Requesting Help With Dream Interpretation

[Davey Do]

In my final last few years of working as a nurse were rather stressful. However, I regularly had really good dreams. I remember saying, "I can't wait until I fall to sleep to see where my dreams will take me".

Since I retired a year and a half ago, my dreams have changed. I regularly have dreams where I'm struggling to deal with some sort of situation. Plus, a lot of my dreams have to do with nursing.

I attribute this change in my dreams to the change in my life. When my life was more stressful, my dreams were an entertaining escape. Now that my life is nothing short of being continually enjoyable, my dreams are more serious in nature.

Like last night, I had an uncomfortable nursing dream. I'll set the stage with this simple drawing:

I was at work and a morning meeting was called. A group of staff lined up as if in a roll call. There happened to be three male nurses named Dave and a good natured joke was made with little chatters of laughter.

While I was standing in the group, a patient in need of some heavy duty hygienic measure crawled up to me through the crowd. I immediately picked him up and carried him to a lower level, down stairs, where I knew I could clean him up. As I carried him through the crowd, I felt ticked that no one offered to assist me, and I was especially upset with the other two Daves.

As I carried the patient to the lower level, I saw that it was a mess, with dirty laundry and such strewn on the floor.

I laid the patient down by something that looked like a transporter from Star Trek and went to a washing machine to gather supplies in order to clean the patient up. When I returned, the patient was in the process of falling to the floor. I was happy to be able to block his fall, as his head did not hit the floor, but landed on my foot.

I bent over to examine the patient, and was shocked to see his head fall off of his neck. I was relieved when I saw wires coming out of his head, knowing that the patient wasn't a human being, but a robot.

I wondered if I should follow the paperwork fall protocol, since he was a robot and not a real human being. I decided to go ahead with the paperwork to CYA.

One of the Daves said he wouldn't worry about any paperwork, that I wouldn't be blamed for any patient neglect because the patient was a robot. I ignored the other Dave and went ahead and filled out the paperwork.

What is your interpretation of this nursing dream?

[Daisy4RN]

“Now that my life is nothing short of being continually enjoyable, my dreams are more serious in nature.”

Interruption:

Your life is now enjoyable and you are somewhat afraid that will change (ie waiting for the shoe to drop).

In real life, you were very attentive and caring as a nurse and hope/expect other nurses to behave the same way that you did, and they did not.  You want the other Nurses in the dream to be “Dave’s”, to care as much as you did and pull their own weight. And, although you were a diligent and caring nurse you now wonder if part of the stress you endured was self inflicted, was there really a need to follow p/p every time, did I really need to CYA so much, did I do the right thing by spending so much time with that patient who didn’t even care, much less know I was trying to help (ie he was a robot), should I have spent that time more wisely. 

We all second guess ourselves and I think your subconscious is speaking to you. I would advise you to just enjoy every day that you are able to knowing that you were a great nurse who did the best he could to help the people who were put in your path; while simultaneously telling yourself that you are not responsible for the actions of others. 
carpi diem

[evastone, BSN, RN]

Going to be introspective with this here...

The three Dave's are various components of your psyche. One is more serious and the moral compass for your actions. The second is chilled out and chooses to worry as little as possible. I bet he was the one who cracked a joke about the names. The third is your subconscious, hence the silence. 

The dirty patient is a culmination of your frustrations in nursing. These are the figurative and literal messes that incompetent colleagues and administrators have left you to clean up. You are left with little to no resources and are forced to drag your patient and improvise to meet patient needs. 

The patient falls but turns out to be a robot. These are the incidents or near misses where no harm was caused but you still feel guilty about them, hence the fall report. You feel that you take your job more seriously than others and question their lack of involvement in the care of patients. 

Perhaps you feel guilty about your new found freedom. This dream occurs now as a reminder to why you are happily retired and to assure you that you did your job well as a nurse in impossible situations. 

[Emergent, RN]

My interpretation is that you are not done with processing your nursing career with your conscious mind.

I have spent three months dismantling a barn. During this time I have consciously gone over my nursing career with a fine-tooth comb. My previous stoic personality has given way to frequent crying spells.

I started a job at the farm store. I have had little to none nursing anxiety dreams. I'm learning the new job as a cashier, and recently I had dream about a pile of returns, and I was processing these through the computerized cash register.

