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Every so often I'll hear lyrics on songs on the radio that remind me of nursing... Here's a couple of examples I've heard on the radio recently, unfortunately I can't remember who sings either of 'em...:monkeydance:
"I am barely breathing, and I can't find the air..."
"I have become, comfortably numb..."
Anyone got any more?
funny...i was driving in my car tonight and "alive" by kenny chesney was on the radio! i had just seen this thread this afternoon and knew this was the kind of song this thread needed!
and today you know that’s good enough for me
breathin' in and out's a blessing can’t you see
today is the first day of the rest of my life
now i’m alive, and well
yeah i’m alive, and well
After a loooong, horrifying shift (or when they call and try to get me to work a 5th night), the first verse or so of Wanted Dead or Alive by Bon Jovi:
It's all all the same
Only the names will change
Everyday, it seems we're wasting away
Another place, where the faces are so cold
I drive all night just to get back home...
Then there's the Everything Comes Down to Poo song from Scrubs... good times!
"Mr. Ambulance Driver," The Flaming Lips. Probably a bit more geared to the EMS/prehospital provider, but still a great song for emergency care in general. Coincidentally, it also has a pretty good backbeat for chest compressions.
Hearing the sirens in the distance
Hold on, help is on the way...
Mr. Ambulance Driver, I'm right here beside her
And though I live, somehow I've found
Mr. Ambulance Driver, I'm not a real survivor
'Cause I'm wishing that I was the one who
Wasn't gonna be here anymore, wasn't here anymore, one isn't here anymore...
(Do be aware if you listen in your car: there is a siren that cuts in and out during the chorus. It WILL make you involuntarily check your mirrors for emergency traffic if you're not paying attention. )
Well, this will probably get me fired but sometimes on the way to work I listen to Incubus's "Megalomaniac" to bolster my sensibilities for the human interactions I will encounter...
"Hey megalomaniac,
You're no Jesus
Yeah, you're no f****** Elvis
Wash your hands clean of yourself baby,
step down, step down"
There are so many inflated egos... I also listen to Rage Against the Machine's "Bulls on Parade" for the same reason.
Numerous songs remind me of various facets of health care, because I wrote comic lyrics to certain tunes, so if I hear the originals, my words start rolling through my mind. For example, this one for lab technicians, to the tune of "Only You,"
Only poo, and urine all day long..
Only poo, that makes the whole room pong.
in my Petri dish I see
Ten zillion bacilli,
Just shows how much can grow in only poo...
Only poo, and spit, and snot, and blood..
I tell you, this is disgusting crud,
When you take that scoop and spoon your poop into that waiting jar,
Just remember who gets stuck with all that poo....
But if there's one song that makes me think of why I entered nursing, and which I wish I had the voice to sing to my patients, it would be "Bridge Over Troubled Water."
murphyle, BSN, RN
279 Posts
"Blood Makes Noise," Suzanne Vega. For those days when you've got a six-bed assignment and a department full of crazies, your charge/ANM/Administration just threw yet another ridiculous paperwork project at you, and your nursing priority is to keep your own head on straight while trying to reattach those of your patients. "I'd like to help you, Doctor, yes I really, really would, but the din in my head, it's too much and it's no good; I'm standing in a windy tunnel shouting through the roar, and I'd like to give the information that you're asking for; But blood makes noise - it's a ringing in my ear; blood makes noise..."
"One Less Bell To Answer," The Fifth Dimension. For the recently departed patient who everyone said it'd be a mercy if they passed on, but you're all still unprepared for the loss. "One less bell to answer, one less egg to fry, I should be happy, but all I do is cry..."