Nurses: How often do you...

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I'm a nursing student and I'm starting in the Fall... I just have a few questions about being a nurse.

1-How often do you actually see people die? And share your experiences with that if you will please.

2- What kinds of diseases and sicknesses do your patients have? You can just name a certain few that you see most often.

3-Are most patients friendly to you?

4- What's the grossest thing you have to deal with being a nurse?

5- What are the most comfortable scrubs and shoes?

In case I don't reply to all of the comments, I want to thank you for your time and effort to answer these questions... I appreciate it very, very much. I'm sure all answers will be super helpful so thank you! God Bless!

Ella26, BSN, RN

426 Posts

Specializes in Allergy and Immunology.

1-How often do you actually see people die? And share your experiences with that if you will please.

I have not been a nurse in the hospital or at a nursing home, so I have not seen anyone die yet. I am scared frankly. I did work at a Detox facility and our patients were sometimes really sick, they would have multiple seizures and we would call 911 and send them to the ER down the street. I currently work in a clinic and while people come in pretty sick, with breathing problems and should have gone to the ER before coming to us; I have yet to see someone die-not that I really want to either. I would think it may occur more if you work in Long Term Care, Hospice, or ICU/ER/Trauma.

2- What kinds of diseases and sicknesses do your patients have? You can just name a certain few that you see most often.

I work in Allergy and Asthma currently so I see Asthma, COPD, Bronchitis, Pneumonia; also allergies to many things.-foods, meds, chemical. And of course these patients also have other comorbidities such as diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, thyroid diseases. I guess it depends on what dept you work in. If you work at a hospital in Med/Surg you will see alot of different diagnosis.

3-Are most patients friendly to you?

Yes most patients are friendly. But again it may depend on where you work. When I worked at Detox the patients were highly intoxicated and would try to assault us, or spit on us-they were abusive patients. If they are really sick they may not be as nice because they may be in alot of pain or not feel very well. But for the most part patients are very nice.

4- What's the grossest thing you have to deal with being a nurse?

It depends on what your personal definition of what you think is gross. I personally have an aversion to feet. So working in Long Term Care and mabe having to do foot care on someone makes me gag and vomit. Where as I had to clean up vomit on the floor in my clinic because someone was really sick. My coworkers had an aversion to vomitus. They said if they had to clean up the vomit they would vomit and there would be more to clean up. Also wounds- like stage 4 pressure ulcers and burns can be really unsightly and smelly. As well as cleaning up someone with C-Diff (did that when I was a CNA).

5- What are the most comfortable scrubs and shoes?

I wear a really good pair of tennis shoes-like cross trainers for days when Im running a marathon (i.e. really busy at the clinic). Also I like to take 30 min walks on my breaks. On other days when it is quiet, I wear the Dansko's they are pretty comfortable. I like all different kinds of scrubs, like the Cherokee workwear, Grey's Anatomy to name a few. Hope all this helps.

CrazyGoonRN

426 Posts

I'm a nursing student and I'm starting in the Fall... I just have a few questions about being a nurse.

1-How often do you actually see people die? And share your experiences with that if you will please.

2- What kinds of diseases and sicknesses do your patients have? You can just name a certain few that you see most often.

3-Are most patients friendly to you?

4- What's the grossest thing you have to deal with being a nurse?

5- What are the most comfortable scrubs and shoes?

In case I don't reply to all of the comments, I want to thank you for your time and effort to answer these questions... I appreciate it very, very much. I'm sure all answers will be super helpful so thank you! God Bless!

1- In the 2 years that I have worked as a nurse I have only witnessed 1 death. This patient was a DNR so no CPR. I have only worked in Long term care/rehab so far. I think this will vary greatly depending on the setting you work in. I am in an RN program right now and during my clinical in the ICU I did post-mortem care on a patient about 30 min after death.

2- some of the most common things I see are respiratory distress, pneumonia, UTI 's, dementia, and sepsis

3- yes most patients are friendly to me. Some are more difficult than others but you will learn how to deal with them. And you learn not to let the mean/rude ones bother you.

4- grossest thing?? Humm... Snot really grosses me out and BM but its different for everyone. One time I entered a room and a dementia patient was laying in bed with poop smeared all over her and her gown. I was so thankful that I didn't have to clean it up, but I would have if there would have been no one else.

