"I Narcanned Your Honor Student"

Nurses General Nursing

Published

After browsing Reddit today, I came across something that troubled me deeply. This is not the first time I have seen something of this nature displayed. Once I seen an EMT with a VERY similar quote on a t-shirt. Being in nursing school has allowed me to open up and become compassionate about many things.

Why would someone take humour in this situation?

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.
After browsing Reddit today, I came across something that troubled me deeply. This is not the first time I have seen something of this nature displayed. Once I seen an EMT with a VERY similar quote on a t-shirt. Being in nursing school has allowed me to open up and become compassionate about many things.

Why would someone take humour in this situation?

Working in psych for several years, I've developed a warped and occasionally dark sense of humor. OK, correction: my sense of humor was rather warped to begin with...so it's become even more so.

OP: You are certainly allowed to have the feelings about it that you do. It could be construed as gallows humor, and that isn't necessarily everyone's cup of tea. Though personally, I see this as more of a statement against all those annoying decals/stickers/signs that a lot of cars have (don't even get me started on channeling George Carlin's "Baby on Board" bit!).

If/when you become a nurse and work a few years in the trenches, you may understand a. why some of us find such humor funny, and b. in the tough, high stress, and often thankless work of nursing, developing both a tough skin and a slightly warped/dark sense of humor is necessary to survive, let alone thrive. It's either that, or get emotionally burned out by year 2.

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I noticed that in the OP screenshot too, the Caduceus instead of the Staff of Asclepius, LOL. Fits with my "rockstar" theory.

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Specializes in Psych.

Coming from someone who addiction has been forefront the majority of my adult life (friends, family) I find this shirt to be the kick in the gut some parents need. One of my uncles would make comments basically saying how his kids would never get into that. Two of my cousins had known addictions. One of them is clean, raising a family, and is doing well. The other one died from sepsis while starting her recovery journey, leaving behind a daughter. She was the child of my uncle who swore up and down his kids would never.

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Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.

[

??? What is the point of this? Are

these lay people or healthcare personnel? You took a screen cap of a reddit forum but no clear title of that forum so we don't know what the posters professions are.

So you start a topic about how you don't like a bumper sticker, other nurses disagree so you take a random screen cap to try to defend your position?

There are many bumper stickers I don't like but I don't make threads about them, I just go on with my day. Hell, I think all bumper stickers are stupid.

That is a reddit forum, that last place I'm going to believe someone is a nurse. Especially when someone has the 'n word' following their screen name. Makes their credibility slip. Also, just because other people don't like that bumper

sticker doesn't validate your opinion any

more.

You can't be offended at us when you asked for our opinion.

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
I'm inclined to agree. I doubt that " I Narcanned Your Honor Student" is a part of a drug abuse awareness campaign. Do most people who don't work in healthcare even understand what "Narcanned" means?

In my area they sure do. It's been in the news for the last several years because now the police are carrying it, school nurses have it, pretty much all first responders do, and families can ask for a script to have it at home. Letters to the editor on both ends- some saying no one should have access to it and that addicts should just kill themselves and others advocating for it in hopes that those who end up needing it get a wakeup call and head to rehab.

I can see it being gallows humor, and I can see it being a message that addiction hits everyone. My ER has had nearly 30 ODs per week. My OR has performed organ harvests on brain dead OD patients nearly weekly for a period. One of them was the high school honor student, dean's list at prestigious university child of a surgeon. Three other surgeons and anesthesiologists have lost their children to drugs. Between the experience of knowing people who have lost children to drugs (and 1 of them having been a good friend at one point) as well as being on the end of those organ harvests, it's either laugh or cry.

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This is going to come off harsh, but I have concerns for when you start working as a nurse if something like this deeply troubled you. I understand that everyone has a different sense of humor, and that's perfectly fine. Unfortunately, though, nursing can be a bit messier than an offensive t-shirt or bumper sticker. I hope that you have a strong support system for the troubling days...

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Specializes in SICU, trauma, neuro.

I personally don't care for it, but then I don't care for the "My Snowflake is an Honor Student at Acme High" bumper stickers either.

I'm not above gallows humor though, out of pt/family earshot. Like PPs say, it's a coping mechanism.

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Specializes in Psych, Peds, Education, Infection Control.
Personally I just think it's stupid in that "Everybody look at me, I'm a Rockstar" kind of way. It's actually more about the braggadocio of the person wearing it than the problem of either overdoses or honor students, which I guess I just don't find attractive or impressive. Same reason I wouldn't be caught dead wearing or carrying anything with any "nursing" slogans on it ("Would you rather speak to the doctor or the ***NURSE*** who knows what's going on?"). What is hilarious is the number of times I've seen people wearing these and, well, they haven't quite actually made it to Rockstar status yet. :rolleyes:

ETA: I have a family, and it includes honor students. I don't need any shirts, tote bags or bumper stickers representing those facts either. All stupid.

I agree. I find so many of those popular "nurse" slogans so pretentious. I own like three...not all of which I wear outside of the house, LOL. The "Night Shift - Keeping 'Em Alive 'til 7:05" is one of my favorites, but the other two are just silly humor that I wear around the house to sleep in (such as "I See Naked People - It's Not As Exciting as You Think.") The only "nurse" thing I've ever taken to work is my mug... ;) "I Am a Nurse...I am Invincible...I am Tired." I like it because it's real without being "look at how great I am." Full disclosure: I do have a "nurses are rockstars" mug, but it was a gift. ;)

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Specializes in Psych, Peds, Education, Infection Control.
I am not going to comment on the bumper-sticker because of the week I had, but I often think about the relationship between pain and humor. It seems like all humor is rooted in pain.

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...I couldn't help myself. But, seriously, I agree - even socially acceptable humor often comes from darker places. And don't get me started on how many people in comedy have mental health issues they use comedy to cope with.

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I don't find it disturbing but I don't find it funny per say and I enjoy dark nurse humor. I just think by now we should all realize that addiction just isn't for the "low lives of the world". It's truly a public health crisis that is impacting people of all races and income with no good solution for it.

Of course dealing with addicts can be frustrating but then I think back on stupid choices I have made in moments of vulnerability or fear. Granted, I never did drugs in those moments but these people made one mistake, one time. But that one time made them addicts for a lifetime. I count my blessings that I haven't been in a situation where taking pills or shooting up seemed like an acceptable alternative.

My husband's good friend came from a great family with all the opportunities in the world. Became an addict through taking pills as a teenager, eventually went to heroin, but got clean. He had one whole year of sobriety, a full time job, and overdosed/died after he tried it one more time. It was heart breaking. He wasn't an evil or terrible person, he just couldn't escape it, no matter how much support he had.

I just think we need more compassion/awareness that this is a disease. For me, blowing off steam between co workers in the break room to cope with the difficulties of working with addicts is far different than displaying that coping mechanism on your car.

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Specializes in Psych, Peds, Education, Infection Control.

Don't take it personally or be offended by it, you to will more than likely experience this in the workplace as a nurse and will eventually have a dark sense of humor yourself.

Annie

...though there's always one nurse in every workplace who enjoys being high and mighty and feels the need to go out of the way to remind others that their gallows humor "isn't funny" and is "unprofessional and inappropriate."

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Specializes in Cardiac Care.
...though there's always one nurse in every workplace who enjoys being high and mighty and feels the need to go out of the way to remind others that their gallows humor "isn't funny" and is "unprofessional and inappropriate."

The OP isn't even a nurse yet.

And now I'm going to shut the hell up before I say something about non-nurses telling nurses how they should act and feel without walking a mile in my shoes. Or something like that. SMDH.

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