Work bags: What do you take and what's in it?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

I am starting a new job tomorrow and and just started cleaning out my work bag...what a mess! I've carried the same huge Vera Bradley tote for a little over a year and it's filled to the brim with a bunch of old bills, lotion, carbon copies of PTO requests, etc.

What do you use to carry your stuff to work? I probably need to downgrade to something smaller as my new work environment is cramped. What do you put in it? I have a makeup bag, extra car key, calendar, change, a calculator, my badge, pens, pencils and highlighters.

Specializes in critical care.
As for what type of bag I have.... I used to bring whichever one was given out for free that year for Nurses Week. It was functional I'd proudly wear the hospital's name, and it throw it out after a year. Then I started working at a hospital in a fashionable area...where even the male nurses were using LV's as their work bag. After a few comments on my brand of choice, I sacrificed an old Coach to the cause. Now that I've moved back home all I get are compliments on it.[/quote']

Wow, vespertinas, where was that hospital so I know never to work there! Sounds like some jr. high drama! I have a vera bradley that I got on super sale and the pattern makes me happy, plus it's easy to wash. A lot of nurses where I work have thirty-one bags or the kind you get at the craft stores, with lots of pockets. If someone had an expensive bag I'm sure it would get compliments, but no one would think twice if someone was using a freebie, either.

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Specializes in CDI Supervisor; Formerly NICU.
A lot of nurses where I work have thirty-one bags

Where would one store 31 bags? And why do you need more than one?

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Specializes in Cardiothoracic.

Where would one store 31 bags? And why do you need more than one?

It's a brand, thirty- one :)

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Lol! That 31 bags comment has me cracking up! Anyways I carry a canvas tote I bought from Wal-mart. I am hard on my work stuff so I tend to buy cheap! I carry in it: Tylenol, badge, watch, chap stick, nose spray, gum, steth, Bp cuff, sharpies/highlighters/pens, wound scissors, tampons, notebook, cheat sheet for all of the floors I am PRN so I am all over the building, five ones for soda pop, big water bottle, and i think that's it.,.we have lockers but I do not have the faintest idea of how to get to them... I just lock my purse in a room I only have access to.

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You guys are way more organized and prepared than I am! I have a Target Mossimo limited edition bag - only about 8 zillion made. In it I have food (always my #1 priority), stethoscope, a pair of socks, an outdated Sanford's guide, miscellaneous receipts, some unwrapped pieces of gum, a couple of broken pens, and the random alcohol wipe and saline flush.

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I should just take a picture! I have everything, and I mean everything. I'm the go to person for headaches, stomachaches, sour breath, sore muscles (all OTC). My bag is organized with other bags labeled for their use: Office (pens, pencils, erasers, mini stapler etc.), beauty (ha! lipstick, chapstick, hair ties, bobby pins, etc.), medicines, medical supplies (I often need safety pins, my pulse ox). I tried to go a month without my bag and was miserable and so was everyone else!

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1. Manual BP cuff, just in case. All of our cuffs are automatic hooked up to the monitors.

2. Stethoscope.

3. Pen light.

4. Pens and sharpies.

5. Hemostats.

6. Bandage scissors.

7. Reference book.

8. Paperwork.

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