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

Nurses Humor

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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!

Specializes in Trauma Surgery, Nursing Management.

I text using "C" as well! How funny!

Specializes in Nursing Home and Assisted Living.

I've heard call lights in my sleep and woke up to them.:madface:

Caught myself waking up if BF isn't snoring to make sure he is still breathing.

Still catching myself from answering call lights at places I don't work, and complain when they have been going off for over 5 minutes.:nono:

Recently I was standing at the pharmacy counter waiting for my husband's prescription. The lady next to me was reading the label on her prescription med. She said to the young clerk who was ringing up the sale on the cash register, "It says here Paroxetine...is that the same as Paxil?" Without thinking, because I answer questions like that all the time at work, I said "Yes, it is." Oops--none of my business! Just sheer reeflex.

In answer to the last query about strangest place you have fallen asleep, mine is the ferry dock. After my 12-hr night shifts, I have a half-hour drive to the ferry that takes me to the island where I live; there are times a crew menber has had to come down to the dock and knock on my car window to wake me, or when we get to the island, knock to wake me up to drive off. My husband is always glad to see me in the driveway, as he knows how tired I am after nights and yet have an hour's journey to get home.

Back as a student nurse, when I worked my first night, I then went to the beach with my friends for the day, and then worked the next night, not realizing that somewhere in there I should have slept. I was on Infant Medical and fell asleep in a rocking chair about 0300 with a baby in my arms. I was awakened by the footsteps of the night supervisor, and woke up in a panic, unable to figure out where I was. Then the adrenalin kicked in and I felt so grateful that nothing had happened to the baby. It was then that I realized that I couldn't live the life my friends were living--as a nurse, even a student, you have to sleep. Nobody had ever discussed that with us. It was, literally, a wake-up call and I always took care of my sleep after that.

I will find myself dreaming of call lights going off and will get up to search the house in order to shut them off. Only after I have gone up and down my hall do I wake up enough to realize it was all a dream.

Yes, I admire veins all the time.

Being a flight nurse, we used to wear a radio that toned us out with the same tone that was once featured on a Nextel commercial. So naturally, every time that commercial would come on and those distinctive "beep beeps" would come on and my ears would perk up thinking, "Ooo We are getting called out!"

Whenever my kids would get hurt (a skinned knee, a busted lip) I would assess the damage and give them the appropriate treatment and some love but if they would keep whining, I would respond, "Oh I have seen a lot worse than that so you need to buck up!"

The same thing happens when my hypochondriac family members would call with a snot or a sniffle and ask if they needed to go to the ER. I would always respond, "You aren't dying, I have seen a lot worse than that, and you don't go to the ER unless you are DYING. "

I have used superglue to fix a simple laceration on my son's forehead, all the while he is sitting at the kitchen counter. Why pay for an urgent care visit when $1 tube of Super Glue Gel will do the trick?

Specializes in HOSPICE, GERIACTRICS AND CICU.
I was recently on vacation at the beach, and the house that we were renting did not offer linen service. So I was busy getting all of the linens on the bed for our guests when my best friend walks in and asks me if she could help. I tossed her a few pillows. When she saw that I was turning the pillow cases inside out and then gripping the pillow while turning the pillowcase right side out, she just stopped. She said, "What in the world are you doing? Trying to put on a pillow condom?" I just busted out laughing, and explained to her that in the OR, we could not "shake" linens. She was so impressed with the efficiency of this particular way of changing pillow cases, that she called me from home to tell me that she had adopted the "pillow condom" method!

I am glad to see other people know this method! Its sooo great! You dont have to shake or struggle with the pillow at all! :DMy CNA instructor taught it to us 6 years ago and I have never seen anyone else do it except for myself!

Specializes in hospice, corrections.

Yes, guilty of most. Vein palpation, signing notes for my kids with initials and "RN". My kids laugh at my "pat down" when I don't wear my scrubs and I am looking for my keys, pens, phone. I check hand sanitizers at stores and if they are not at least 62% alcohol I tell the clerks that it isn't effective enough to kill the flu virus and not to rely on it. Boy do I get some strange looks at that one. :clown: Counting pulses. When I give a family member ibuprofen, I pour and count the pills in the cap before I give it to them.

I work 2 jobs, when I was at the prison, I answered the phone "hospice care center..." That freaked one of the officers out.

Specializes in Trauma Surgery, Nursing Management.

Strangest place that I have fallen asleep...well, not so strange, as many of my fellow nurses have done this. In the car. I worked an evening shift through to the night shift, then went to my state disaster training for a full day, then could not sleep through the night due to so much caffeine and great conversation with fellow disaster preparedness folks, then worked another full day of training. At the end of it all, I had been awake for 54 hours. I got home safely, but don't remember how I got home. My husband pulled me out of the car after he saw that I had pulled in, put the e-brake on, and kept the car in idle for what seemed like forever to him. He gallantly carried me up the stairs, took off my training boots and covered me with my favorite blanket. I slept for 2 days straight!

Specializes in LTC, assisted living, home-care.
Strangest place that I have fallen asleep...well, not so strange, as many of my fellow nurses have done this. In the car. I worked an evening shift through to the night shift, then went to my state disaster training for a full day, then could not sleep through the night due to so much caffeine and great conversation with fellow disaster preparedness folks, then worked another full day of training. At the end of it all, I had been awake for 54 hours. I got home safely, but don't remember how I got home. My husband pulled me out of the car after he saw that I had pulled in, put the e-brake on, and kept the car in idle for what seemed like forever to him. He gallantly carried me up the stairs, took off my training boots and covered me with my favorite blanket. I slept for 2 days straight!

Only someone in health care can appreciate the fact, sometimes our bodies just won't go anymore...:redbeathe:dncgb:dncgcpd:by:

Specializes in mental health + aged care.
Whenever my kids would get hurt (a skinned knee, a busted lip) I would assess the damage and give them the appropriate treatment and some love but if they would keep whining, I would respond, "Oh I have seen a lot worse than that so you need to buck up!"

The same thing happens when my hypochondriac family members would call with a snot or a sniffle and ask if they needed to go to the ER. I would always respond, "You aren't dying, I have seen a lot worse than that, and you don't go to the ER unless you are DYING. "

I react similar to that for my DH, only my response (when he's fishing for sympathy) is usually "diddums"

Specializes in psychiatry, geriatrics.
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! I work in telehealth and have been known to answer my home phone with "Hello, My name is Connie. I'm a Registered Nurse. How can I help you?" Must admit, it confuses the heck out of telemarketers.

Specializes in M/S, ICU, ICP.
i was caught admiring a woman's veins at the gym.

i must confess that i am a vein drooler. i can't look at an arm without thinking "i bet i could put 14 g abbc in that one blindfolded. why can't i get patients with veins like that."'''

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