Does anyone else have nursing nightmares while sleeping?

Nurses Stress 101

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I have been having vivid dreams, really nightmares about nursing. It seems some weeks I will have 3 or more and then none for several weeks. I have been a nurse for 37 yrs and within the past year changed jobs to a non patient care field. I continue to work as a nurse, but no hands on care. My dreams almost always take place in the hospital that I worked at for 30 years. Last night my nightmare included smells. I wake up with the covers wrapped around me and usually in a panic. The dreams usually involve a lot of work that isn't getting done. My former co workers are often in the dreams. Does this happen to others? It isn't a big deal, but does bother me and I often feel like I have worked all night in my sleep. Any ideas or suggestions? Is my mind trying to work out something or am I just CRAZY!

Yep!

I one had a dream where I worked a whole shift. That was it. It was truly like I had been working. I was distressed when I woke up because I felt like I had gotten no sleep!

More often, I have dreams where I can't get anything done and I have pts I haven't even seen yet and can't seem to get to.

Then there are the dreams where I discover I have forgotten-- or didn't realize-- I had a pt on my team and I've neglected them the whole shift!

:eek:

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Anxiety dreams related to work are universal. Nurses just have more anxiety to dream about!

Don't think they ever stop, I've been out of the hospital for a few years , a friend retired 10 years ago... and we still have them regularly. Just another nursing perk for us.

Not very often, but I've had them. Hate it when I wake up after one of these because then the idea of going to work is more depressing than usual.

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Not a nurse yet, but worked 11-7 overnight in a hotel for 3 years. Always had dreams I fell asleep at work (never happened, but happened to a couple of coworkers) and woke up at 5 am with my manager standing in front of me. Dreams I forgot to do wake up calls or make breakfast, or the breakfast routine had completely changed and we added an extra fridge. I was darn good at my job, but I still had the anxiety dreams that I forgot something. Once had a dream I left in the middle of the shift to go swimming and came back to both managers (5am again) asking where I'd been. With soaking wet hair I told them I went swimming like it was the most normal thing in the world to leave in the middle of the shift for. Didn't get the nice part of the dream about swimming, just the coming back part. I'm a firm believer we should get paid when we work in our dreams.

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Yep!

I one had a dream where I worked a whole shift. That was it. It was truly like I had been working. I was distressed when I woke up because I felt like I had gotten no sleep!

More often, I have dreams where I can't get anything done and I have pts I haven't even seen yet and can't seem to get to.

Then there are the dreams where I discover I have forgotten-- or didn't realize-- I had a pt on my team and I've neglected them the whole shift!

:eek:

A classic! Been there, dreamed that.

Sweet dreams, doll.

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Specializes in Early Intervention, Nsg. Education.

Oh - hell, no.

Can you imagine having Alz/dementia and being stuck in a work-delusion?

Kill. Me. Now.

LOL

Oh my...

Years ago, I worked nights in a small hospital. The switchboard would shut down between midnight and 0600 and the calls were routed to my floor.

Every morning, around 0400-0500, a very worried elderly lady would call the hospital and ask for "ward five," and then would proceed to tell us that she wasn't feeling well and she couldn't come in to work that morning. Every. Single. Morning.

It turns out that "Nurse Smith" worked at the hospital for around 40 years, retired decades ago, and was living with her daughter. Yep, dementia resulting in a never-ending work delusion. Her daughter used to find her calling the hospital from the kitchen phone and would apologize profusely for her Mom's "disrupting phone calls." Eventually she fell during one of her "call-out trips" to the kitchen phone, and we thought that was it. "Nurse Smith" became extremely agitated and emotional every morning, worried that she wouldn't be showing up to work in the morning. A supervisor who had worked with Nurse Smith in the 70's suggested that she install a phone by her bed so she could "call out sick" and go back to sleep. It worked like a charm. Nurse Smith was able to settle down, and we came to expect her phone calls and reassure her.

Via the supervisor, we learned more about Nurse Smith: her life, her career, her no-nonsense style, her commitment to the hospital and its patients. She was an amazing nurse who had worked in practically every part of the hospital, especially OR and recovery (ward five.). One night we realized that she hadn't "called in" for several nights. Our supervisor learned from Nurse Smith's daughter that she had developed pneumonia and died a few days later, surrounded by her family. We missed her nightly call-ins, which did so much to help decrease her anxiety.

Work delusion? Yep. It would drive me insane, but it seemed to be a source of comfort for Nurse Smith.

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That was so sweet!

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Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.

For years after I left med-surg (and even occasionally now) I would dream that it was near the end of my shift and I had one pt I hadn't even seen yet. And now I don't even know if that pt is still alive. And then I'll say "Oh my gosh, I've had so many dreams like this; I can't believe I actually let it happen!" I'm always so relieved to wake up and realize that it was just another dream.

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Work nightmares are common but once you wake up, you need to verbally remind yourself that it wasn't real, just an illusion. Then go grab a bowl of ice cream and be happy! :D

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I've been having very very disturbing wok related nightmares. I had one today of a pediatric pt grabbing a gun in their crib and shooting themselves via mouth. Horrible dreams like this have been happening more and more. Hope it's just a stage. It's too disturbing. Anyone else have nightmares this horrific?

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Work nightmares are common but once you wake up, you need to verbally remind yourself that it wasn't real, just an illusion. Then go grab a bowl of ice cream and be happy! :D

May have to try this.

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The other night I had a dream I forgot to give all my patients their morning meds and realized at around 1 in the afternoon. The next day at work I was double and triple checking that I got everything done.

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