Nursing trivia or how nursing used to be...

[smiley222]

Hello,

I'm working on a project for Nurse's Week coming up. Do any nurses remember "the good old days"? Have any interesting "duties"you used to do that aren't done anymore? I'm looking for facts, trivia questions, or just interesting stories you may have. Thank you!!!! :)

[UM Review RN, ASN, RN]

Clysis for hydration.

Heat lamps for full thickness decubs.

Seconal or chloral hydrate for sleep.

No aggressive medical treatment and absolutely no surgical treatments for "old" people (over age 65), because they were dying anyway and their bodies "couldn't take it."

Glass IV fluid bottles.

Steel IV needles.

Metal bedpans.

Invasive surgery instead of CT scans for diagnosing abdominal problems.

Nurses had to mix Potassium into IV fluids.

Hospital stays of an average of one-two weeks.

Rectal temps were the standard.

[DusktilDawn]

Leeches are being used for wound care again.

I've had patients with leeches used.

When I started nursing:

No IV pumps unless it was for a heparin or insulin gtt.

Glass bottles for gomcos, actually broke one once.

Smoking was still allowed in the visitors lounge on each unit, staff lounges, and in designated sections of the cafeteria (actually I was in housekeeping at this time and 6 months later all smoking was banned in the hospital).

Scrub uniforms were not allowed on the units and had to be white, caps were gone.

Half the nurses would still give their chair to a doctor.

No computers, no med carts, no pyxis.

No sharps containers in every room, you were taught one-handed recapping of needles.

Latex allergies were a new thing.

Gloves were just now routine for all body fluids, the experienced nurses told me stories about doing pericare and changing incontinent patients bare handed.

[UM Review RN, ASN, RN]

Gloves were just now routine for all body fluids, the experienced nurses told me stories about doing pericare and changing incontinent patients bare handed.

I recall being told that to use gloves would seem too "impersonal and offensive" to the patients. Yet we were not allowed to sit on beds, hug patients, offer any personal information--and above all, we were not to cry or show emotion to patients.

[P_RN, ADN, RN]

Rubber sheets, post-op bedmaking style sheets folded down into a point, body casts for up to a year for vertebral fx or scoliosis.

Melting morphine tablet with saline in a sterile med cup and then drawing it back up.

Polishing your Clinic shoe laces with shoe polish.

Urine dip stick or tablet for urine sugar.

Water manometry for compartment sx.

White: Cap, dress, hose, Clinic brand shoes, Sweater: white or Navy, that's IT.

Day's charting ink black, 3-11 green, 11-7 red

Read over those links and you will have hours of fun presenting this info.

[RNperdiem, RN]

Starting tube feeding at 1/2 strength.(diluted)

Nondigital ventilators- you looked at manometers

milk and molasses enemas

narcotic keys.

manual blood pressure cuffs

white uniforms that were not white scrubs

beds with hand cranks to raise and lower the head(were on their way out)

This is not that long ago. I graduated nursing school in 1998

[TNNurse92]

Night shift sharpened the reuseable needles

[DusktilDawn]

I recall being told that to use gloves would seem too "impersonal and offensive" to the patients. Yet we were not allowed to sit on beds, hug patients, offer any personal information--and above all, we were not to cry or show emotion to patients.

Actually when I was in school for RPN/LPN that's exactly what an instructor said regarding the use of gloves for bedbaths. We were using the Roy model approach so hugging, sitting on beds, or appropriately offering personal info was encouraged. We were encouraged to take a holistic approach.

Has anyone mentioned the beds, NO AUTOMATIC BEDs, they all had gatches we had to crank. I must have banged my shins on those things a million times.