Nursing nightmares.

[Been there,done that]

35 years of experience and retired for 2 months.

My current nightmare is ... I can't find the door to get out at shift change.

What are your nursing nightmares?

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

I often dream that I have five or six patients, all on different floors, all in need of pain medications and/or on IV cardiac drips or insulin drips, so I am running like a mad woman from floor to floor trying to keep up with the call lights and the necessary requirements of those darn drips...and, inevitably, there is one I never get back around to seeing. Most recently it was a young 20something male who was in terribly pain and called for meds. I got busy and forgot about him until right at shift change, when I suddenly panicked and remembered. Then I could not find his room again and I am running all over the hospital trying to figure out where my patient is, all the while knowing the next shift was there and wanting report. I can still feel the crushing guilt in my chest when I think of that fictitious patient and the crazed pressure of trying to get everything done.

[Skippingtowork]

Laughed until I cried!

[OyWithThePoodles, RN]

I've had the same dream about a patient I missed.

I have a recurring dream about non-stop admits. Ugh.

I've had many lice dreams (school nurse here).

[NurseSpeedy, ADN, LPN, RN]

Recurrent nightmares...I think we all have the one about an assigned patient that we don't remember until shift change. That one is horrible.

There's the one with the beeping iv pump that I cannot figure out which room it's in and am going room to room trying to stop the beeping. Usually wakes me up. Sometimes it's when the alarm is going off, sometimes not.

Recently I've been waking up in a cold sweat thinking that I was at work with the employer from hell that I left 4 years ago. I'm at work in the dream. I've had it quite a few times lately. That one has got to stop!

[Workitinurfava, BSN, RN]

The med pass never ended. It was just one person after the other and I didn't get a break.

[opalbee]

Smoking pot in the nurses station.

I had a dream that I got kicked out of nursing school just last night for having pot on me (not that I'm in nursing school yet, but still). I had a bag of it on me, mixed with cheerios for "the munchies," and then I stuffed it in a container of Fructis Surfer Hair Wax and tossed it. The school administration didn't find the pot, but they decided to do a drug test anyways and I was fervently trying to find a way to get someone else's urine.

Then I woke up and thought, "Oh yeah, I don't smoke pot."

[DoeRN]

Hah.. small stuff... had my kids and patients barf in my hair.. no biggie.. was not even a dream.

No, it was like the exorcist vomit and I tried to run away from it but it followed me down the hall.

[3ringnursing, BSN]

Two actually. I do telephone triage now, so it usually involves my computer falling apart in my hands when it's busy, but being unable to alert my supervisor of shift coworkers all through the shift.

The other (although I haven't done direct patient care in years) is not realizing I had another patient assigned to me and totally neglecting to assess, pass meds, or even enter that patient's room. Of course I don't discover this until nearly shift change.

When I worked nights I used to dream about over sleeping, or accidentally falling asleep during a shift. A lot.

[3ringnursing, BSN]

Smoking pot in the nurses station.

I think I had that one too ... I bet you were in it! Quick - hide!

[TruvyNurse]

I have dreams *cough*horrendous nightmares *cough* about one of my old supervisors trying to ruin my current life/job. Lol

[Kaisu]

Three weeks into a new job. I'm too exhausted to dream.

[nervousnurse, ASN]

Ugh, I have the recurrent nightmare of not knowing a patient was assigned to me, too!

I worked NICU many years ago, and have had many dreams where I take care of the babies in my house.

One nightmare no one has mentioned yet is about SCHOOL----I'm about to graduate, but realize there's a class I

didn't take!