inside the mind of a nurse.....

withasmilelpn · Jan 23, 2008

:icon_rollI forgot to add that when I snuggle with my husband I find myself listening to his heart beat and respirations, listening to hear whether he has an irregular rhythm....

anonymurse · Jan 23, 2008

I don't think I have any ODC type traits because of being a nurse.

I don't think you have any OCD traits at all if you can spell it ODC!

Elvish, BSN, DNP, RN, NP · Jan 23, 2008

I look at pregnant bellies and guess how far along they are too.

I look at veins and salivate over the big juicy ones.

I get hopping mad over parents who smoke around their kids or have them in a car sans corificeat.

When my friends have babies, I'm dying to ask them the particulars like I do when I have a patient - how's the bleeding, how're your breasts/nursing, did you have any tears, etc. Fortunately for them (and probably for me too) I restrain myself.

facetiousgoddess · Jan 23, 2008

ok..At the Who concert 3rd row.....assessing Pete Townsend's fingers, which appear to be edematous....his face looks puffy....start wondering if he is on a steroid and wishing I could get a listen to his lung sounds and check out the lower extremities...a heck of a lot different than my fantasies about Townsend when I was 16....

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Sometimes I wonder if we nurses aren't wired differently to begin with..case in point

When I was 11 my mom came charging up the stairs cause she heard me making a weird noise in the bathroom...sees me with a blow dryer aimed at my face and half a hamster in my mouth...I had found Herbie the hamster cold and stiff in his cage and was literally giving him mouth to mouth while trying to warm his body with the blowdryer....

Tres

ps somewhere in Alameda there is a hamster in a shoebox in a flower garden...unfortunately the code was unsuccessful and a stable rhythm could not be established....

and my Mom is still laughing at the visual...

ERRN92 · Jan 23, 2008

I wonder if lawyers see ambulances or wrecks and get excited or watch people do things in public and analyze any legal recourse that person may have....

annaedRN, RN · Jan 24, 2008

It's all I can do to keep my 2 cents to myself when I am out and I hear people talking about a med, test, doctor, etc...but if I did butt in, I KNOW that I could help.I do the leg/edema thing too - is it PAD, PVD, CHF...hmmmm? If the unsuspecting victims of our mental games only knew!

buggal1989 · Jan 26, 2008

I don't think I have any ODC type traits because of being a nurse.
I do think about the germs on money, door knobs, etc but germs have been in those same places long before I was a nurse. I am diligent at work about washing my hands. Mainly because I don't want to pass germs around at work or bring germs home to my family but beyond work I use normal hygiene practices such as washing my hands after using a public bathroom, washing hands before I eat in a restaurant, after using a pay phone etc...
I may be weird but I feel like your body has to build immunity to germs and how can you if you're forever using antibacterial agents? I believe this causes the superbugs.
When I was little my Mom always said "God made dirt, dirt won't hurt". I think there is some truth to this.
As far as checking out people's veins, ankles, fingernails, etc that's just a trait of a good and observent nurse.

Antimicrobial agents such as soap, waterless handwash, disinfectants, etc. DO NOT cause superbugs - these agents don't cause viruses and bacteria to become resistant - it is the WAY overuse of antibiotics by our dear old doctors (whom we love and respect - right!), but did you know penicillin resistant staph was isolated (2 yrs?) BEFORE penicillin was discovered? They just didn't know what they had at the time!!! Way Weird! I also read that MRSA was found in a sealed (never been opened) Egyptian tomb! BUT I have never been able to verify this - so I consider it to be a myth until I can find scientific evidence. Anyone know FER SURE?

My biggest thing used to be wearing clean underwear which my Mom imprinted on my brain EVERY TIME I left the house. But as an EMT she should have known they'd just cut them off anyway - I KNOW we did in severe cases and we didn't care if they were clean or NOT (except for several times when I was working in the ICU we got patients up from the ER catherized with their underwear STILL on - talk about infection control technique! We protested violently and reported it to the ICP and it stopped!) BUT one time in the ER we had a nice-looking young lady and all the guys wanted to see her red underwear (the EMTs on the ambulance spread the rumor - about which I took them to task!) - all the FEMALE nurses built a barricade to PREVENT any of these guys from entering the room - the ONLY male to enter was the doctor! There was NO WAY we were going to allow MEN to enter a room just to see some one's underwear! It NEVER happened on MY shift! My 2 :twocents: !

cny4rn · Jan 26, 2008

I loved the one about repositioning your husband!!! That is a hoot!:w00t::rotfl:

SaraO'Hara · Jan 26, 2008

When I was 11 my mom came charging up the stairs cause she heard me making a weird noise in the bathroom...sees me with a blow dryer aimed at my face and half a hamster in my mouth...I had found Herbie the hamster cold and stiff in his cage and was literally giving him mouth to mouth while trying to warm his body with the blowdryer....
Tres
ps somewhere in Alameda there is a hamster in a shoebox in a flower garden...unfortunately the code was unsuccessful and a stable rhythm could not be established....
and my Mom is still laughing at the visual...

I'm laughing so hard I'm wheezing Poor hamster!

I find myself watching people while I'm in restaurants... hoping they don't choke, arrest, faint... it's a good dinner, but only while it's hot!

buggal1989 · Jan 26, 2008

Poor little baby hammie - I have a Chinese Dwarf hamster and I don't know how I will take it when she passes on. I've tried not to get too attached - but it's too late!

I have been known to feel my male friends veins and that creeps them out for some reason!

Valerie Salva, BSN, RN · Jan 27, 2008

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 do carry a bottle of Lysol (and hand santizer) in my bag.

When I rent a DVD, I clean the case with a Clorox wipe. Those things have been in so many houses and touched by so many people- ugh.

GrumpyRN63, ADN, RN · Jan 27, 2008

After working out at the gym i immediately head to the BR, wash my hands,use the bathroom, wash hands again, go home and shower. I don't have to worry about the door, it's propped open!!

Public BR, use anything other than my hand to open the door on the way out , usually paper towel or sleeve

Self diagnose the worse-- example today I had a pain deep in my L thigh, posterior, I was sure I had a DVT for 3-4 hrs, I was more concerned when it went away, I was waiting for a PE to hit, now I'm just fine. I never get sick (or think about it, )but the minute I get something weird, It's MS, or Lou Gherig's, or...... :idea:

Run the toothbrushes thru the dishwasher