Do you dream about work?

sistrmoon, BSN, RN · Oct 6, 2014

Yes. Oddly enough though, it's usually romantic dreams about coworkers rather than stress dreams. I try not to psychoanalyze that too deeply:)

Cricket183, BSN, RN · Oct 7, 2014

I had a dream about nursing just last night. Very strange because I have not worked as a nurse in 6 1/2 years (currently on disability). I have been looking into the possibility of returning to nursing though, so maybe that is what brought it on.

When I was still working as a RN, I frequently had work-related dreams. Most of the time it would be after a particularly stressful shift and usually was about being assigned a patient and not realizing it until the end of my shift or being assigned a patient and not being able to find their room. I worked oncology and a few times I had dreams about specific, long term patients after they had passed.

Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN · Oct 7, 2014

Occasionally I dream about work and/or coworkers.

bell1962 · Oct 7, 2014

Very rarely do I dream about work. Recently I did dream I was out of work for one day and when I came back no one had given any of the kids their meds when I was off ( I work in a school). they also never called the parents to let them know the kids didn't get their meds. Weird

anon456, BSN, RN · Oct 7, 2014

I have had a dream several times where I forget about a patient all night. This is because I usually do 2:1 or 3:1 but occasionally I get 4 patients. I have never forgotten about a patient but I guess my mind is worried about that.

I also have had a dream where I had a patient who needed frequent suctioning and other things all night long and could not see my other patients. I would call for help and also was missing supplies, and no one helped me, even though they could see me, they could not hear me and it was like I wasn't there. This is so the opposite of my unit. We are very helpful to each other.

heartnursing · Oct 7, 2014

I always dream about work and its never good dreams -- usually me running around frantic, death or some other horrible situation. Or I wake in the night hearing alarms and that's the worst!!

One dream off hand was that I forgot to feed a baby ( I am a NICU nurse... woke up feeling horrible and sick at that mistake) :grumpy:

I do love my job and profession though :)

brownbook · Oct 7, 2014

I don't always remember what I dream about...but for some reason I seem to always remember if it is a work dream. It is always a frustrating disaster type of dream even though I enjoy my job?

Psychosocialist · Oct 7, 2014

Just had my first, funny, no stress. But I don't bottle.

Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN · Oct 7, 2014

I have the one where I'm hours late for a shift, or I've forgotten about a patient all shift a lot.

Last night, just after giving report to the oncoming RN my pt self-extubated. (She had been trying VERY hard to do it all day long. She finally succeeded.) It was messy...her mouth was full of secretions and even after suctioning the visible ones it was difficult to bag her b/c she was fighting it so much. She very quickly turned purple and she had to be emergently re-intubated. This morning I'd woken up and fallen back asleep, then REALLY woke up when I heard the desat/tachy alarms on the monitor and the low pressure alarm on the vent. :nailbiting: I heard the alarms and flew out of bed...then realized I was dreaming.

TraumaORnurse · Oct 7, 2014

I frequent have work related dreams. I work trauma surgery and last year when I was off after having surgery, I had nightly dreams of traumas. My surgeon (also one of my trauma surgeons) thought I was nuts but let me go back to work before my dreams became his reality.

Also had a dream of a bad Peds trauma...we don't do Peds trauma at my hospital. Scarily, that dream became a reality 15 months later. Different surgeons, but otherwise everything was the exact same. I think my team wanted to have me committed when I said "OMG, I had a dream about it!"

cancer.sucks · Oct 7, 2014

I rarely dream about work. However, in the early years of my career I had to carefully choose an alarm clock that would wake me up, but that did not sound like any of the alarms at work. If my clock alarm sounded remotely like any alarm at work I would either sleep through it and it would creep into my dreams or I would awaken in a panic. Of course I am referring to the days before the cell phone alarms that have so many choices.