Reminiscing

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Talking the other day at work about how much things have changed since our training days in the 60s and 70s.The young ones couldnt believe that there were designated areas for different years of training in the meal rooms.We werent allowed to enter a lift before our senior nurses or doctors.I can remember that if someone died on your shift you were responsible for that person till they had been removed to the morgue.Had to stay back once 2 hours after my shift ended at 11pmbecause of that and still had to start at 6 in the morning.Split shifts were normal.The opening of pillow cases had to face away from the doorway.(still do that out of habit).Testing urine using a bunsen burner.What do others remember?

Specializes in Ortho/Neuro.

Wow, these are great. Times sure do change.

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Specializes in Critical Care, and Management.

Thanks for bringing back old memories. I have a few. I remember the pillowcases open faced to the window, seams down on the sheets and blankets. How about counting needle hubs? If you were missing one you were written up at the end of the shift. I had an extra one that I kept in my purse for many years as a good luck charm. Recently a new grad looked at me funny when I suggested that we get a manual BP for the patient. She told me she knew how to use them but she was really trained on electronic cuffs. I remember dip sticks for urine testing. How about paper charting? Glass IV bottles? Writing care plans? Better staffing and better ratios? How about working with doctors who treated you better and didn't spend their whole day worrying about being sued? I could go on.Thanks again.

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Specializes in Almost everywhere.

Metal bedpans...urinals and yes...enema buckets! Brrrrr!

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Geriatrics, Call Center RN.

I remember as a candy-striper pushing patients to x-ray or such with their glass IV bottles banging together. They used glass thermometers. And in nursing school we gave each other shots, and started IV's on each other. I just got my RN and the students there were shocked that we did this. How about taking the NCLEX on paper and pencil. The LPN was 1 day, and I think the RN was 2 days long. And oh those proctors.....:jester:

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Specializes in Education, Acute, Med/Surg, Tele, etc.

One day I was working with some new grad RN's and they were stumped about a patient. I went in and they were just flabbergausted that they couldn't find the pulse ox and stopped their assessment full! Ummmmm ever heard of treating the pt and not the machine???

So I have them the low down on how to check someone and when to notify MD (and what a ABG was for..LOL!). They appreciated my advice...The patient also had some horrid lung sounds which was great for the nurses to hear! And a pacemaker...which I had them listen to and see on a monitor!

It was a great assessment, but wow...to stop dead in your tracks because of no pulse ox??? UHGGGGG!

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Specializes in NICU, Telephone Triage.
I can remember having to add a clinitest tablet to so many drops of urine to a tube add so much water. hold the tube over a bunsen burner boil it and then wait so long to see the colour of the urine.If it turned blue it was negative for sugar then there was brown and green.It depended on the colour as to how much sugar was in the urine.Also had to boil urine and add drops of some acidic (I think) solution when testing for protein.I was forever burning my fingers.The invention of multistix was a gift from heaven.Also remember being taught that if urine smelt like new mown grass that ketones were present in urine.Also when I started sputum mugs had no disposable inserts.I used to be either gagging or vomiting when I had to clean those out.Especially if they had dried a little.

Oh, yeah I've done that, too but not with a bunsen burner.;)

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Specializes in NICU, Telephone Triage.
I remember as a candy-striper pushing patients to x-ray or such with their glass IV bottles banging together. They used glass thermometers. And in nursing school we gave each other shots, and started IV's on each other. I just got my RN and the students there were shocked that we did this. How about taking the NCLEX on paper and pencil. The LPN was 1 day, and I think the RN was 2 days long. And oh those proctors.....:jester:

Oh, Yeah, I hated the boards and the pencil and paper...and the way those proctors would scream out how much time you had left and when to put your pencil down. THEN, we had to wait for 6-8 weeks for the results! Now it's pretty fast, huh? Lucky nurses these days who get results fast!!

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Specializes in NICU, Telephone Triage.
Thanks for bringing back old memories. I have a few. I remember the pillowcases open faced to the window, seams down on the sheets and blankets. How about counting needle hubs? If you were missing one you were written up at the end of the shift. I had an extra one that I kept in my purse for many years as a good luck charm. Recently a new grad looked at me funny when I suggested that we get a manual BP for the patient. She told me she knew how to use them but she was really trained on electronic cuffs. I remember dip sticks for urine testing. How about paper charting? Glass IV bottles? Writing care plans? Better staffing and better ratios? How about working with doctors who treated you better and didn't spend their whole day worrying about being sued? I could go on.Thanks again.

We still do paper charting. not all places do it by computer. And my 2 jobs have a lot of paper work related to care plans...I think JCAHO is requiring a lot more paperwork...ugh.

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Specializes in NICU, Telephone Triage.
How about heat lamps for decubitus care? I remember positioning pt on their side, and holding the skin folds up and out of the way with tape attached to the side rails, and painting the decubitus ulcer with MOM.

We will sometimes use a heatlamp for a bad diaper rash. It helps.

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Specializes in NICU, Telephone Triage.
I remember when gallbladder removal was a major surgery, and those patients were really sick. The memory is kind of dim, as I saw this while still a student. Didn't they have NG tubes draining bile? Now they have 3 bandaids, and recover at home.

I remember having several patients receiving tube feedings via NG tube, and they were always pulling them out in the nursing homes. I could re-insert them with my eyes closed, because I had to do this so often (even if they were combative). Now, they've gone the way of the dinosaur in LTC, thank goodness.

I remember glass IV bottles.

I remember wearing a nurse's cap!!

We never wore a cap during school, but they made us wear one for graduation! Silly. There was also one hospital that required their nurses to wear all white and a cap....

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Specializes in Med-Surg, , Home health, Education.

I remember lots of the old stuff- especially those glass IV bottles and the glass suction jars on the old Gomko suction machines. I used to wear my cap to work but worked in Peds and they loved to grab it and the hair it was pinned to as well. I remember reading an article many years ago about new bacteria they feared would be resistant to antibiotics.....sometimes I miss the old days..some I don't for sure!

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I've only been an RN for 9 years now but have had conversations at work about how it used to be.

The nurses and docs smoked in the breakroom. The patients were allowed to smoke in their rooms and had ashtrays.

No one used gloves.

We still do urine dips. And paper charting. And manual bp's when there is a question about accuracy of the machine. We have great staffing ratios. We get along well with the docs. I'm not sure those are just signs of the old days. ;)

The smoking thing still amazes me . ... .when the break room door would open, smoke would billow out into the hallway from all the staff in there smoking. :uhoh3:

steph

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