Sweet Dreams, Baby! Tell us about your strange dreams r/t nursing

[UM Review RN]

Nursing is nothing if not an intense occupation. Sometimes we dream about it.

I just woke up horrified to discover that I had five out of seven patients that I never got a chance to look at or assess for the entire shift!

So glad THAT's never happened in real life, but it's 0530 and there's no way I'm gonna be able to sleep.

How often do you dream about your job?

[RNtigerEMT]

Seems to be universal about not knowing I had pt/pts, no assessments done, no meds passed, end of shift.

My husband hates the ones where I hear calllights/IV pumps, cause I end up yelling at him to shut off the pump/call light because I can't do everything.

I have really vivid dreams as well. This one isn't nursing related, but, it was an off night, and when he came home that morning, I woke up screaming at him about cheating on me, told him I had a picture of him and his bimbo that my father took, and it was right there onthe bed. I still get grief about that one.

The one I have had most frequently is the one where I am running the code, the dr is standing there looking at me like I'm stupid as I am giving him orders, and then I totally forget the protocol. Or the equipment breaks, or I shock and forget to call "clear" and knock a coworker across the room. Probaly the funniest was one where I intubated the dr to get him to shut up!

[bethin]

Mostly hear IV pump alarms going off.

There was one dream where I was at work and fell asleep. I jumped up when I realized that one nurse was running the code! So I go into the room and she tells me what drugs to push (i'm a cna) but there's no one else to do it. The guy did live and I did push the drugs.

[Dalzac, LPN, LVN, RN]

The number one thing I noticed is we all seem to have the same dreams about nursing and our greatest fears coming true in the dream. Most of the dreams I read here I have had too.

Since I had to take an early retirement due to my health I would always dream that I would be at work and would go to the cafetria for dinner and I could never make it back to the unit. Something or someone would always stop me for all kinds of reasons.

But the wierdest one was I was in my bathtub and vent tubing would come up out of the drain and wrap around my neck and try to pull me under water and kill me. I worked on a cardio-pulmonary icu at the time. I quit there soon after because I was so unhappy with management.

[ShayRN]

This one isn't nursing related, but, it was an off night, and when he came home that morning, I woke up screaming at him about cheating on me, told him I had a picture of him and his bimbo that my father took, and it was right there onthe bed.

I have had this one. Wake up and VERY crappy with my husband. He says, you dreamed I cheated on you again, huh? :sofahider

My work dream was this: I worked on a stepdown tele unit. One night I had a dream that I was walking around the unit in a gown carrying a teddy bear. (This is what the local surgeons give their patients to encourage sternal precautions after open heart.) I just remember screaming, BUT I WORK HERE, I AM NOT THE PATIENT:uhoh3:

[Indy, LPN, LVN]

I hear alarms nowadays for a solid hour before drifting off, that is if I don't pass out immediately due to exhaustion.

I've dreamed I had to intubate a dog. I don't even intubate humans! There have been the loop dreams where I do one thing and it replays, like ocd style, and won't quit; like fiddling with IV pumps that just will not shut the heck up no matter what I do... or hanging IV meds then rechecking it 60 times before I wake up, to make sure it's the right med, etc. Or the dreaded "everybody codes" dream where I go from one crash straight on into the next one, nonstop. When those loop dreams happen I eventually force my butt outta bed and get some food and go back to sleep, and that usually fixes it.

[canoehead, BSN, RN]

During my first 5 years of nursing I would dream that I was doing my shift, but both my legs had been sawed off at the knee. Everyone was being very polite and pretending not to notice. I'd finally feel like I was caught up somewhat and they'd give me a new admission. Now what? Admit that I have no legs and give up my job, or take on an almost impossible situation? Pretty clearly a new grad dream, but it went on for years

Now when I'm stressed I dream I am a patient on a psych ward, and very ill, but that I'm paying for my stay by being a nurse for a few shifts a week. So I have to remain sane enough so they don't fire me, yet be open to treatment during the rare moments someone is willing to help. Oh yeah, neither the staff, or the patients, are in on the dual identity thing so I'm constantly explaining myself and my actions. Must be a result of the management/patient care conflicts

[Rizpah]

WOW! I've only read the last 2 posts, but geez I'm glad I'm not alone! Indy - thanks for the laugh - intubating a dog! LOL!

I rarely dream about work anymore, but early on in my career I had a recurring dream. I worked 2nd shift and had my 4pm med pass to do. It was 9pm and I still had not left the med room and my anxiety ridden COPD resident was SO MAD because she still didn't get her 4:00 breathing treatment. I couldn't leave the med room because I accidently showed up to work in my pajamas and was afraid of getting in trouble for not being in proper uniform. The funniest part of this whole thing is that many years later, it actually came true - I have a pair of really large scrub pants that I use for loungers. I put them on by mistake one morning when I was in a hurry to get to work. As I walked into the building, I thought, "Geez, I must have lost some wt or something, these pants don't seem to be fitting right." That's when I realized I had actually WORN my PJs to work!

So be careful out there......sometimes dreams DO come true!:chair:

[elby812]

Well I guess its beginning... I just had my first simulation in nursing school yesterday and last night my first nursing related dream. I was reciting the 5 rights of drug administration and doing a cvl sterile dressing change, all night long! Yikes!

Sidenote: I used to work at a hotel at the front desk. My boyfriend at the time used to wake up many nights because I'd be making reservations and checking people in/out in my sleep...

[allantiques4me]

I frequently dream that I am doing a large med pass,cant find my MARs,cant find the medications ,dont know the PTs.and Im like 4 hours behind on my med pass.Scary!

[RNDude]

Back in school, I would have a dream near the end of almost every term in which I realized there was a class I had signed up for and never attended. Sometimes in the dream I race in a panic into the final exam, which has already started, and try to take it myself--never having attended a lecture or read any materials.

[emmycRN]

I dream about nursing a lot, and they are usually nightmares. Just the other night after taking care of fresh tracheostomy I dreamed that both my children were kidnapped. When the police found them they were OK, but the kidnapper had given them both trach collars. I know....weird.

The most disturbing one I had was a few months ago after a night when I had lost a patient. In my dream I was a new home care nurse on night shift. I showed up to my assigned pt's home to relieve the day nurse. The day nurse then introduced me to my pt, who was a corpse. She then told me that during my shift I was to bury the body!!

[VivaRN]

I worked a 16 hour shift 7a-11p, got home at midnight, then woke up at 5am to do a 12. Dreamed about work alllll night. Probably the worst one was, my patient was in bad trouble (of some kind) so I paged the physician. I kept telling him, with increasing urgency, "Someone needs to come!!! My patient is in trouble!!!". He asked me what is the patient's name, what's wrong, and... I had no clue. I told him I had to go get the chart because it wasn't in front of me. The whole time I was like, what am I doing! How could I page without knowing the patient's name! I had a good laugh about it when I woke up. Then, back to work for real...