Confess! Whats the craziest force of habit you've done in the "Real World"

[vhern246]

I have heard some of the craziest things nurses have done out of force of habit in the "Real World". Aka out of the hospital.

I've heard that some sign their checks with first initial, last name RN.

Someone ran to aisle four in the grocery store because of a "code blue! clean up! Code blue!"

Knocking on the door before entering, any door, your front door.

Answering your cell phone "Nurses station"

Admiring someones veins.

Holding your invisible steth when leaning over.

Wheres the weirdest place you've fallen asleep?

Confess!

[mushrooms4]

I play with my boyfriend's veins all the time. Don't even realise I am doing it. I also fell asleep on the toilet at work one day (In my defense, I was new to night shift and having a hard time resting enuf during the day because I had a toddler at home.)

[mushrooms4]

Oh yeah, I forgot the lotion thing, I buy lotion every time I go to the store. Can't get enuf of it. I have 5 bottles on my bedside table. 3 in my purse. 4 in my car. I am a nut, but there are many like me.

[nursejess2007]

I sat up in the middle of the night yelling to my husband "we need to take him for a stat CT!"

My husband not in a medical profession was like "what the heck are you talking about?"

[Acrylic]

I have a habit of randomly stroking my left boob when I want to know the time, assuming my fob watch will be there.......

[RescueNinja]

I too am guilty of everything that has been mentioned. Especially signing "R Ninja RN" or "...R~" when I notice lol.

I also wake up in search of call bells, vent alarms, and cardiac monitors. One time I was on the couch "just resting my eyes" after a 12 hr day and my oven timer went off and I asked hubby to just go silence the IV pump and I'd be there in a second to change the bag!

I often wake up and notice the time and then have a mini MI trying to figure out if it's AM/PM and desperately checking to make sure work hasn't called wondering why I didn't show up for a shift.

I also monitor my furbabies' intake and output and their BMs. I ask hubby about his BMs, but he's an aide so he knows lol.

I'm a vein-gawker too.

I'm also one of those "mean" aunts that thinks it isn't serious unless there's bone or brain sticking out.

I am constantly grabbing myself in public too when looking for keys, pens, gum, etc.

[manjaNurse]

When my infant had his routine immunisation injection, I was holding him and explaining to him what the nurse is doing and what will happen next. The nurse looked at me and asked, 'Are you a nurse too? I've never heard any parent explaining an injection'.

[Libitina]

Yup, Yup, Yup. (Except I work Med Tele!)

My Dad told me to not talk during HOUSE today b/c I was trying to diagnose the prob with House & team. So I stopped verbalizing it & just had the conversation with them in my head.

I'm sure House & Co could have benefited from my input!

I have been told not to do this too. Kinda spoils the whole programme when I've diagnosed them 10 mins in

[Signorina, RN]

Last week, i wanted to wash out rice that was preboiled in hot water! I figured i couldn't dip my hands into the hot water, I absentmindedly went into my room, put on a pair of latex gloves. As I was about to dip my gloved hands into the hot water, it struck me that Gloves are for universal precaution, not protection from Burnt!!

[kool-aide, RN]

Here's my list:

1: I am usually checking my "phantom pockets" for my regular nursing supplies (ie: tape, pens, scissors, etc) and then I realize I'm not wearing my scrubs. haha

2: At my hospital, we sign onto our computer charting by tapping our badges to a sensor attached to the computer... so I did this at school the other day. I reached for where my badge would have been and then realized what I had done... and then I proceeded to log into the computer manually with my work ID. I'm glad no one noticed.

3: I often catch myself thinking that I need to chart my own BMs

4: I almost "called a code" on a fellow Anytime Fitness club member who after spending 30 mins on the treadmill seemed to be having an MI. lol (she was fine. lol) Luckily, I was with one of my RN friends so I had backup! haha

5: I often try to guess my voided output.

I'm sure there's many more.. lol

[hikernurse]

I work in a locked unit and when I encounter a closed door in real life (at home or an elevator, even) I'll reach up for my badge to scan it open. When I'm really deep in thought I find myself irritated that my badge isn't there and I'll have to call someone to let me in :).

When I am looking at friend's/family member's babies for the first time I find myself giving them as thorough an assessment as I can without a stethoscope. I'm pretty good--often (I hope) people don't realize what I'm doing . I do stop myself before checking femoral pulses, however .

When I'm rubbing my children's heads (well beyond neonate age) I still find myself absentmindedly trying to assess their fontanels and sutures.

I find myself avoiding people who look like they might collapse because while I'm pretty good at CPR, I'm not sure how effective my two-thumb method would be on a patient who weighs more than three or four kilos...

[Loreta]

Just like all of you....guilty as charged.

I have been caught countless times admiring people veins, and in more than one occasion actually grabing their arm and feeling them........

I have ran and being the first responder to a couple of k-mart code in aisle 3 or 7..........just to find out that it was a broken ketchup bottle and a defective garden chair.....

I also pat myself looking for my pen or my keys.........

I had swiped my Id at the ATM so many times.................

And needless to say, I also had answered my phone with: thankyou for calling xyz hospital, xyz unit, this is loreta how may I help you?????

Yeah........it just go to show that we just don't work as nurses, we ARE nurses

Talk about nursing is 24/7 LOL!!!!!!!!

:heartbeat:redbeathe:redpinkhe

[Elvish, BSN, DNP, RN, NP]

I have a really hard time restraining myself from asking my real-world friends who've just had babies about: if they had a perineal tear, if their nipples are sore, what their bleeding is like, what the baby's void/stool output is, and I may or may not have assessed a few newborns myself as hikernurse described above.