5- Grey's anatomy & NrG are pretty comfortable. I also love Wink four stretch scrubs. I don't like KOI because the ones I have had stain easily. For shoes I have tried several kinds. The most comfortable for me have been Mizuno athletic shoes. The down side is the mesh on top that things can leak through ( like urine, yeah I'v had that happen). But honestly I don't spill things on my shoes that often. My second favorite is Brooks athletic shoes. I cannot wear danskos they are comfortable everywhere except the arch for me. I wore them for a 12 hour shift and my arch hurt for the next 2 days. Oh I do recommend graduated compression socks. They are on the expensive side but your legs and feet will not be as sore if you wear them. They are also good in varicose vein prevention.

%63theend

400 Posts

Specializes in ER.

How often do I see people die? I worked 6 months med surge before moving on to the health dpt. Always call rapid response at first sign of distress and hopefully you won't see a death but instead a transfer to ICU. I didn't see any deaths.

In the hospital I saw a lot of syncope, dehydration, ams, chest pain, abdominal pain, this varies by unit tho.

PTs friendly? About half and half on my old unit.

Grossest thing? Lots of poop stories, too many to count! Lots of MRSA wounds.

Best nursing gear? Grey's Anatomy scrubs and Landau shoes

Caffeine_IV

1,198 Posts

Specializes in LTC, med/surg, hospice.
I'm a nursing student and I'm starting in the Fall... I just have a few questions about being a nurse.

1-How often do you actually see people die? And share your experiences with that if you will please.

2- What kinds of diseases and sicknesses do your patients have? You can just name a certain few that you see most often.

3-Are most patients friendly to you?

4- What's the grossest thing you have to deal with being a nurse?

5- What are the most comfortable scrubs and shoes?

In case I don't reply to all of the comments, I want to thank you for your time and effort to answer these questions... I appreciate it very, very much. I'm sure all answers will be super helpful so thank you! God Bless!

1. I work inpt hospice so I see people die daily. Sometimes 2 or more. Too many experiences to tell but most are peaceful. When I was a hospital nurse. I would have maybe 1 death a month.

2. Common diagnosis for my hospital pt would be pain, uti, fever, resp failure, chf exacerbation, altered mental status.

3. More patients are friendly than not friendly but the mean, demanding ones are easier to remember.

4. Everyone has different things that gross them out. I hate phlegm, trachs and that sort of thing. An incontinent patient doing a colon prep can be quite messy.

5. Greys anatomy scrubs are comfy. Shoes..varies.

TopsDrop, RN

47 Posts

Specializes in Cardiopulmonary Stepdown/Cath Lab, ICU.

Having been an RN for a year in a hospital, plus an LPN for another year in LTC

1-How often do you actually see people die? And share your experiences with that if you will please.

In the LTC facility I worked it was typical to have 3-4 deaths a year. In the hospital I have had 1 patient die, they were a DNR and had been doing poorly, family was working on hospice, so it wasn't unexpected. Hardest part is talking to the family. Second part is filling out all the paperwork associated with it. Deaths were much harder on me personally in LTC because you worked with residents each and every day and had more of a relationship to them. Post-Mortem care is like care on a totally dependent patient.

2- What kinds of diseases and sicknesses do your patients have? You can just name a certain few that you see most often.

I work on a cardiopulmonary stepdown/tele floor. We have a lot of CHF and COPD exacerbation's, new cardiac dysrhythmias, NSTEMI's, pneumonia, a lot of new strokes/stroke sx, go through spurts where we get a lot of ETOH, renal failure. Almost everyone has a list of issues.

3-Are most patients friendly to you?

Most patient's are friendly, I'd say 1 out of every 6 is difficult/rude. Seems like more because you tend to remember the rude ones more than the nice ones sadly as stated above.

4- What's the grossest thing you have to deal with being a nurse?

As stated above, this is different for everyone based on their own version of gross. I have a problem with witnessing someone throw up, makes me want to throw up. Not sure why, its not that it is really gross. BM's are just part of the job at this point, however sometimes the smell is unreal. Have seen some pretty nasty wounds, but they tend to fascinate me more than gross me out, I just can't believe they get to the point they are

5- What are the most comfortable scrubs and shoes?

Being a male I can't really help you out on the scrubs as you have tons of options, and men's brands slightly differ. I really like a good pair of athletic/training shoes. Love my Under Armour shoes, but they seem to be hard to find sometimes.

loriangel14, RN

6,931 Posts

Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.
I'm a nursing student and I'm starting in the Fall... I just have a few questions about being a nurse.

