The good ole days of nursing...share your stories!

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I'm am currently being precepted by a well seasoned nurse. She graduated from a diploma program in the mid 70s and has been a nurse ever since. I love the stories she shares about going to nursing school, sitting for nclex, and all the things she has seen and done over the years. There is such a big difference from when she started as a nurse to what nursing has become now. I am very interested in hearing stories from other nurses who have been in the field awhile as well as opinions on changes with schooling, work ethic, etc. Im interested in hearing comparisons of nursing now vs. back in the day. Any and all stories and opinions appreciated :)

Specializes in retired LTC.

To WK - I see your pin on your right lapel.

To anyone out there - could there be some way that nurses here could post pix of their school pins (and caps!) and identify their schools??????

I think that'd be neat!

Of course, I don't have the computer savvy to post anything (computerily-challenged dinosaur here, grrrr).

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I still wear my pin. After 38 years fastening it on is as much a part of the morning routine as brushing my teeth. Only lost it one time. I cried! Finally found it in the pocket of my scrubs. It had come unfastened and slid down the front of me into my pocket!

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Specializes in 15 years in ICU, 22 years in PACU.
To WK - I see your pin on your right lapel.

To anyone out there - could there be some way that nurses here could post pix of their school pins (and caps!) and identify their schools??????

I think that'd be neat!

Of course, I don't have the computer savvy to post anything (computerily-challenged dinosaur here, grrrr).

I'll be the first!

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Love this!:) Thanks for all the responses! Keep em coming!

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Specializes in Cardiac Care.

I remember that IV bottles and chest tube containers were glass.

Patients were admitted for cataract surgery, and their recovery last for about a week with the patient lying flat on their back with sandbags next to their head so they wouldn't turn from side to side.

The floor had a single med nurse, who had to pour and dispense the meds from the locked medroom, for the entire floor from a single cart she wheeled up and down the hall.

Dalmane 15 or 30 mg po HS for sleep.

A female nurse without her cap was violating the dress code.

Smoking at the nurses station and in the coffee shop.

An appendectomy patient could expect to be hospitalized for 7-9 days.

I'm sure I'll think of more.

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Specializes in Med Surg/ICU/Psych/Emergency/CEN/retired.
I remember that IV bottles and chest tube containers were glass.

Patients were admitted for cataract surgery, and their recovery last for about a week with the patient lying flat on their back with sandbags next to their head so they wouldn't turn from side to side.

The floor had a single med nurse, who had to pour and dispense the meds from the locked medroom, for the entire floor from a single cart she wheeled up and down the hall.

Dalmane 15 or 30 mg po HS for sleep.

A female nurse without her cap was violating the dress code.

Smoking at the nurses station and in the coffee shop.

An appendectomy patient could expect to be hospitalized for 7-9 days.

I'm sure I'll think of more.

I remember all of the above. And remember the guy admitted for back pain and in pelvic traction, but the patient spent a great deal of his time in the chair out of traction smoking? And I gave one codeine the entire shift. And the woman in pelvic traction who also spent little time in traction. MD said the time in the hospital for this woman gave her time to rest and get away from her kids, perhaps a source of her back pain. Can't blame insurance companies for questioning that! And no science whatsoever that pelvic traction helped back pain, theory being that the 20# of traction was able to distract the vertebrae and thus relieve the pain. Those were the days....

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Specializes in ER.
Does the "Welcome Wagon" still make rounds? Volunteers from the Gift Shoppe used to go room to room with a cart abundantly stocked with all kinds of sundries (that were also sold inside the Gift Shoppe) and snacks, etc.

I wore Clinics, too. Comfy at the time. Of course, I was younger and skinnier!

I don't know why they stopped bringing a wagon with treats around. It was a great break for patients even if they didn't buy. They could look, and chat.

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Oh yes, the days of pelvic traction, Demerol 50mg and Phenergan 25 mg IM q 4 hours prn. Valium IM q 4 hours prn back spasms. Forget the prn part. You just brought it every 4 hours because you knew they'd ask. They'd get enough to drop a bull elephant dead in its tracks and then they would ask for a cup of coffee. 20 minutes later they'd be walking in the hall. Back then all you had to do was utter the magic words 'back pain' and get a 2 week vacation in the hospital.

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I remember and dearly miss being able to wear whatever scrub top or bottom we wanted and don't forget the shoes to match! Now we all look like little Smurf's...la la la la la la

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Specializes in PACU.

As a student....

In clinical I never talked or consulted another nurse outside my own instructor..... she was responsible for the patents the students took that day.

Had to line up before clinical and my instructor walked behind and in front for inspection... Nails had to be short enough they could not be viewed from palm side of hand, no hair could be touching the collar, and made sure we were wearing slips so you could not see panty lines under the white dress.

Getting my nursing cap caught up in a patients curtain when I tried to whip it shut.

If you were ten minutes late to clinical you were sent home for the day.. miss more then 1 clinical (3 days total in a Monday-Friday year long program) and you were out.. no make-up days.

As a student I had to write out my nurses notes (using SOAPIER) and my instructor read them and corrected them before I could re-write them into the patients chart.

As a nurse...

I remember the different colors for charting depending on the shift you work.

All the nursing notes for the day were kept in a shelf on the wall outside the patients door that folded up.... no one ever worried someone would unfold it and read them.

Patients came in the night before surgery to be prepped and ready the next morning.

Every patient got demerol/phenergan mix IM before being taken down to the OR.

Accidentally taking the narc keys home and having to drive back to work that night, because there is only one set.

Standing when the doctors came for rounds, giving up chairs and getting coffee.

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Specializes in nurseline,med surg, PD.

Incontinent patients were cleaned up bare handed. The only gloves were sterile gloves used for sterile procedures. Thermometers had mercury in them. I had a patient who swallowed her thermometer. Patients having surgery were admitted the night before so they could get a soap suds enema and take a Phisohex shower, and get a back rub.You had to give pre op meds before they went off to surgery, demerol, and phenergan (IM) and something else to dry up secretions. Everybody got a complete bed bath the day after surgery.

We had to wash, starch, and iron our caps. We had to apply white polish to our leather shoes, and wash the shoe strings. There was one shoe store in the big city where you could buy your Clinique shoes. You HAD to wear your cap or you would be disciplined.

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Specializes in Cardiac Care.
Patients having surgery were admitted the night before so they could get a soap suds enema and take a Phisohex shower, and get a back rub.You had to give pre op meds before they went off to surgery, demerol, and phenergan (IM) and something else to dry up secretions. Everybody got a complete bed bath the day after surgery.

I think I'm remembering this correctly, but it seems that we gave Demerol and Vistaril preop many times. I'd forgotten about being admitted the night before surgery so the patient could be bathed. And we gave backrubs routinely with HS care. Do you remember the shave prep? We had a manual that told us where to shave for any kind of surgery. I remember that for any abdominal procedure, the shave line was from nipples to knees.

All nursing staff wore white with white professional shoes; no sneakers. OR staff wore hospital blue scrubs, as did the people in central supply. I think in my hospital even the dietary staff wore white.

Someone previously mentioned gloves. We didn't wear them unless they were sterile for a procedure, like putting in a foley. Gloves were considered offensive to the patient because you were sending the message that they were dirty. IV starts, medications, toileting, personal care...it was all done barehanded.

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