Things nursing school FAILED to tell us

jesshopper12 · Oct 29, 2005

I have learned...

that the patient having severe left arm/chest pain will not tell you about this pain (while waiting for the scheduled cardiac cath..), but instead let the spouse tell you...and then the dr's will not return your 3-4 pages...and have not written any angina parameters...

that your patient in isolation will need something every 10 minutes

that it pays to smile and laugh (no matter how rough your day is)

if you have a chance to go to lunch early, GO!! You will not get a chance later

no matter how you describe your day to your significant other, they will never understand what your day at work has been like (wouldn't you love to be able to bring them to work for a day?)

you can be waiting all day for the patient to be called to surgery, and when you are THE BUSIEST, they'll call and want them there 15 minutes ago

Enjoy the patients and families that you get along with!! They make your day and nursing experience a better one! Our patients can teach us so much!

FranEMTnurse, CNA, LPN, EMT-I · Oct 31, 2005

I have learned...
that the patient having severe left arm/chest pain will not tell you about this pain (while waiting for the scheduled cardiac cath..), but instead let the spouse tell you...and then the dr's will not return your 3-4 pages...and have not written any angina parameters...
that your patient in isolation will need something every 10 minutes
that it pays to smile and laugh (no matter how rough your day is)
if you have a chance to go to lunch early, GO!! You will not get a chance later
no matter how you describe your day to your significant other, they will never understand what your day at work has been like (wouldn't you love to be able to bring them to work for a day?)
you can be waiting all day for the patient to be called to surgery, and when you are THE BUSIEST, they'll call and want them there 15 minutes ago
Enjoy the patients and families that you get along with!! They make your day and nursing experience a better one! Our patients can teach us so much!

God bless you, Jess. You have gained a lot of wisdom. And yes, no matter what, if you are able to at all, do smile. It will make someone's day a little bit brighter. It may be the only good thing in someone's life that has happened in a long time.

liljsmom02 · Nov 13, 2005

....that a patient can escape with an iv pole still attached, in a johnny, get in their car and attempt to drive to the bank to cash thier check because the doctor would not give them a pass to leave for 15 minutes.

jonamb · Nov 13, 2005

now, even when family has complaints, one of my first questions is "when was your last bm and what was it like - hard, soft, colour?

:rotfl: that is too funny. i do the same thing when one of my kids says that they don't feel good. "do you need to poop?" a good poop cures many ailments. this is usually the response that i get- :uhoh3: :uhoh3: :uhoh3:

gizelda196 · Nov 13, 2005

Timothy

Great Post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks

scrmblr · Nov 15, 2005

How back-biting and nasty nurses can be with one another. How sad and shocking!!! These are people who have the lives of patients in their hands and have to do teamwork at times whether or not they like it. Why not do it in a friendly atmosphere? And an aide who has been there for ever think s/he has authority over a newly hired BSN and can tell him/her how to do his/her job.

I've learned that listening to the aide is a really good idea. Put your ego aside and listen...Sometimes they will teach you things you need to know:rolleyes:

kadokin, ASN, RN · Nov 19, 2005

I've learned that listening to the aide is a really good idea. Put your ego aside and listen...Sometimes they will teach you things you need to know:rolleyes:

Any nurse who hasn't figured this out all ready needs to get a clue, but quick. What particular incident,if any, finally brought you to this realization. Go ahead and share w/us, we love it. Oh, and while you're at it, listen to your pt as well.

HappyJaxRN · Nov 19, 2005

I THINK THAT ALL OF THAT IS NEED TO KNOW INFORMATION. HOW DARE THEY NOT SAY SOMETHING ABOUT THAT STUFF. WHEN I START SCHOOL I WILL HAVE ALL OF THOSE QUESTIONS ANSWERED BEFORE I SET FOOT IN A CLINICAL:rotfl: . BUT MAYBE NOT. I HOPE I NEVER RUN INTO PROJECTILE VOMMITTING OR TOO MUCH POOP.

:chuckle Wishful thinking unless you're going to be a pencil pusher....And er um...you may see a lot of it in school....I know this one girl in my class, she would always get the poop patients....she would be up to her elbows sometimes by what she was describing...and she would go on and on about it for a couple of days...what does she do now as a nurse? You'd never guess........:uhoh21: She works in the GI lab! Hhhmmmm! Must be fate.

psychonurse · Nov 19, 2005

Things I have learned since I got out of nursing school....(let me think it has been soooooooo looonnnggg ago)........

You will have more than 1 or 2 patients when you get out of school. That is all that I had when I was in school..it was a great suprise to me when I got out of school and got my first assignment as a GN.

You will learn that you can eat food no matter how foul the smells were in the last room that you were in before you ate.

You will eat cold Thanksgiving food even though the color of the gravy and the sputum that you are sucking out of their lungs is the same color :rotfl:

cindyRN 2006 · Nov 20, 2005

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Funny.:) :) :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

fusster · Nov 20, 2005

That patients will hide cigarettes in places you'd never guess to look (and may never find), then act completely innocent when you ask them about the smoke coming out of their room

That people have what i'll just call "natural urges" even when they're incredibly ill, and their significant other has no problem satisfying them, even when they're in the hospital

MamaTheNurse, BSN, RN · Nov 20, 2005

that patients will tell me one thing and the doctor something completely different!
that the really ill patients are the ones who never complain
NEVER EVER use the word 'quiet' - its fatal and will result in the shift from hell

true dat!!!

also, as an RN, I've learned more tricks that make mine and my patients' lives easier from old LPN's and PCT's than I can count - for example, hooda thought shaving cream could be used in bath water to keep very smelly patients fragrant or put in styrofoam cups and placed strategically around a room would effectively eliminate that rotten meat smell that only a GI bleed can produce......(while he was in the room, I had a doc ask me why we had the shaving cream in cups around the room - I answered very tactfully, as the patient was alert and oriented (for once in ICU) - "Aromatherapy" ) :p