Recurrent Nightmares About Work

[rnay312]

Hi all,

I'm just curious if anyone has recurrent bad dreams about work. I have this dream about once a month - that it's 0300 (I work 1900-0730) and I haven't done my initial assessments or passed out 2100 meds yet. I haven't even seen a patient yet, and I always think, "What the heck have I been doing for the last 8 hours?!"

I've recently started working Couplets, and had a dream last week that I dropped three babies during my shift. I totally forgot about this dream until I was actually working and a dad was handing his baby to me. It was a frightening flashback to have right at that moment!

And one more... My dream job is to work in the NICU, and I had a dream that I was working there and lost twin patients. It is extremely morbid but the sight of their gray lifeless bodies was so disturbing to me, and in my dream I thought, "I can't do this." When I woke up I was fine, and I realize that these things are most likely going to happen. My husband said it was ironic of me to have a nightmare about my dream job.

I'm typically a very happy and positive person, but I am extremely critical of myself and wonder if this has anything to do with it. Anyone else have weird work-related dreams?

[applewhitern, BSN, RN]

I am no dream expert, but I have read before that dreaming is simply your brain's way of sorting things into long-term, short-term memory; throwing things out, and retaining others. I have also read that dreaming is very essential to your physical and mental health. I don't think any dream has any "special significance" or "special meaning." Simply a filing system. I think every nurse is terrified they will drop a baby; before I worked in pediatric ICU, I was scared of the same things as you, in your dream. I've been dreaming about work lately, too. I dream that I don't know where I am supposed to be, what unit, what hospital, or I can't find my car in the hospital parking lot. I've been "pulled" a lot lately, though.

[Penelope_Pitstop, BSN, RN]

Oh yeah, that's another one I have all the time,I dream I wake up and I am supposed to be at work.Although that HAS happened so that dream isn't all that far fetched.

Did you just oversleep or is the story better than that? If so, please share!

I work midnights so I have woken up in a cold sweat because I think it's 6 PM and I should be getting ready for work, but no, it's 6 AM.

One evening, my mom woke me up to tell me she brought something good home for dinner and apparently I sat up and said to her, "I just GAVE her pain meds!" then laid back down. I've also told bf to "ring your callbell if you need anything...don't get up by yourself" if he goes to bed before I do.

[Flare, ASN, BSN]

I remember having dreams live that when i was doing unit nursing - dreams where I never did an ounce of charting or passed a single med. I remember waking up so darned relieved that it was only a dream that I vowed to learn a lesson - even if it was only a dream and be just that much more time efficient to get it all done in time and you know what - it really did work in my favor.

Embrace your nightmares, learn from them.

[Pangea Reunited, ASN, RN]

I dream about work all the time. I also spring awake at 5AM every morning when I'm off- because that's when I start passing my morning meds.