Nursing Superstitions!

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I thought this would be a fun topic since nurses are the most superstitious people in the world!

I believe that disaster will strike if someone says the "Q" word. I even cringe if a patient says it.

I also never bring a book or magazine to read because I think it will be a slow day. That's a sure way to guarantee a code or a ton of admissions! :D

O.K. maybe I'm a little weird. :p

I didn't want to let it hang with 13 being the final post number. Going to the mental hospital as nurses in training, we always said hi to the throg under the Trogs Neck bridge in NYC,crazy-maybe.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, ICU, Cardiac ICU.

I had someone from administration on my floor on Friday who said the Q word. She acted all offended when about 5 people in earshot suddenly turned on her and told her never to say that word again! I had to take her to my office and calm her down. Needless to say, she'd never been a nurse. :rolleyes:

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Ok-

Maybe I should learn my lesson after last night! I usually never say the Q word or say a PIA pt name but last night our ICU was so Q and I said it, but I knocked on wood after the RT's yelled at me. Well they were looking for me later! The admissions started rolling in....and then a code! They were still after me this morning when I was leaving! (I work on a different floor). THEN...I say that PIA pt's name and my friend comes and tells me that they just got admitted to the PICU! I almost fell over...so then they were on me for that too. I think I've learned to just shut my mouth from now on! The nurses and RT's in the PICU will never let me live this down! I can only wait til the PIA pt get's transferred to my floor! Guess that's payback in itself!

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There are certain pt names you don't mention or they show up and we tell the nurse that said it, that is their assignment. The other is - staffing is looking good for the next shift and if you call the ER to check what is down there, you will get hit with 3-5 admissions. (Even though all day they have said no it is quiet and the NAC has said no, you won't get what is there.) Then they call report and those patients have been there for 3-5 hours ( never fails at change of shift they have 2-5 for your unit)

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"Q" and "S" words are banned. As are names of frequent fliers.

I've worked in units that had rooms 1-12 and 14+... One ICU avoided room 23 at all costs- you could have a 19 year old appendectomy floor boarder patient in there and he'd go into AFib or VT. Another hospital has 3 ICU's- there is a room 866 and a 766 but 6th floor skips from 665 to 667.

I NEVER take a bag of Levo/Dopa/Neo etc out of a room... The patient could be doing cartwheels in the halls, the bags stay in the room (hidden or marked as outdated- NOT expired) until they transfer.

I KNOW if I work with a certain nurse, somebody's gonna code...

Nah- nurses aren't superstitious at all!

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Specializes in ER.

We also have staff in the ER known as S#@$ magnets. The wrong combination of PA and nurses can turn a perfectly slow Tues into a full moon Saturday.

When the ambulance dispatch phone rings all within hearing chant "wrong number, wrong number, wrong number" before allowing it to be picked up. (works, I swear!)

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Do we all work at the same hospital???We used to listen to a scanner in an ICU where I used to work and when we heard that the medics were picking up a chest pain or potential vent patient in the area, we also prepared a room, balanced the bed scale, etc.Worked every time.....Anybody here ever worked at Haywood County Hospital in Clyde,NC? Thats where I worked ICU.Great Topic.

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Quote

I KNOW if I work with a certain nurse, somebody's gonna code...

How do you think I got my nickname!

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We never use the "Q" word the "S" work either, and if someone says the name of the PIA they get them when they come. We also have a girl that when she is on we just push the code cart over to her section,,,that way we may be able to ward off the codes that always follow her around. I wont even let her go into one of my patients rooms, if it is a real sickie......no way.

ON the bright side we have one nurses that whenever she is on....it is very "Q" almost everytime. :)

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When I was a unit secretary, everytime I worked with this one charge nurse, we ALWAYS had a post-partum hemorrhage! (I just got used to taking out the PPH box when I saw her name). And why is it that on a GYN floor when it is Q**** on Sundays, admitting calls up a chronic PID patient at 2230? Never Fails... :rolleyes:

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Allright, I think we all do work at the same place :D . I thought the Q word was only at our institution, now I find it is universal!

We also never say the names of PIA's unless we know they are dead. And one of our 3-11 supervisors has a reputation for being on on those nights from He** that we all know about. I happenened to mention the other night that we weren't giving any of the "red" stuff that night for a change and yep, you guessed it, shortly afterward got a call that a pt with Anemia was coming up, for 3 units of blood! If a bed has been turned down and the pt goes elsewhere, we do not pull the sheets up as that is sure to induce an admission to the same room, never fails!

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The same for us all the usual superstitous behaviors and another one is, several years ago, a patient in our unit got one of those "walking Tweety Bird Balloons" the big ones that move with the currents of air, Well it ended up in another patients room after it's patient died,and they died too, Then everwhere that balloon showed up someone died,,,,,it was like a horror film! We have never looked at those balloons quite the same since then...and we shudder when one comes in as a gift for a patient! :eek: :eek: :eek: imaRN

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