How many of you have had this dream???

[MollyJ]

As a new graduate, I would periodically have the classic dream that represented my feelings of ill-preparedness. In my dream, I would get to about 6pm in my shift and "realize" I had forgotten to write down my times of med administration on my "brains" (nurse pocket sheet or whatever it is called now). I would invariably awaken feeling panicked, wondering how many meds I had forgotten AND then I would realize that I was only dreaming. Still, it would take a little while for my heart to quit beating extra fast before I could settle down and go to sleep.

A friend told me she also had a version of this dream. Is this the "great, cosmic nurse dream" nightmare? Has anyone else out there had this dream or one similar to it?? Happily, the dream passes....

[Zee_RN, BSN, RN]

They're called "nurse-mares." I believe there's another thread on this board somewhere where many people have posted their recurrent "nurse-mares."

Yes, I have had "nurse-mares." Usually it involves charting or meds. Something like I'm on my way home from work or finally at home and realize I didn't chart A WORD on any of my patients. Or didn't pass a single med. These dreams happened more when I was on med-surg than in ICU. When I started in med-surg I had a minimum of 9 patients and maximum of 18 if it were 3-11 or 11-7.

However, just yesterday morning as I lay sleeping, dreaming about work (just regular dreaming thinking I was at work), my alarm clock went off...I reached over and picked up and tilted it backwards and then set it back down. Know what I was doing? I was emptying the urometer on a foley!! I "dumped" my alarm clock, lol! Took me a second to realize what I did. Then I shut the alarm off, lol. Did I think the "foley" was alarming?! God knows everything else does!

Does anyone else get the little surge of adrenaline when they're at the grocery store and the PA system kicks on....the brief second before they actually say "price check" or whatever...like they're gonna annouce a code?! Happens to me every time.

[P_RN, ADN, RN]

Yes, that too. Walmart especially! They'd call code______whatever____ and my hand went to my waistband to check my beeper!

[P_RN, ADN, RN]

Yes, that too. Walmart especially! They'd call code______whatever____ and my hand went to my waistband to check my beeper!

[nowplayingEDRN]

I think most every nurse has had a similar version of this nurse-mare. It was more prominent for me when I was working in a civilian facility on night shift for a 47 bed step down with tele unit and tere were 2 RNs, 1 LPN and 1 CNA.....I was always the only tele cert nurse working and that made me responsible for all 14 monitored beds including my own assignment...and God help me when I got the back district as i was covering for the LPN as well as responsible for my own pt load and the 14 monitored beds...no amount of protesting and grievance filing or begging the supervisor for help worked.....my husband said, he would come home and hear me talking in my sleep about monitors and codes and who k nows what else and used to feel really bad cause he knew it was hell at work. Of course I would worry and fret all the way home that I forgot something or did not document on something that I should have and I prayed that God kept everyone in my care safe on those nights cause I knew it was a disaster waiting to happen.

[nowplayingEDRN]

I think most every nurse has had a similar version of this nurse-mare. It was more prominent for me when I was working in a civilian facility on night shift for a 47 bed step down with tele unit and tere were 2 RNs, 1 LPN and 1 CNA.....I was always the only tele cert nurse working and that made me responsible for all 14 monitored beds including my own assignment...and God help me when I got the back district as i was covering for the LPN as well as responsible for my own pt load and the 14 monitored beds...no amount of protesting and grievance filing or begging the supervisor for help worked.....my husband said, he would come home and hear me talking in my sleep about monitors and codes and who k nows what else and used to feel really bad cause he knew it was hell at work. Of course I would worry and fret all the way home that I forgot something or did not document on something that I should have and I prayed that God kept everyone in my care safe on those nights cause I knew it was a disaster waiting to happen.

[graysonret]

I sometimes dream of being on the floor somewhere, passing meds. I have, jokingly, asked my agency if I could charge them for the "work". LOL

[graysonret]

I sometimes dream of being on the floor somewhere, passing meds. I have, jokingly, asked my agency if I could charge them for the "work". LOL

[bhart]

I dream that I haven't really passed all of my Nursing Courses (especially the math) and someone finds out and takes away my license. I passed the NCLEX in 1999.

[bhart]

I dream that I haven't really passed all of my Nursing Courses (especially the math) and someone finds out and takes away my license. I passed the NCLEX in 1999.

[MandyInMS]

Glad to see I'm not the only one having these nutty dreams..lol...my dreams is...I'm running around working like a chicken with her head cut off and every time I turn around another pt. "appears" in a room..dunno how/when they got there, but they are ALL my pts...I wake up exhausted as heck!!

[MandyInMS]

Glad to see I'm not the only one having these nutty dreams..lol...my dreams is...I'm running around working like a chicken with her head cut off and every time I turn around another pt. "appears" in a room..dunno how/when they got there, but they are ALL my pts...I wake up exhausted as heck!!

[Flynurse]

Constantly! I had this dream constantly while I was in nursing school.

I would also fall asleep on the couch after a long day at clinicals and then wake up at 6:45pm thinking it was THE MORNING and that I was late for clinicals! I would run around the house for five minutes "getting ready" when I realized by all of the noise my apartment neighbors made that it was really 6:45 in the evening. I would then make dinner while I watched my evening shows.

One time I even called the cell phone of one of classmates telling her to tell the instructor I would be late. Imagine my embarrasment :imbar when she oriented me to person, place and time! LOL :chuckle Alert with momentary confusion!