You know your nurse brain is still at work when....

[EmpathyInAction]

You see a curved tube from a broken shampoo pump on the floor and your first thought is "Why is that trach tube on the floor??"

Feel free to add your own.

[LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN]

THIS.

You make your bed with mitered corners.

Been doing this for YEARS.

Also signing paperwork with title...

[Nurse Leigh]

Been a long time since I left the hospital but I still want to tackle people when they utter the word "quiet" and warn them of the consequences.

[Graduatenurse14]

I had a root canal last week and monitored by own pain level through it on a 0-10 scale in my head!!!

It was a 9 when he put cold to the tooth before he did it.

[djh123]

Half the time when I sign my name on anything outside of work I start to add ', RN' after it.

Another one that I laughed at myself about was when I was in nursing school, and I'd been doing clinicals, carefully popping meds from cards into the little paper cups ...and I caught myself at home carefully popping a couple of meds onto a little teabag-holder thing (as if someone was watching me).

[TriciaJ, RN]

While working psych: at home I saw a pair of scissors on the table and thought "Who left those out?!"

[AlwaysLearning247, BSN]

When you're out to dinner with friends and accidentally sign your name with your credentials

[RNperdiem, RN]

When you get a filling done at the dentist and are a a little disturbed that they didn't explain the risks, benefits and made you sign a consent, do a time out, or verify my identity by asking me my name and birthdate. Of course I have been going to the same dentist for 20 years; she knows who I am.

[Jensmom7, BSN, RN]

When I fill my pillbox at home and carefully pour the meds from the bottle into the cap instead of my hand.

[raptorfem, BSN, RN]

When I shoot out of bed and get momentarily dizzy: "uh oh, I'm orthostatic! Better rest in a seated position before standing! Probably a little dry!" And the veins thing too, whenever I see big beefy ones I just wanna grab a 16 and go to town :-D

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

I go through doorways at home and stick my hand out, looking for the sanitizer.

[brownbook]

The "ding ding dong" sound our IV's made for occlusion, or air, would echo through my head. I think maybe when falling asleep?

Even now, fifteen years after I've left floor nursing, I can clearly "hear", remember, the exact tone of the ding ding dong.

[Kiki1970]

Lmao!!!! Just made a mess of my coffee!!!