All You Lefty's Out there....

[Melly1022]

Just out of curiosity, how many of you nurses out there are left handed?

[EmilyCCRN]

I'm left-handed, as well, and I do most things with my dominant hand. I struggle with tying tourniquets and restraints because I've only observed right-handed nurses performing these tasks, but I'll get it down before I graduate in June. :)

I prefer to mouse with my right hand because I can write with my left as I navigate the computer, but it certainly doesn't feel "weird" if I use my mouse left-handed.

Writing backwards and/or upside-down is very easy for me. I wonder if it's a lefty-thing or am I just strange? :rotfl:

[beginagain]

hi - great to hear from other lefties? spelling. As far as nursing goes after 15 years never really had a problem until i became an IV Therapy nurse. It was so funny during the training process - frustrating for those trying to teach me. Had to eventually work only with the one left handed IV nurse who understood me perfectly. Actually was at one point told maybe IV nursing was not for me because of my "left" handed problem. That really made me determined and I became very good at being an IV nurse. The patients really got a kick out of my tactics for starting IVs ie arm positioning but appreciated that even though left handed I was good at my job. Great experience - everyone else saw I had a problem but not me. I just rearranged my environment to my left handed comfort zone. Glad to know there are many others out there. My response to negativism has been that we are considered to be creative people.

[bellanoo]

I'm a lefty and a nursing student:)

[moonchild20002000]

I am a lefty!:)

[Bipley]

Just out of curiosity, how many of you nurses out there are left handed?

Raising proud left hand.

[HONEYBEAR]

lefty here...and proud of it.:)

[Gigglesforall, BSN, RN]

I'm a lefty too! I do a couple things right-handed though...batting and bowling. Sometimes it's just easier to use my right hand when things aren't lefty-friendly, like scissors and knives.

[analee23]

I'm HOPELESSLY left handed! Ohhh man, can't do anything with my right. I play basketball for a local team and they always give me a hard time about not being able to do ANYTHING with my right... well, I can dribble, but shooting/passing... no way!!

[PDX RN]

We do it the right way!

I am so fascinated by commonalities among lefties....

I remember in one of my A&P classes we were talking about the high amount of lefties in healthcare and the professor asked all the lefties to raise their hands...I looked around and the four of us were all sitting at the same table front and center-gave me shivers.

[EricJRN, MSN, RN]

I'm kinda goofy with my handedness.

Write: Left

Hold a fork: Left

Kick a ball: Right

Throw a ball/hold a bat: Right

But here's the really weird one.

Sticking (IV's, phlebotomy, etc): Right

You can imagine how disconcerting it is to a patient when they see me writing something with my left hand, then coming at them with a needle in my right hand a few minutes later.

I've noticed that when I'm doing new procedures (inline suctioning, etc), it takes me a few tries to figure out which hand goes where.

[Roy Fokker, BSN, RN]

I'm kinda goofy with my handedness.

Write: Left

Hold a fork: Left

Kick a ball: Right

Throw a ball/hold a bat: Right

But here's the really weird one.

Sticking (IV's, phlebotomy, etc): Right

You can imagine how disconcerting it is to a patient when they see me writing something with my left hand, then coming at them with a needle in my right hand a few minutes later.

I've noticed that when I'm doing new procedures (inline suctioning, etc), it takes me a few tries to figure out which hand goes where.

Hey, maybe you're like James Garfield!

Man could write Greek with one hand and Latin with the other (allthough he was left handed)

[EricJRN, MSN, RN]

Unfortunately, I'm pretty uncoordinated. Can barely walk and talk at the same time, so I've never been able to use my split-handedness to increase my efficiency. No presidential aspirations either. :)