inside the mind of a nurse.....

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Ok. Ive been nursing too long....Have any of you had warped thoughts that only a nurse would have? When I go for a drive on the highway or interstate, it crosses my mind that maybe I shouldnt eat first in case I have a wreck and require emergency surgery? Its crazy. When I go to touch money I think about all the filth Im fixing to touch. Not just money but anything. Or, avoiding salad bars at ALL COSTS!! Im surprise I dont carry a box of gloves and can of lysol in my purse!! What, if any, warped thoughts do the rest of you have? I will be one of those elderly people obsessed with my bowel movements.

Specializes in Peds; Peds Oncology.

I drive my DH crazy, when I look at someone's baby and tell him that they just aren't right. I always keep purell in my car, my kids are great about using it too.

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Interesting thread, wanted to toss in my experience. I currently work out of the medical profession (that may change if I get motivated again), and this subject is why.

I had my sights set on becoming an ER RN, working as a CNA through nursing school. I got a job as a CNA at a mostly LTC facility. I ended up working night shifts most of the time, and generally enjoyed the shift even if the work wasn't my ideal situation (like I said, my goal was ER).

I was living with my parents at the time, having just moved back into the state after a divorce. My mom gets headaches if she sleeps laying down for too long, so she would usually wake up around 4am and doze in the cushy armchair in the living room. I would arrive home from work around 6:30am, so she'd usually be there to sleepily greet me.

One morning, as I walked in, my mother sat up a bit in the chair as she awoke and told me good morning. The first thing that went through my head was that I should congratulate her for being able to sit up without assistance and how encouraging that was in general, since most of the residents I worked with could not do even that. The next thing that went through my mind was horror that I was transferring those thoughts out of my work and to my own mother. Of course she could sit up, there is nothing wrong with her (thank goodness). She is getting older, though, and I try not to think about how long I might have left with her and my dad.

It was in that moment that I realized LTC was not the field for me. It was depressing in general, not a good environment to work in, and I have nothing but the utmost respect for the people who can work in that field and remain mentally healthy (unlike my unpleasant coworkers). I think I gave my notice the next day - my supervisor was very understanding.

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The last place I worked the cell phones we carried had a very distinctive ring. I would wake up in the middle of the night because I "heard" one of these phones ring. The ring would be so loud it would wake me. God I hated when that would happen. Thank God the phones we use now have very common ring tones and several different ones.

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Touching. I touch everyone appropriate or not. I am apt to wipe your behind for you if you don't watch it. I want to cut your food, open your carton of milk for you, help you sit up whether you need my help or not. I have no compunction about standing and talking with you while you use the bathroom (uninvited). I want to bathe you. Need I go on.

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Specializes in Rehab, LTC, Peds, Hospice.

I am very watchful of older people. Ready to run to their assistance should their gait look unsteady, the result of too many incident reports for falls I guess. Many times I find myself listening to peoples coughs, and have even suggested at times they see their doctor when I hear the kind I always associate with pneumonia. My son has a particular cough when he has an asthma flare starting that always wakes me up even from a deep sleep.

Usually once I've seen a particular dx, I recognize it in my friends and neighbors, sometimes before they have gotten a dx, which is kind of disturbing really. It's like that listening, looking, assessing thing is always on.

The older people thing came in handy once. I was driving along and spotted an elderly lady walking on the side of the road, dressed to the nines with a sharp little hat and her purse. Something made me turn around and drive back. When I met up with her, I saw that she was wearing a wool suit with long sleaves in 90 degree weather and heels. She informed me she was meeting a group of friends at a restaurant in a town 15 miles away. (That she would also have to traipse across and on a busy 4 lane highway to get to!) She was walking because her daughter in law had "forgotten to take her there". She had no idea how to get back home or in touch with her(and had no intention of going back there) so I drove her to the town in question then to the local police station when we found her friends not there. They were able to locate her family who called me and let me know that the lady had just mixed up her days (she did indeed meet friends there at times, chaperoned of course) and clearly her mild dementia was starting to worsen. Truthfully I am not sure what it was exactly that made me stop, because I really only saw her a moment, but I guess I'm glad I did, and that those nurse 'warning bells, whats wrong with this picture' sense went off!

