Published
We were subject to random searches on our way out of the building by the 'alcohol pad gestapo.' One nurse got caught with a duragesic patch in her pocket. She swore she'd answered some call lights on her way to put it on the patient, stuck it in her pocket, then forgot about it. Even though her drug screen came up negative for anything, they still fired her. This same hospital would take other nurses that were addicted & put them through rehab. I guess she'd have been better off to say she was addicted, cause she lost her license over that.
yikes! I don't know how I would feel about searches...
I have gone home with alchol pads, tape, bandaids, those little plastic red caps. unused saline flushes, post-it-notes, steri strips. 2X2 gauze. loads of pilfered pens. my pockets just get crammed with anything I may need. most of it gets dumped on my dresser, and shoved back into the next uniform pockets the next morning.
and thats all I'll fess up to publicly!
Yeah, I bet your basket is next to your laundry basket.
For me it is gloves.
Because don't ever, EVER answer a call light without a pair of gloves right there in your pocket. Never know what you're going to get.
Always seem to come home with three gloves in some pocket or other every shift. Useful for emptying kitty litter.
Oh, and once the gloves came in useful for rescuing a wayward toad who was thumping his/her head into my basement window in the window well for well over an hour before I woke up. Could bring myself to rescue said toad, but not without a thin layer of latex between us.
our er didn't have prefilled seringes, so I would get home with bottles of saline, and alcohol wipes. I eventually got a little cute bag that I would put it all into before I left work and leave in my locker. Then I reload my pockets the next morning from that.
An insulin surenge and bottle of saline came in handy when my sinuses were so clogged earlier this month. I drew up saline, took off the needle, then sprayed it up my nose since I didn't have any saline spray in the house. Worked like a charm!
CaLLaCoDe, BSN, RN
1,174 Posts
I must confess to having too much stuff accumulated over time in my junk drawer at home.
Nonetheless my thieving goods have come in handy for home repairs, the feeding of wild birds, and sending silk wrapped packages across state lines during the holidays.
I have the idiotic habit of taking one roll of tape to return and bringing home two. Oh well... there goes my raise!