Nursing gear passed on from older generation

[Brian, ASN, RN]

If your mom or grandmother was a nurse before you then you may have something that was passed on to you from that nursing era. If you do, what is it?

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[sharpeimom]

I have locket style gold watch that belonged to my great great aunt who was a trained nurse in the Civil War (or the War of Northern Aggression, as my husband had to call it in elementary school.) It's beautiful but very fragile. I have no idea how she wore it without crushing or breaking it.

[07302003, ASN, RN]

I have my Grandma's scissors... she was a WWII RN (and after).

[tokmom, BSN, RN]

My husbands grandmother gave us all her nursing notes and books from her nursing student days and my grandmother gave me her syringe set made from glass and her medical dictionary.

[usernamern]

My grandmother's first nursing license issued in 1962.

[pronurse45]

I am the only nurse in the family, so definitely, I have not inherited any nursing gear from my ancestors! =)

[thelittledoe]

My aunt gave me her stethoscope from her RN days. Very kind of her, but the thing is beat to crap. The diaphragm is cracked in half and it has to have a silicon cover on it in order to hear anything. Probably not gonna last much longer and I'll be in the market for a new one.

[LibraSunCNM, BSN, MSN, CNM]

My aunt pinned me with her own pin from St. Vincent's Hospital School of Nursing at my graduation, since I didn't like my own school's pin. Sadly she no longer has her super stylin' signature St. Vinny's cap to pass down to me:

[CountryMomma, ASN, RN]

Because I am one of 46 grandchildren from 13 children, I never was able to inherit any of my grandmother's nursing supplies, which still makes me sad, as she was the reason I finally bucked up and went for it. When my older aunties moved her into the nursing home, they went through her house for a few days with a dumpster outside, and if it wasn't clearly valuable, sentimental, or specifically asked for, they chucked it. I was never asked if there was anything I would like to have from her, otherwise I would have asked for her red steth (she'd listen to me in my mother's womb with it) and the little nightlight statuette she'd light up when I slept on her davenport. I think, to have her cap or pin would have been pure joy. Instead, I have her memories, and one picture, and the hope that she's guiding my hands and words.

As much as I try sometimes, I can't be bitter. I think she'd hate it.

[BloomNurseRN, ASN, BSN, RN]

LilyRoseRN said:

My aunt pinned me with her own pin from St. Vincent's Hospital School of Nursing at my graduation, since I didn't like my own school's pin. Sadly she no longer has her super stylin' signature St. Vinny's cap to pass down to me:

What an awesome picture!

[judybsn]

My mother gave me her bedside nursing award metal when I was caring for her as she was dying. She said I deserved it more than she, which wasn't true, but meant the world to me. I inherited my dad's stethoscopes and his microscope from med school, as well as his med school notes and textbooks AND his diaries from his early medical years. Amazing to see how medicine has advanced since the early 1940's! The CPS (med reference) was 1/4" thick! My great grandmother was a pioneer midwife on the prairies. She drove a model A which her husband crank started for her. I'm sure she kept a diary of her deliveries, but it has been lost. However the legacy of nursing lives on in her family.

[rm89]

My aunt (who died when I was 6 or so) is the only other one in my family with any medical background. She worked as an RN for many years before she died of cancer. I was honored when my aunts sent me her pin at my graduation. It made me feel like I was carrying on the torch even though I didn't know her well. I only wish she would have saved her cap as well!