One thing about returns is that the cashier has to reconcile what the customer paid. You don't want to return more money then they paid because the price might have gone up since they bought the item. So my cashier anxiety dream was that, "did I check the price that they paid?"? It made me realize that I have definitely made my transition out of Nursing, instead of worrying about the narcotics count, I have to worry about the till count.

[CalicoKitty, BSN, MSN, RN]

I had a dream that I moved to a new (rural) area and decided to get a job in a critical access hospital. And somehow ended up on the 7th floor unit. Lots of anxiety about phlebotomy and IVs.. and.. really not sure how a critical hospital had a 7th floor unit. ?  It will be hard for me to swap out of my specialty to going back to bedside.

[Davey Do]

Excellent dream interpretations, Daisy, Emergent, & evastone!

The symbolic interpretations are worth consideration. I got to thinking yesterday after I posted and a couple of thoughts & memories came to mind.

One was that I had really experienced being in a crowd at Wrongway Regional Medical Center on Skills Day and there being another nurse named Dave who worked in ER. His behavior did not make a good impression on me.

The other thought was of an online survey I took from St. Anomaly's Hospital. I recently had a routine checkup with my PMD & labs drawn there. I gave high points in all areas, mentioned the staff that I dealt with by name, and especially noted the beauty & cleanliness of the facility. There was a small sculpture and a painting in the waiting area that I specifically studied.

Even with renovations and cleaning, Wrongway always seemed to be dirty. I wonder if my subconscious wad not only speaking in symbols as you all interpreted, but was also comparing notes?

[Davey Do]

Your post had extra interest with me, @Emergent, with your crying spells and dreams about your new job.

Crying is a great release and "we all know", as Herman's Hermits sang, "is not a bad thing". I'm just wondering if anything in particular, any thought or memory, sparks a crying episode.

Don't feel as though you need to bare your soul, but I ask out of interest for you, a virtual friend that I hold in high esteem. It's also interesting to discuss & compare thoughts & feelings about our former nursing careers.

[Davey Do]

Technical problems... please stand by.

[Daisy4RN]

21 hours ago, Emergent said:

My interpretation is that you are not done with processing your nursing career with your conscious mind.

I have spent three months dismantling a barn. During this time I have consciously gone over my nursing career with a fine-tooth comb. My previous stoic personality has given way to frequent crying spells.

I started a job at the farm store. I have had little to none nursing anxiety dreams. I'm learning the new job as a cashier, and recently I had dream about a pile of returns, and I was processing these through the computerized cash register.

One thing about returns is that the cashier has to reconcile what the customer paid. You don't want to return more money then they paid because the price might have gone up since they bought the item. So my cashier anxiety dream was that, "did I check the price that they paid?"? It made me realize that I have definitely made my transition out of Nursing, instead of worrying about the narcotics count, I have to worry about the till count.

Nothing wrong with crying spells! Seems it was a good way to process your nursing career and ‘let it go’. I do wonder though why the cashier anxiety dream. Are you really that anxious about giving the wrong change or is it an extension of nursing dreams (like a trigger PTSD response). Either way I am sure it will get better over time as any job does! I was a cashier at a drug store many moons ago so I do remember having a little anxiety over those issues but it definitely got easier with time. Back then we had to use a charge machine, you remember those kind that you placed the card in, placed the paper over and imprinted it. I know, I am showing my age LOL. Good luck! 

[Emergent, RN]

@Daisy4RN

These cash register machines are quite sophisticated these days. It's like learning an EMR

[Daisy4RN]

12 minutes ago, Emergent said:

@Daisy4RN

These cash register machines are quite sophisticated these days. It's like learning an EMR

Yeah, I thought about that. I honestly don’t think I would be up for that at this point. The registers I used are definitely antiquated at this point. I can see how the news ones would be difficult to learn. I admire you stepping out of nursing and saving yourself. Good luck with the new cash register technology!

[Emergent, RN]

@Daisy4RN

They aren't that bad, but it is learning curve. One thing I have to say is that it is easier for the cashier if you use a card.

One thing I always loved about nursing was connecting with the patients, and finding their sweet spot no matter where they were coming from. At a farm store, you cannot believe how much better the customers are than patients. We have a lot of tradesman come through, and a lot of the old timer farmers. We give out free coffee so it is a social scene for a lot of those folk. These customers are the greatest!