1-How often do you actually see people die? And share your experiences with that if you will please.

Usually at least 1-2 a week.Just recently my floor had had about 14 deaths in 3 weeks.I work in a hospital and my floor takes a lot of palliative patients.

2- What kinds of diseases and sicknesses do your patients have? You can just name a certain few that you see most often.

I see lots of cancer. We are also a rehab floor so lots of repaired broken hips. We get strokes and sometimes car accident victims.We also get CHF, COPD patients and confused elderlies that cannot cope at home. They stay with us until they get a nursing home bed.

3-Are most patients friendly to you?

Mostly. I deal with a lot of confused patients so some are a handful to deal with.

4- What's the grossest thing you have to deal with being a nurse?

The worst I have seen is huge necrotic wounds with lots of exudate.

5- What are the most comfortable scrubs and shoes?

I wear New Balance shoes.

In case I don't reply to all of the comments, I want to thank you for your time and effort to answer these questions... I appreciate it very, very much. I'm sure all answers will be super helpful so thank you! God Bless!

I hope this helps. A lot of the answers to your questions will depend on where you are working.

Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN

4 Articles; 7,907 Posts

Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

I work in psych.

1-How often do you actually see people die? And share your experiences with that if you will please.

Never seen an actual death, but seen several suicide attempts of varying degrees. I deal with at least one suicidal patient a week, if not every shift.

2- What kinds of diseases and sicknesses do your patients have? You can just name a certain few that you see most often.

Major depressive disorder, substance abuse, personality disorders (antisocial, borderline, schizoid are the top three), paranoid schizophrenia, bipolar disorder.

Medical comorbidities include HTN, diabetes, Hepatitis C, COPD/asthma, various liver dysfunctions, injuries from self-harming.

3-Are most patients friendly to you?

Actually...yes. Most are friendly or at least pleasantly neutral.

But when they're not friendly, they're REALLY not.

4- What's the grossest thing you have to deal with being a nurse?

Let me say that while I may not encounter as much blood, poop and body fluids as a medical nurse, when I do encounter them they are in new and creative ways.

5- What are the most comfortable scrubs and shoes?

I like Cherokee scrub tops. Bottoms, I get from Cherokee or I use the WalMart brand...though most of the time I can wear jeans if I choose. I wear Saucony sneakers. I second the suggestion of compression stockings: even mild compression ones can help considerably.

Specializes in Orthopedic, LTC, STR, Med-Surg, Tele.

1-How often do you actually see people die? And share your experiences with that if you will please.

I haven't ever actually seen a patient die. I have found one patient dead (they were on hospice so it was expected) and another who was also on hospice whose daughter was there. In each time I thought it was so unusual to auscultate a chest and not hear breath sounds or a heartbeat.

2- What kinds of diseases and sicknesses do your patients have? You can just name a certain few that you see most often.

Very common things on my floor are diabetes, HTN, and arthritis. Most of my patients are having elective joint surgery and are generally in decent health.

3-Are most patients friendly to you?

Yes. There are some notable exceptions but most people are there after an elective surgery and are active participants in their care.

4- What's the grossest thing you have to deal with being a nurse?

Either a really horrible lower GI bleed or pus being expressed out of a wound. Yuck!

5- What are the most comfortable scrubs and shoes?

I like the cut of Grey's Anatomy tops, I think they are very flattering. I wear Danskos but some people don't like them.

sbostonRN

517 Posts

Specializes in Med/Surg, Rehab.

1-How often do you actually see people die? And share your experiences with that if you will please.

I've seen two people die, and have had to pronounce a few others. When I worked in a SNF, all of them were on hospice/DNR so it was very peaceful and expected. It was an honor to be part of their life at the end, and be able to provide them with morphine/ativan to help them pass peacefully. I did code a patient in the ER when I was in school and that was not peaceful or expected. We coded her for a half hour and my arms hurt for 3 days.

2- What kinds of diseases and sicknesses do your patients have? You can just name a certain few that you see most often.

I work in a LTAC and we see it all! Mostly chronic diseases! diabetes, COPD, CHF,HTN, chronic wounds, dementia, hip/knee replacements, strokes, altered mental status, s/p cardiac surgery (valve replacements, pacemakers), respiratory failure, dialysis/renal failure. To be admitted to our facility you have to meet criteria, so most of them have tons of co-morbidities.

