You Know You're an Old(er) Nurse If . . .

Nurses General Nursing

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You know you're an older nurse if:

1. You remember working with nurses who wore caps. :nurse:

2. You remember nurses (and doctors) sitting at the nurses station drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes while charting. :smokin:

3. You remember when charting was done (handwritten) in 3 different colors (black or blue for day shift, green for evening shifts, red for night shift).

4. You remember when IV fluids came only in glass bottles.

5. You remember when breast milk wasn't a biohazard. :redlight:

6. You remember when chest tube setups consisted of glass bottles, rubber stoppers, and tubing.

7. You remember when white polyester uniforms were the standard for nurses.

8. You remember when you'd have given your eye teeth for a comfortable pair of nursing shoes (we haven't always been able to wear athletic shoes).

9. You remember when the hospital's top nurse was the director of nursing and not the chief nursing officer.

10. You remember giving lots of IM shots for pre-ops and pain meds.

What else?

HollyVK (with patient care experience going back to 1972) :gandalf:

Any of you remember as students when you lived in the dorm and ate in the hospital cafeteria and had to wear your uniform to meals? And your uniform was a pink (or blue) dress with a white apron. The apron was starched really stiff and you pulled it from the back and crossed it in the front when you sat down so it wouldn't be wrinkled?

Talking about dorms and liquor reminds me that when you finished off a bottle of liquor you left at least an inch of it in the bottom so when you put it down the laundry chute in the dorm the housekeepers wouldn't report you to the Dorm Mother.

Dorms were quite an experience but they did build up a camaraderie that I think is missing from nursing school now. The Dorm Mother was the Queen Bee and ruled with an iron fist. You dared not upset her. If she wasn't happy with you she might fail to buzz your room to let you know you had company, or she would hand out demerits if you were so much as a minute late getting in past curfew.

Barbara

oh my goodness, after reading all these posts, things have really changed since I worked as a "real nurse." I've been in outpatient mental health for so long, I'd have to go back through school if I ever decided to go back to work in the hospital.

State boards---we spent 2 days in Chicago to take the five tests. We were lucky, as we were the first nurses to take multiple choice tests. The nurses that graduated before us wrote essay questions!! In addition to the challenge of writing them, imagine the challenge of grading them.

I took boards in October and got results on January 20th. It was such a big thrill that I still remember the date.

This is such fun--remembering the "good old days". I am now thinking they weren't so good!

yeah me too - and i hated it - small town girl drives to big city ( still dont nkow how i made it there alive lol) stays in hotel all weekend - gads - i was also sick - 103 temp - but believe that it helpoed me as i would have double guessed and probably failed had i not been ( bad habit to second guess myself and change to the wrong answeer) i was so sick i just answered and never double checked em - then going home got lost - oy vey - what a weekend. and watching all the younger gals having tons of fun drinking and studying - wow - that seems like forever a go. we di not have hats however my mom ( who never finished nursing school due to health issues ) had one saved ( why i as a girl thought id be a nurse loved wearing the hat lol) well - HAD to have at least my "graduation" picure with that hat :) dad still has that picture displayed - to funny i look. loll.

Specializes in Alzheimer's, Geriatrics, Chem. Dep..
Talking about dorms and liquor reminds me that when you finished off a bottle of liquor you left at least an inch of it in the bottom so when you put it down the laundry chute in the dorm the housekeepers wouldn't report you to the Dorm Mother.

That is too funny ... and sad!

I do remember the "girls" (and guys? Not sure if they lived in the dorm or not...) being SO afraid of the dorm mothers. Even the most daring would turn pale if she was a minute late getting back to the dorm!

We must have had the same nursing school instructors! I remember that well. If you wear gloves, the patients will think that you think they're "dirty." :smilecoffeecup:

I worked at a small long term care home (8 pts). The owner/operator was maybe 50. She thought I was stuck up for wearing gloves :nono: "just to clean up pee":idea: Maybe, I should have given her less attitude considering the stance just a couple of decades ago. But come on-- That's just gross considering STDs, HepC, and God only knows what.

Specializes in MR Peds, geris, psych, DON,ADON,SSD.

My class was the last class to actually "sit and write" boards in Indiana before everything went computerized (i believe) 1993

I was scared to death that we would be the first class to sit for computer boards-I was scared to death of the "c" word (computer)

WOW am I old.

Oh yeah not skeered anymore!!

Specializes in Alzheimer's, Geriatrics, Chem. Dep..
... That's just gross considering STDs, HepC, and God only knows what.

No kidding! And then there was the doo doo under our fingernails... NO THANKS! :nono:

Specializes in Alzheimer's, Geriatrics, Chem. Dep..

I was scared to death that we would be the first class to sit for computer boards-I was scared to death of the "c" word (computer)...

Yeah, I was quite relieved when I heard they had changed over to that kind of testing, and that I had already taken the written and passed. Now I can't stay off the durn computer ...

We spent two days in Cleveland Taking 6 tests. The 6th one, we were told, was a "test test". I took the boards in June, 1977 and learned the results in Sept., 1977. In the meantime while waiting to hear, I worked as a staff nurse at the Cleveland Clinic Hospital, which was a great place to work as a new nurse. We were placed in an "intern nurse" program for 3 months and had mentors which were around to help us. There were plenty of staff back then and you never felt like you were left on your own to do everything.

Specializes in ER,Med-Surg, Corrections, Psych,LTC.

I am just blown away by some of the things you people are mentioning that we still do at our little hospital that have been done for years,of course we are a small "in the sticks" Hospital. but I cant wait to see what the next 10-20 years brings!

Specializes in NICU, ER, OR.
I am just blown away by some of the things you people are mentioning that we still do at our little hospital that have been done for years,of course we are a small "in the sticks" Hospital. but I cant wait to see what the next 10-20 years brings!

Come on, Im curious, like which ones?:lol2:

Specializes in OB/peds (after gen surgery for 3 yrs).

OK, I only read the first two posts in this thread, and my mind is going "You mean we DON'T do that anymore? or that? or that? or that??????" Maybe I would want to go back to bedside nursing....

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