The case of the missing pens: A rant and an idea

[Florence NightinFAIL]

so i recently went from a big city, teaching hospital where i was spoiled with, among other things, the latest equipment/machines, pcas, iv team, etc...and best of all

endless pen supplies for staff. :heartbeat

at my new small, dingy, community hospital - under the same health authority as above - the hospital is old, the equipment is old, pcas are available once in a blue moon, iv teams are unheard of, and everyone hoards whatever pen they have with their lives. you leave it unattended for 5 seconds and its gone.

most of my day is hunting for stupid pens. just today i lost three! three. i have no idea why the hospital does not supply it. it's not the price of the pens i'm upset about - i could get a dozen from the dollar store for a buck - but considering how much charting we do in a shift [] i really can't afford to waste precious time looking for **** pens all day.

anyway - i hope some of you can relate to how annoying this is. i just finished a night shift and instead of enjoying my cozy bed, i'm online trying to figure out how i can stop losing my darn pens and this is what i found:

pens with attached clips

have any of ever used them? the reviews i found were that they were cheap and broke easily. i shall keep on searching though until solve this problem of mine.

what are your pen woes?

[curtiv]

i hate when people steal my pens!!! I decided to find the culprit or culprits... I had a whole mess of pens made

by a website called vistaprint. the often have free deals ... and I had all my pens printed with

This pen STOLEN FROM Vicki ODonnell RN

its seems like they dont like my pens anymore...

[klone, MSN, RN]

Clearly you need to start going to more professional nursing conferences.

[klone, MSN, RN]

Someone needs to teach me the earlobe trick.

I think you have to gauge your ears for that to work. Definitely an interesting idea, though.

[dthfytr, ADN, LPN, RN, EMT-B, EMT-I]

MORE EVIDENCE FOR MY THEORY! I firmly believe that there are small black holes floating around the earth. They gobble up pens, medical records, charts, airline luggage, and one sock from every load of laundry, returning the items at random times and places. I can't prove my theory yet, but just once let somebody open their clothes washer and find it full of medical records, and I'll have my proof!

[Poi Dog]

MORE EVIDENCE FOR MY THEORY! I firmly believe that there are small black holes floating around the earth. They gobble up pens, medical records, charts, airline luggage, and one sock from every load of laundry, returniny the items at random times and places. I can't prove my theory yet, but just once let somebody open their clothes washer and find it full of medical records, and I'll have my proof!

Those small black holes also gobble up my dinero

I confess that I am a pen addict. It is out of control!

[Whispera, MSN, RN]

They go where socks go, definitely. Or where shoes go. I know where THAT is. Near my home there's a spot the locals call "Shoe Corner." Every few weeks a truck load of shoes shows up there. Eventually someone gathers them up, and then a few weeks later another new load shows up. It's quite interesting.

[gentlegiver, ASN, LPN, RN]

Confession, I have over a billion pens in my possession, most have come from folks like you:). I am a pen thief. I don't do it on purpose... If you send your name and address, I will share the wealth. Peace!

Chin up, you have come out of the closet!! I'm so proud of you! Now you need to work on the thievery. And as much as I like you... Keep Away From My Pens!!!!!!!!

[AOx1]

I had some pens printed with "Stolen from: AO x1" and let the silliness of this do its work. I've actually had nearly all the stolen ones return :)

These are also fun. http://www.amazon.com/Borrow-My-Pen-Asstd-Pens/dp/B001ACF2M8/ref=sr_1_1?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1307484832&sr=1-1

[nursej22, MSN, RN]

I often imagined a giant landfill heaped with all of the pens I have lost. I can honestly say that I have only one pen that ever ran out of ink. It was a Pilot Dr. Grip that I used while doing my BSN. Gosh I loved that pen. I wonder what ever happened to it?

I am getting better, though. Part of it is being pickier about my uniform tops. They must have deep, patch pockets:. no slash pockets or shallow ones that stuff can fallout of when I sit down.

There are 2 kinds of people in this world: pen losers and pen finders. Luckily I am married to a pen finder.

[Forever Sunshine, ASN, RN]

You'd appreciate Jerry Seinfeld's bit about escaping socks... (yeah I'm obsesed with him a little bit!)

"The dryer is their only chance to escape and they all know it... they plan it out in the hamper the night before: Tomorrow - the dryer - I'm going! You wait here! They get buttons sewn on their face, join a puppet show..."

The dryer is out to get me. It destroys my chapsticks. The washing machine isn't any better because it dissolves the Listerine Breath Strips i leave in my scrub top pockets. I open the washing machine and my laundry smells like Vicks

[CompleteUnknown]

MORE EVIDENCE FOR MY THEORY! I firmly believe that there are small black holes floating around the earth. They gobble up pens, medical records, charts, airline luggage, and one sock from every load of laundry, returning the items at random times and places. I can't prove my theory yet, but just once let somebody open their clothes washer and find it full of medical records, and I'll have my proof!

No no no it's not black holes, that's been proven. It's small cracks in the in the region of space and time where all the parallel universes intersect. Sometimes these cracks widen slightly and small things like pens and socks are very prone to slipping through. Sometimes things can slip from another universe into ours and that's why you'll find odd socks on the floor (note how it's usually at the corner of the room behind something, socks never just appear on the carpet in front of you while you're sitting watching TV for example) and unfamiliar pens in your pocket (again, there are 'edges' in a pocket). It's a big problem and I'm disappointed that the scientists aren't taking it more seriously!

[K+MgSO4, BSN]

It is the same black hole that swallows hair ties and hair grips. There is a similar one in the restaurant industry it swallows all the teaspoons and order pads!