Back in July of '16, my medical nurse wife Belinda rented us a cabin in the foothills of Missouri in order to celebrate our wedding anniversary. I wore a pair of jeans and an old scrub top for the long drive.
We had just unpacked when Belinda said, "Let's take a walk down to the river".
We were walking down the gravel path with a slight slight decline when Belinda's right leg slid out from under her and she landed on her bottom.
"Here- I'll help you up", I said.
Belinda replied, in her calm, usual manner, "I think I broke my ankle".
Sure enough, she had fractured her tibia and required an ORIF.
After my retirement last Spring, I let my old scrubs hang in my closet. Last Fall, I decided to wear one of my scrub tops.
That night, I had to take Belinda into the ER for what was diagnosed as cholecystitis.
I made note of this to Belinda, that the two times I had worn scrub tops outside of work, she had to go to the ER.
"I'm not going to wear my scrub tops any more", I said.
I once worked in a hospital with a predominantly Chinese staff. They wanted to require a uniform color of scrubs, but could never decide on one because every color had some strong association with something.
Black: causes death
Red: announces how much you love money
Blue: you'll cause a patient to give birth to a boy
I forget the rest, but I kind of liked the superstitions because I didn't want to wear a uniform!
Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
Here's something that I use to do that was a kind of ritualistic superstitious act:
When I was done with all of my duties in the wee hours of the morning, and had no admissions waiting, I'd make up charts- you know, covers, name cards, indexes, standard forms, etc.
And if I took report on a "possible" transfer or admission, I'd find out as much information as I could, make up a chart, and put initial notes in the computer.
My peers believed me to be conscientious and hard-working when in fact, I was warding off The Evil Spirits of Admissions!
Specializes in ED, Tele, MedSurg, ADN, Outpatient, LTC, Peds.
Definitely the Q word! The S---t hit the ceiling EVERY time!
I had a light green and yellow Spring blouse that my sister gifted me with.There was also a green cotton jacket to wear over that blouse. I could never wear either together or separately! The first time I wore it as the evening manager in the ER, a psych patient came inside and shot himself in the head in the ER. We scooped him, intubated him and transferred him to the trauma center. He died 2 days later.
The second time, a psych pt who was not properly searched took out a lighter and burned his mattress. His room had a thin wall and was next to the OR with it's gases!! We had to evacuate the entire ED with.nurses bagging vents! It was a nightmare!
The third time a guy came with a sword ( I kid you not), strung up and high into the ER waiting room screaming and threatening one and all. He was secured. This was in Bronx, NY!
I put the blouse back! Last week I wore it after a very long time. The entire day in the clinic went from bad to worse. It ended with a pt going to the ED for an allergic reaction in the clinic.
I put it in the bag for the salvation army! Hubby pulled it out saying it looked so pretty and new!
Sigh!
I am now waiting on an opportunity to trash ,burn or cut it up!
Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
40 minutes ago, spotangel said:
I had a light green and yellow Spring blouse that my sister gifted me with.There was also a green cotton jacket to wear over that blouse. I could never wear either together or separately!
I am now waiting on an opportunity to trash, burn or cut it up!
I amnow waiting on an opportunity to trash ,burn or cut it up!
I have always found the burn barrel to be the best at getting rid of the bad mojo.
On 1/12/2021 at 8:34 PM, sevensonnets said:
Not a superstition exactly, but a great way to jinx yourself: Don't ever utter the name of your worst nightmare patient in the history of your nursing career unless you're absolutely positive they're no longer in the land of the living. To do so guarantees that 5 minutes before you're headed to lunch ER will call with a report on GUESS WHO. They're already on the elevator headed your way, stretcher overloaded with 4 suitcases, plastic bags and a big sack full of 50 pills, inhalers and eyedrops. Then you can kiss lunch goodbye that day and the next 2 weeks.
Sounds like a familiar situation but in my case add a big barrel of cheetos and the pt coming in on their own scooter. Gotta love the frequent fliers!
Some of the most superstitious people on the planet.
During my teenage years, I went rockfish fishing with my father, two brothers, and three of our father's coworkers. Some time after the boat took us into the water, everyone opened their grocery bags that contained snacks. One of my father's coworkers was from Poland and brought bananas. Immediately after he showed the bananas, the first mate grabbed the bananas and tossed it overboard. Apparently, bananas on boats results in bad luck. The superstition rang true, as the other charter boats were consistently catching fish around us, while we only got one.
Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
9 minutes ago, Thought said:
Apparently, bananas on boats results in bad luck. The superstition rang true, as the other charter boats were consistently catching fish around us, while we only got one.
On 1/15/2021 at 8:08 PM, SmilingBluEyes said:
Nurses and fishermen.
Some of the most superstitious people on the planet.
23 hours ago, Davey Do said:
I had to Google fishermen superstitions, but by gum, SBE, you are correct!
YES!
Thought, when I Googled fisherman superstitions, sure enough bananas were on the list!
Sour Lemon
5,016 Posts
I once worked in a hospital with a predominantly Chinese staff. They wanted to require a uniform color of scrubs, but could never decide on one because every color had some strong association with something.
Black: causes death
Red: announces how much you love money
Blue: you'll cause a patient to give birth to a boy
I forget the rest, but I kind of liked the superstitions because I didn't want to wear a uniform!