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Specializes in aged, palliative care, cardiac, agency,.
Not eating before driving has crossed my mind more than once. Looking at ankles for edema too. Pass pedestrians who are morbidly obese and hope when they come to my hospital they can still move themselves because I'm getting to old to move them.

I check their veins to see if they'd be easy to cannulate or draw blood from.

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Specializes in aged, palliative care, cardiac, agency,.
When my friends are being dumb I tell them that they had better not hurt themselves because I'm off duty.

One of the other things I do is that I am constantly listening to things around me too... some of my friends are shocked when they think I'm not paying attention to the person "choking" a few table over and they say something along the lines of "aren't you going to help them" and I tell them that the person is still making noise, if they stop making noise, then I will help them ;)

Me too. If anyone looks a bit dodgy when we're out my family all turn and look at me as if I'm going to do a superman thing and rush in and save them. I'm not sure whether the family WANT me to rush over and or are praying like crazy that I wont. Like other people I occassionally find myself assessing people while waiting in queues, and I often check out what they are buying to assess whether they are following a healthy diet. If they have poor food choices I then assess their weight and likelihood of a cardiac event, diabetes etc.. I am banned from watching any TV show which features anything medical and especially anything nursing related - cant help but scream out "It's not like that!!!" I have been known to (frequently) check my partners pulse while holding hands. A few times he's sussed me out. I also dream of call bells. I am very aware of regular pressure area care in bed - always wanting to turn frequently. And I engage in direct questioning of other people, but not often. I fluctuate between being a nurse when off duty, and trying really hard NOT to be recognised as a nurse when off duty.

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Ok. Ive been nursing too long....Have any of you had warped thoughts that only a nurse would have? When I go for a drive on the highway or interstate, it crosses my mind that maybe I shouldnt eat first in case I have a wreck and require emergency surgery? Its crazy. When I go to touch money I think about all the filth Im fixing to touch. Not just money but anything. Or, avoiding salad bars at ALL COSTS!! Im surprise I dont carry a box of gloves and can of lysol in my purse!! What, if any, warped thoughts do the rest of you have? I will be one of those elderly people obsessed with my bowel movements.

I flip out when I go to a fast food restaurant and when they give me my drink cup they turn it lip down and put it on the counter. I realize that there is no telling what goes on with our food we can't see, but this really gets me.

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Specializes in NICU.

I recently joined a gym. Now when an elderly person gets on a treadmill next to me I get worried. I want to tell them to please be careful and don't overdo it. I keep watching them breath and make sure they aren't too SOB.. Haha wow I need a life.

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Specializes in CVICU, CCU, MICU, SICU, Transplant.

After watching a bunch of horror movies the other night (even though it isn't anywhere near Halloween)...

Thought about everything the nurses would have to do with the surviving victims.

"Wow, that guy is gonna need about 6 units of O negative"

"She is gonna be in surgery for at least 8 hours getting those digits/arm reattached"

"Hope psych will be consulted"

"Looks like he is definately having a seizure. Heck he just got hit in the head with a baseball bat 20 times"

and "Woah...that car door clearly fractured that guy's neck. Better get the solumedrol drip ready, order a head/neck CT, order the rotational bed"

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Specializes in Operating Room.

Before I worked in an OR that did trauma, I used to think motorcycles were cool and seriously thought of getting one. It took me only about a month in my current OR to change my mind...now I know why they call them "donorcycles":o

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Specializes in NICU.
Before I worked in an OR that did trauma, I used to think motorcycles were cool and seriously thought of getting one. It took me only about a month in my current OR to change my mind...now I know why they call them "donorcycles":o

One of my friend's dads is a trauma surgeon - they had a poster in their ER that said "Buy your son a motorcycle for his LAST birthday". Creeeeeeepy.

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