Only Crusty Old Bats will remember..

[Pepper The Cat, BSN, RN]

So, I really need a fun thread right now. We've done similar things before and it's always fun.

so, things Crusty Old Bats(COB) remember that new nurses today will not.

1. The clunk your uniform makes when you drop it in the laundry hamper and you realize you came home with the narcotic keys.

2. The splat the over full paper chart makes when you drop it on the floor. Papers everywhere. 15 mins getting everything back together.

3. The smell of the smoking lounge .

4. Nurse and Docs smoking at the Nsg Station.

5. Trying to match the colour of the urine in the test tube to determine the sugar level.

+1? +2? Which one?

OK my fellow COBs. Jump in!

[WKShadowNP, DNP, APRN]

Charting in different color ink for first, second, or third shift.

Clipboards at the foot of the bed for rounds.

Giving up your seat to the doctor. My first preceptor post RN obtainment insisted on it and some docs at that hospital expected it. The surgeons called the surgical floor "God's country." (verbatim).

Going by your title and last name "Nurse Shadow." (I kind of liked and miss that.)

Kardexes when done correctly were the bible of the patient's plan of care (both medical and nursing).

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

Polishing my white Clinic shoes and scrubbing the laces before clinicals. Yes, they were inspected.

The addressograph machine

Hand crank beds (in other words, the patient could not raise/ lower their head themselves)

OB before epidural anesthesia

Wards

[Pepper The Cat, BSN, RN]

Ah yes, 3 colour charting. What Fun!

Crank beds! I remember how excited I was when I started a new job and all the beds were electronic!

[caliotter3]

I had a geezer home care patient who told me that when I answered his phone, I should refer to myself as "Nurse last name". That is the only time anyone has ever made mention of proper forms of addressing each other or oneself.

[WKShadowNP, DNP, APRN]

Polishing my white Clinic shoes and scrubbing the laces before clinicals. Yes, they were inspected.

The addressograph machine

Hand crank beds (in other words, the patient could not raise/ lower their head themselves)

OB before epidural anesthesia

Wards

Ihavenickedmyfingerswiththosebluecardstryingtoswipethedangthing.

I am sorry my space bar seems to be malfunctioning.

[WKShadowNP, DNP, APRN]

Maybe tomorrow at work I will introduce myself as Nurse Shadow instead of, "Hi, My name is WK and I am one of the nurses."

[caliotter3]

Maybe tomorrow at work I will introduce myself as Nurse Shadow instead of, "Hi, My name is WK and I am one of the nurses."

There's always, "I am one of the hired help."

[poppycat, ADN, BSN]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned glass IV bottles.

Having to adjust IV flow rates using a roller clamp & your watch.

[sevensonnets]

Oh yes, having an absolute heart attack when the chart went splat all over the floor, usually when the chart was long overdue to be thinned. Counting narcs was never fun. Once the nurse counting with me caught the Demerol box on the edge of the shelf and 25 Demerols came raining down on our heads. We found all but one and had to do an incident report with the supervisor. I found it in my pocket when I got home! I used to make a postop bed in layers so all you had to do was peel off a layer every day and you never had to change the bed for days. Lots more but I'm tired right now.

[nursej22, MSN, RN]

Flat, non-fitted sheets, fingercots, Bird respirators for breathing treatments, tincture of opium.

[Emergent, RN]

IVs connected with needles instead of claves. IVP meds were given via syringe with needle into a hub. Needleless systems unknown.

Potassium kept concentrated in the units.

Continuing Ed consisted real classes and skills days instead of computer classes.

DAR and SOAP charting.

IV lines flushed with saline , then heparin, they were called heplocks, not saline locks.