'm OCD (even though you couldn't get farther from the truth) because my hands are cracked and bleeding from washing a million times a day.

~Simmy

[gymnut]

I already have giant manly hands for a woman so I can only imagine how much worse they are going to get once I start working.