You know you are a Nursing student when...

[okredrobot]

Some of you probably have seen a thread like this already.

I put this one up to "freshen-up" the forum.

I am pretty sure everyone has at least something they can throw up onto here.

So, I ask you fellow nursing student (or nursing student alumni)....what makes a Nursing student....erm...a Nursing student?

[~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN]

You know you are a nursing student when:

You work a 12 hour shift for free.

You stay home on a Friday night, and a Saturday night, and a Sunday night... because you have to memorize the action and side effects of 100 medications by Monday.

You believe that the way you learned to do things in school is actually the way they are done in the hospitals.

Not only do you work it for free, you PAY to do it!!!!!!! I just got off my 3rd 12 in a row and 4th 12 in 5 days and I kept thinking, MAN I CAN'T WAIT until I get paid to do this!

[~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN]

You get excited at stabbing people with needles and it's all legal!

[turnforthenurse, MSN, NP]

your car looks like you're living in it!

you are always broke but find money for an NCLEX-RN study guide

you get a stomach ache and jump to that conclusion that you might have ulcerative colitis, crohn's disease, an ulcer or any of the other number of GI disorders you have studied over and over (this goes for respiratory, cardio, etc etc)

when you hit the snooze button at 4:30 in the morning!

when your idea of a compromise between what you want to do (take a long, hot bubble bath) and what you should do (study for a test!) is that you get into the bathtub with your notecards!

once a 4.0 student, your new motto is "C means continue!"

when a family member says "i have a headache" and they all look at you to have some sort of magical answer for a cure...

when you have seen 4:00 in the morning from both sides: waking up and haven't gone to bed yet.

you clean stuff with alcohol wipes that you stole from the hospital, which are also in your bookbag.

you have to stop yourself from using abbreviations such as c, s, r/t (etc) when writing notes to non-nursing students/friends

you shake someone's hand and think to yourself "could i get an IV in that vein on the first stick?"

you can't stop using abbreviations when you write papers (ac, pc, po, prn, c, s, r/t, etc...)

you dream about class or clinicals or what you were studying earlier that night...

you see your classmates more than your family

you have actually used "related to" and "as evidenced by" in normal conversation.

you introduce yourself to a manikin

you can discuss poop, puke & blood all over a delicious lunch

lunch/dinner has turned into whatever the microwave can cook the fastest.

you read one of your nursing books to induce sleep

the people at Starbucks know you by name.

you can only tell time with a 24-hour clock.

everytime you walk, you make a rattling noise bc of all the scissors and hemostats in your pockets.

you notice that you use more four letter words now than before

everytime someone asks you for a pen you have at least three of them on you.

your dinnerware now consists of plastic/disposable silverware, plates, bowls and cups

you panic when you cannot find your stethoscope

you hear a drug commercial come on tv and you go running to hear what they say because it's a med you're currently studying

you buy notecards in bulk and still need to buy more every couple weeks

when you say, or your fellow students say, at least once per week - I AM SO OVER THIS **** or I WANT TO QUIT :)

the pain in your butt from sitting on it for 5+ hours is a stage 1 decubitus.

everyone has a question about "this bump, rash, pain..."

you read flashcards during traffic or walking in between classes.

everyone calls or IM's you and ask what you are doing, you say "studying"

someone asks you what you are doing this weekend, you say "studying"

you or your fellow students ask for a wake-up call in case their alarm doesn't go off at 4:30am

none of your friends/family can relate to how you're feeling or how much stress you're under except for your fellow classmates

you have no social life

you can watch surgeries on Discovery Health while eating breakfast without batting an eye

your pt doesn't urinate for 6 hours and you think "OMG, anuria!!!" but YOU don't urinate for 6 hours and you think "good time management"

you open your fastfood wrappers like a sterile field

it doesn't matter whether you study for 3 days or 3 hours for that exam, you are still not going to ace it.

you feel that all other majors just "don't get it"

you barely talk to anyone outside of nursing due to lack of time

your first thought at the start of a long day is "coffee po prn"

you can get extra credit by wearing Depends to class

you find alcohol prep pads laying around in the most unusual places

you are oblivious to all major world events/other news (at least during the semester)

you've never worked so hard and still feel so dumb!

