bmck97004

Pardon the misspelling - tried to edit but that function didn't seem to work.

I was a nurse in the era of hand-written orders - they could be challenging! One of my favorites (and most difficult to decipher) was the order to discharge when alimenting! I also loved the order "May stand to whiz". Fund times!

I was taught aspiration (50+ years ago) and practiced it faithfully throughout my 40 year career. I probably aspirated blood maybe twice but why tempt fate? I was very good at giving IM's and aspiration was simply a part of the routine moves. If it becomes a habit, it's never missed.

I had a dear friend who worked in Critical Care for many years. When a young doctor started getting irritated and angry about middle of the night phone calls, she took him aside and told him that if he continued to act that way, the nurses would quit calling him, and he might not be informed of things he needed to know. He took it to heart and became one of the easiest doctors to call. Words of wisdom!

I started my career as a nurses'aide and graduated from nursing school in 1968. In 40 years as an RN i went through many of the uniforms described. Some additional comments - I was very proud of wearing my cap but found it to be in the way, especially when working with a patient with a trapeze over their bed. Our caps were anchored in place with numerous bobby pins, and clipping them on the trapeze bar could remove a patch of hair! Also, where I worked, when we were allowed to start wearing pant uniforms, we were required to have the top long enough to cover the hip area - an interesting concept since short skirts could be worn and they were much more revealing than a pair of pants!

When my daughter was in nursing school, she was told by one of her instructors that she should give up on being an RN - she'd never make it. Now she's a house supervisor in a large urban hospital. Don't give up and don't listen to all of the negatives!

I've been retired for several years, but we used to get a beautiful geranium plant - was a lovely gift that I looked forward to ever year!

How about glass blood transfusion bottles?!? I dropped one once - glass and blood EVERYWHERE!!!

I tripped on the sidewalk going into work one day and fell, breaking a rib. Instead of going to work, I went to the ER! Didn't have to call in - everyone saw what condition I was in....