How did Nursing School change you?

BlueEyedRN · Aug 31, 2006

I've become a super paranoid mom. I wash my hands all the time and disinfect everything. My little 3.5 year old daughter now walks around with a bottle of purell in her pocket and pulls it out every 15 minutes or so, washes her hands, and holds them out to me to smell. I don't let her anywhere near the kitchen when I'm cooking--too many baby burns in peds . I've banned bubble baths to prevent UTI's. I'm always checking my baby's soft spots. I'm planning on taking some Lysol to church when I get the chance to disinfect all the toys in the nursery. I found a babysitter who uses Lysol on all her toys once a week and cleans the toilet seat after each kid. I'm going to be a wreck when she starts Kindergarten next year. :)

I also took up running and working out and totally eat healthier. Seeing the consequences of unhealthy living totally freaked me out. And I have developed an intense interest in the health of my feet.

NurseBunky · Aug 31, 2006

Let's see..where do I begin?!!! Parts of my psyche are turning into MONK! You know the TV character. I'm anal about a lot of things but mostly when I'm at work. I'm also very paranoid about making medication errors that instead of doing 5 rights and 3 checks..it turns out to be 10 rights and 10 checks!! LOL! Better safe than sorry. I'm not stressed though. I love what I'm doing. I hated my previous job but I love my new one. I tend to critically think everything from vacation planning to getting money out of the ATM late at night. Should I or shouldn't I..should I or shouldn't I. I'm more mellow (I was a wild child in school), I'm not as thrifty (aka Cheap) as I use to be, and the list goes on and on.

bcskittlez · Oct 2, 2006

So I just got back from my NCLEX test and like everyone else I'm not feeling so good about the test and naturally trying to think of something to take up some time when I found myself cleaning everything. After I finished cleaning I thought wow, I'm so freaking neat now after school. I used to be a slob, always messy, bit my nails, and smoked a pack a day. Now I quit smoking, my nails are nice and long, and strangly enough....I ENJOY CLEANING!!!! I also eat healthier now too.
So what did nursing school change about you and your bad habits?

Really? You actually found time to become a cleaner person? That's good news for me. I'm hoping those same things happen to me also,LOL.

bethem · Oct 2, 2006

Sadly, nursing school has undone some of my good habits!

I rarely get time to exercise now
I NEVER make beds at home, because I do it too much on the wards
I am paranoid about symptoms now, but reluctant to get anything checked out in case the doc thinks I am just being a paranoid nursing student
I scared my colleagues by screaming, "NOOOOOO!!!!" and pulling a lip gloss out of a girl's hand - in fairness, she had an active cold sore, and another girl was just about to share the same tube of gloss with her. Ew.
I wash my hands obsessively
I refuse to use those weird air-dryers at the shops and instead carry my own alcohol gel
I eat way more takeaway because I can't be bothered to cook
I am really antisocial, because three straight years of full time work/full time study have left me with no time to socialise, and now I don't know how to.
I'd rather kiss my dog than my boyfriend, because I know my dog's mouth is cleaner!

That's all I can think of - unfortunately I think nursing school hasn't been very good for me!