3-Are most patients friendly to you?

Yes, most of them are. If they're not, usually I can get to the bottom of it. Sometimes they just want control over their environment. Sometimes they don't want to be lied to (especially if they've been told "I'll be right back" and the nurse never comes back). Sometimes they are just cranky people and when people are sick, they get crankier.

4- What's the grossest thing you have to deal with being a nurse?

Most things don't gross me out. I love huge wounds. Incontinence doesn't bother me too much, because I know it's usually worse/more embarrassing for the patient than it is for me. Sputum and trachs sort of gross me out but I deal with it often. If I had a situation like CrazyGoonLPN where my patient smeared stool all over the place, I would be totally grossed out though. I also hate it when people have food all over their face, like babies. Don't know why but I can't watch my nieces/nephews being fed because of this.

5- What are the most comfortable scrubs and shoes?

I love Dansko clogs, and have 4 pairs. Wonderwink mink scrub tops and Cherokee unisex bottoms. You really have to shop around and find out what fits your body. I've tried buttersoft scrubs but they are too low-rise for me, and Grey's Anatomy are too slim fit for my body. I like the unisex pants because they're straight leg and for some reason fit my curvy body perfectly. Women's/junior's pants are always too low-cut.

KelRN215, BSN, RN

1 Article; 7,349 Posts

Specializes in Pedi.
I'm a nursing student and I'm starting in the Fall... I just have a few questions about being a nurse.

1-How often do you actually see people die? And share your experiences with that if you will please.

In my current job never. Working in the hospital, I would guess our average was 1-2/month though they usually came in waves so we wouldn't actually have 1-2 patients die every month. We'd have three, four die over the course of a week and then could go months without a death. We sometimes had one child dying in our hospice room and another waiting to move into it as soon as the first one did die.

2- What kinds of diseases and sicknesses do your patients have? You can just name a certain few that you see most often.

Primarily pediatric cancer. Leukemia, lymphoma, brain tumors, neuroblastoma, osteosarcoma, Ewing's sarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma. Get lots of other things too- various infections that require home IV antibiotics, various congenital anomalies like congenital heart disease and various chronic conditions that need to be treated with maintenance IM or subq medications that parents are unable to safely administer.

3-Are most patients friendly to you?

Mine are, unless the reason I am at their house involves a needle.

4- What's the grossest thing you have to deal with being a nurse?

Meh, not too much grosses me out these days. I did once witness a patient eating her own poop.

5- What are the most comfortable scrubs and shoes?

In case I don't reply to all of the comments, I want to thank you for your time and effort to answer these questions... I appreciate it very, very much. I'm sure all answers will be super helpful so thank you! God Bless!

I tend to just wear sneakers. When I worked in the hospital, I wore crocs and left them in my locker because I didn't want the stuff the shoes came in contact with there to follow me to my house. I haven't bought scrubs in years, I just wear my old hospital ones.

Specializes in Cardiology.

1. In a year in intermediate care cardiac tele, never, if you don't count when we code them and bring them back long enough to transfer to the unit.

2. I primarily see ACS/MI, dysrhythmias, CHF and CVA/TIA. Tons of comorbidities, mainly HTN, DMII, COPD, dementia, but really we get just about everything. If you come to the hospital for ANYTHING and also mention pain anywhere from shoulder to belly button, you get a cardiac work up (slight exaggeration, but not far off. Not long ago, we had a postpartum and her newborn and we all had no clue what to do with that fundus!)

3. Most pts are nice. The combative confused are a treat....

4. Bad smells- stool, unwashed pts, rotting teeth... Probably the grossest thing I've ever had to face was foley placement on a sweet LOL...who was loaded with venereal warts. Gag. I covered that pic in my micro book with a Post-it so I wouldn't have to see it. People with dementia can be problematic, too. One of my coworkers had a pt who put stool in a cup and sent it to the kitchen on his tray.

5. I love Koi scrub pants (Lindsay, talls.). Shirt- I'm not as fussy about these, as long as the pockets are good. I always take a cardigan, though, because it can get cold. I wore Skechers clog sneakers until I ruined them, then finally gave in and wore the Danskos I thought I hated. I love them now. I also wear Sanita clogs, though they are narrower and the instep isn't quite as high so the are less comfortable for my high instep.

Best of luck to you- interesting mix of questions.

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