Disturbing dreams....am I going insane? (not requesting medical advice)

[Spritenurse1210, BSN, RN]

Monday while I was sleeping (I work night shift, so I sleep during the day, yeah I know: DUH) I had a dream about one of my residents. she was standing in front of me, and talking to me wearing all white. I don't remember what she said, but she was smiling while she was talking (this is person has aphasia, in a wheelchair, advanced Alzheimer's and has been really sick lately). Am I going crazy? This isnt the first time I've had dreams about my residents. One dream I was sitting next to this same resident and she kept reaching to me. the other dream was about a different resident in a Gerichair, again aphasic, just sitting there, and all of a sudden blood came pouring out of every bodily opening she had! Please tell me I'm not losing my mind. Does anyone else have dreams like this?

[heron, ASN, RN]

Of course not! There are a lot of theories about why we dream the way we do. Mine is that dreams are part of the process our brains go through to integrate experiences, events and feelings from waking life. They feel crazy because they are not rational ... they come from some place other than logical thought.

If your dreams leave you feeling depressed, scared or otherwise uncomfortable, the best idea is to find someone supportive to talk to about them.

[leslie :-D]

i never understand dreams, but do know they have a critical function.

if your pts seem ok or > (in your dreams), then i wouldn't let it concern me too much.

but the one who was bleeding out of every orifice?

i don't know what to tell you...

check her inr? (if applicable)

anyways, our conscious and subconscious 'issues' are manifested in our dreams.

if it ever gets to the point where it's disturbing your sleep and/or your psych, time to see your pcp.

hope it works out for you, jess.

and pleasant dreams.

leslie

[nebrgirl]

When I work overnights I have real wacked out dreams too, probably just remembering them more because the quality of day time sleep doesn't seem as good...might have something to do with the overdose of caffine I took to stay awake all night. But dreams are just dreams, be they scary or great.

nebrgirl

[HappyBunnyNurse]

When I first started NICU I had this reoccuring dream that I was caring for a baby in a Giraffe (humidified isolette). Only instead of a human baby it was a baby mermaid and instead of sterile water I was adding normal saline. My little mermaid was swimming around her isolette with her lines attached. I think I had this dream because my preceptor cautioned me to always double check the sterile water bottles because they look just like the normal saline. You just never know what subconscious worries are gonna show up in your dreams.

[nerdtonurse?, BSN, RN]

I have nightmares, always have; I think it's part of having sleep apnea. Even with the CPAP, I probably get just hypoxic enough to trigger fear, and therefore nightmares. I had one where a pt that was a psycho got his family to sneak him in a gun and shoot up the place...I dreamed running and slipping on blood, and trying to find my friends and only hearing screams. I was so freaked out I had to call work and make sure they were all okay before I could go back to sleep.

[nursel56]

Funny title "am I going insane? (not requesting medical advice)

Almost as funny as "is it normal to hate nursing?" :chuckle

[UM Review RN, ASN, RN]

I used to have pretty weird dreams when I worked nights. I was taught from a very early age to recall my dreams and figure out what the symbolism meant.

Most of the time, I was recalling vivid dreams because I was deeply asleep and something woke me up just enough to remember the dream.

(And a couple of people found out that I sometimes have rather violent dreams, such as the time someone woke me up only to have to dodge a haymaker coming from my very excellent dream of decking my first husband. )

Other times I'd remember a dream and know that it meant something important. If I felt it meant something, I'd go look up the main ideas of the dream on http://www.dreammoods.com/ . Apparently there are some things the conscious mind won't accept, so those ideas will bubble to the surface in a dream.

Just my opinion. Not medical advice.

[wonderbee, BSN, RN]

OMG yes! I often have disturbing dreams. I work in psych and see behaviors I can't even talk about at home they're so bizarre and often threatening. My dreams don't stick with me for long. I usually talk with someone about them and then pretty much forget them. Sometimes reality is just as weird as the dreams.

At the beginning of my nursing career and while in nursing school, the dreams were more vivid and frequent. Stress looking for an outlet.