The allnurses website has been around since 1997, about 23 years.
I've read some posts where members began visiting the site when they were students, which could mean that they now have nearly a quarter of a century experience in the profession.
Other members have been nurses for periods extending 40 years or more and have been members for years, even decades, on allnurses.
All that time set me to thinking: What if we older members had the advantage of allnurses when we got into the field?
What if we could go back even before the time of the internet, and post? What would we say?
I played around with the idea and came up with what my first post might look like:
Here's what I am requesting that you do:
Enter a date, preferably a month and year, and post as you would as if it actually is that month and year.
You may want to give yourself a different user name, fitting your status at that time.
I will be submitting more time travel post myself and really look forward to reading other members' time travel posts!
I just read through my first few posts. They were "OMG, I just got accepted to nursing school". Apparently, my first username was likely my name. ? My expectations were to move and buy a car (neither happened - I literally just bought my first car in November, though I did drive my husband's old car when he got one in '15). But, I don't have decades of experience, not even a full decade yet...
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
June 1978
I graduated from nursing school earlier this month, and today I took my State Boards -- the first half of them anyway. Tomorrow will be another 8 hour day of test taking, and the results will come in 6-8 weeks. Until then, I'll be practicing as a Graduate Nurse. I really hope I'll pass because if I don't, I'll get fired . . . .
I got hired at Midwestern General Hospital, and my head nurse told me I'm the first BSN they've ever hired. Usually, they hire only the diploma nurses from their own program, but my head nurse told me that she wanted to hire me because I had always worked and she knew I'd be a hard worker if I worked 2-3 jobs all through school and still graduated magna cum laude.
The nurses here are talking about going out on strike next month when their contract is up, and I'm scared. I haven't been here long enough to get paid by the union for striking, and I'm still on probation so I could get fired. I have a husband to support! I cannot afford to get fired.
Those older nurses really know their stuff but I'm afraid I seem really, really stupid to them. I don't know half the stuff those diploma graduates know! Their last semester of school, they run charge of the whole unit! Yikes! The charge nurse told me to weigh all of the patients this morning, and I didn't even know how to get a patient out of bed safely. Fortunately the nurse's aides are nice and helpful. I'm learning a lot from them! And t he LPNs are awesome -- I really hope I know as much as they do by this time next year!
Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
8 hours ago, Ruby Vee said:
June 1978
I am 21, have no chains to bind me, and it's a great Summer! My best friend Rad and I are sharing rent on a little house off of Rt. 69 Dude and I see the movie Grease five different times with five different dates.
I've just completed a First Aid course at Larry & Curly Community College in the Spring semester. The instructor is not able to certify us in CPR, so we'll have to go to someplace like the fire department to get certified.
My Dad has been a volunteer fireman since the mid 1960's, so he and I go together to be certified in CPR. Dad and I are partners on Resusci Annie: "and one and two and three and four and five and switch on five next time".
During the mouth to mouth portion, Dad accidentally bites his lip and gets a little blood on Annie's lips!
Going down to Miami, since "I've got no job to worry me, no big bad boss to hurt me..."
I would have liked to have gone back in time and met my great great aunts who were nurses in the early 1900’s. These are pictures of Abigail (on the bottom) and Jessie (top) on their graduation. Jessie graduated in 1910, and I now have her nursing pin she received with her name and the date (I also have my grandmother’s now too).
I believe Abigail graduated around the same time period. The story for her was that she ran away from home at 16 to go to nursing school, and while her step mother approved of her decision to become a nurse, her father didn’t. She went on to become the director of nursing at a small hospital during the Spanish influenza.
Allnurses was one of the first websites I visited regularly when I was getting on the internet about 20 years ago I think. My first name was "3rdshiftguy" if anyone remembers. I remember at one point I had 50,000 posts (which doesn't show now due to upgrades) and it was my favorite community for many years. I have slowed down, and even took a couple of years off, and for a long time spent time on the sister website Allnurses Breakroom and not here. Anyway.....
If it was around when I first got into nursing I would probably have some of the typical new grad "I'm so overwhelmed" "I'm such an idiot" type of posts for sure and I could have used the support.
CalicoKitty, BSN, MSN, RN
1,017 Posts
I just read through my first few posts. They were "OMG, I just got accepted to nursing school". Apparently, my first username was likely my name. ? My expectations were to move and buy a car (neither happened - I literally just bought my first car in November, though I did drive my husband's old car when he got one in '15). But, I don't have decades of experience, not even a full decade yet...