tinyonern

LOL...when I started at one hospital we had a DON who believe a nurse, is a nurse and we floated from the NICU to L&D (until they refused to have anyone from NICU until they had been cross trained), ICU ( because there is sooo much similarity bet...

This has been a fun thread, talk about a walk down memory lane!! It is amazing how far we have come in just the 42 years I have been a nurse. So many things that were experimental now standard or passé! OMG poseys with metal keys...we all had one...

My diploma school, which was hospital based, (graduated 1974) had a white school uniform with the school name on pocket. Our caps were how people were able to tell year. Vertical stripe blue, first year; vertical yellow second; another vertical bl...

I'm retired now, but graduated in 1974 so definitely COB! I remember so many of these. Loved my cap (symbol of HARD work), but hated wearing it. Remember knocking it off my head on traction bar and being very grateful it hadn't ended up in somethi...

Working in the NICU and washing isolettes every three days. Mercury, glass thermometer that got broken frequently (like several a shift) and then chasing down the mercury with paper and bare hands. Sending isolettes between patients to be sterilize...

I had to leave work several times with migraines and severe wheezing because a co-worker worn perfume. I mentioned it to her, and she blew me off. Finally, had to go to supervisor (couldn't afford to lose any more work). I love perfume, but mus...

Be very, very careful if you go the insurance company route. It isn't physically taxing, but mentally it can be so stressful!! There were quotas, time constraints and an overall horrible work environment. This was at one of the largest companies. ...

Canigraduate, I can't begin to tell you how angry your post made me. Really?? It would have been fine had you just written "I think we would all appreciate..." Why was it necessary to be snarky?? I just don't understand why it is so important to b...

Excellent, well-written article. I do find it ironic however, since I feel this same verbal behavior existed on one of the threads recently. Several of the "older" established posters were condescending, then I felt, nasty. Sure, there was some de...

I have a bit different response to the OP. Obviously, it is important to leave work at work; but I believe part of the reason it is hard to leave this incident behind is thinking about WHY what you did didn't work. I am an experienced nurse with 40...

When I was working with seniors, I was horrified at the number of them that said they had stopped taking their meds because Dr.Oz said "...." When questioned whether he who had never seen or spoken with them or their Dr. who knew their medical histo...

I stayed in the NICU, in the same hospital for over 20 years. Technology was always changing and there was never any lack of things to learn. That being said, we also were the last generation to get a pension, so as one approached the time when one...

I HAVE had patients try to kill me when I was caring for them! We had a HIV patient in psych who would try and bite you or spit in your face. Or the patient who had treatment resistant TB who refused to wear a mask or stay in his room. How about g...

It is a specialized team who have trained to to care for this type of pt. No one will care for these pts except members of the team.

This is a response to designer-mommy. Take a deep breath, and realize you wouldn't have been hired if they didn't think YOU could do the job. Working in psych requires people skills, (well, all of nursing, but psych esp!) which I'm sure you have re...

I thought I was the only person who detests House! One of the worst medical shows ever. St. Elsewhere was not bad, ER also not bad. One of the least realistic nursing representation...Dr. Kildare!! LOL just dated myself.

Esme12 - I too have MS. I had left hospital nursing even though I loved it, but it got too dangerous (worked acute adult psych). I didn't know then I had MS. I started working an insurance company's telephonic disease management program for CAD, d...

In the unit I worked in you couldn't even float in unless you had neonatal CPR cert.

So refusing to hire a smoker is ok because cig smoke clings to clothes and bothers others. What about perfume? I have had asthma attacks triggered by perfume, never by the scent of smoke!! And what about vapers? That can be a nicotine product, so...

Rudy - and when my hospital started a pilot, we were given a choice to work 8 or 12. None of those who stayed on 8 begged to go to 12, and in fact when we were forced to because it was more cost effective and made staffing similar, most of us cried....

I fail to see any huge inacurrent generalizations, or for that matter hyperbole. I don't know what part of the country you work in, but where I live it is hard to find a hospital that offers any but 12 hr shifts! In the early 80s it was almost impo...

I have worked both, and I have to say that I also HATED 12s. 12 hr nocs especially sucked, I never felt rested. I once even fell asleep standing up taking a temp (leaning on an isolette)! 12 hr days at holiday time always made me cried, because I ...

The BSN only is almost an urban myth...when I graduated in 1974 from a diploma program, it was being said that within a few years one would need a BSN to be able to work. At that time the few BSN that I worked with were almost useless, one couldn't ...

How about having to wear your cap and white uniforms, absolutely no pants (even on the rehab floor).

All babies went to the nursery during visiting hours and at night. Breast feeding was frowned on. A baby was NEVER put on their back to sleep. Actually, one place I worked babies only went out to moms at feeding time, on a schedule. Hands and f...