when you become a regular at the library

when you have a complete season of your favorite TV shows recorded on your TV that you have not gotten to watch yet

you laugh at people who call studying for 2 hours "intense and long"

you have to add your study group into your "circle" on your phone plan because of the numerous texts and phone calls

you were once upset with a grade of 74, but now that's what you're hoping for

when you have 8 textbooks open and laid across the table when studying or doing other assignments

you're wondering what could you possibly do with all of this extra time over christmas break!

you laugh when other majors talk about how busy they are

you are at "risk for skin breakdown r/t excessive time spent in one spot studying"

when someone is bragging about their A and this other voice in your head smarts off how that wouldn't be a nursing A...oops...

when you feel the need to drink after taking your finals!!!

You're always broke but find money for a new Littmann stethoscope :)

You believe every patient needs TLC: thorazine, lorazepam and compazine.

Everything only happens all at once.

You've held a 14-gauge needle over someone's vein and said, "now you're going to feel a little stick"

You write everything in nurse's short hand

Your diet has consisted of food that has gone through more processing than most computers.

You have restrained someone and it was not a sexual experience.

You think that caffeine should be available in IV form.

You are the only one at the dinner table NOT allowed to talk about your day at work.

Your idea of fine dining is anywhere you can sit down and eat.

You feel the veins in your SO's arm boasting, "I could hit that one easily."

You do the "only 25-more-minutes-of-the-shift-from-hell happy dance"

You believe air goes in and out, blood goes round and round, and any variation on this is a bad thing.

To you the phrase "divide and conquer" means getting your co-workers to help you clean up poo in the crack of a 600-pound patient.

You believe that no matter how much you care, some people are just *******s.

You wash your hands BEFORE you go to the bathroom.

You get rear-ended in an auto accident and the accident scene looks like an ER exploded from your first aid kit in your trunk

You can identify the "PID shuffle" and "kidney stone squirm" at 15 feet

You believe a good tape job will fix anything

After a long 12-hour shift you still hear call lights and monitor alarms going off in your head

You gross out the table next to you with battle stories of code browns, gushing wounds and foul-smelling stasis ulcers at [insert restaurant name here]

You add ice to your hot coffee so you can down it within minutes and get your caffeine fix, STAT :)

You brew your coffee double strength and sometimes that isn't even enough...

You can say, "I didn't recognize you out of bed and with clothes on" in public and not get in trouble

You open fast-food wrappers like a sterile field

Your classmates know you better than your own family

You forget what it's like to have free time...what's that?

Satisfactory means the world to you

You believe the saying "it can't get any worse" causes it to get worse just to show you it can. (same lines as never say "quiet," "not busy" or god forbid, "SLOW")

You can't remember the last time you peed.

You spend the holidays with your coworkers.

You have referred to subcutaneous emphysema as "rice krispies"

When you write something, the first thing you look for is a black ink pen. Other colors just aren't allowed.

You get excited because you see a flash of blood when starting an IV or drawing blood. You'd swear we just found oil on our island.

Nothing ever surprises you.

[zhockeymom77]

.... you plan your life in 8 week increments :)

[~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN]

your pt doesn't urinate for 6 hours and you think "OMG, anuria!!!" but YOU don't urinate for 6 hours and you think "good time management"

:yeah::yeah:

[PinkNBlue, BSN, RN]

When you say to your peers in clinical "Ok I have to go flush the jugular and then we can go to lunch".

Your eyebrows are overgrown, you roots are coming in at full force and you're stopping at Target on the way home from 7 hour clinical days to buy underwear because there's simply no time to do laundry.

You fall asleep in the most bizarre places... it's like you suddenly have narcolepsy.

[Trilldayz,RN BSN]

You know you are a nursing student when you get all *hot and bothered* when you see someone who has bulging veins! (OOOOH.... getting excited just thinking about it :bdyhdclp:)

[blueyesue]

You keep a sterile field when you cook dinner

[NurseLoveJoy88, ASN, RN]

.... you plan your life in 8 week increments :)

7 weeks for me....

[clucito01]

You look around the classroom before spring break and think "Man, we all look like zombies!" And when you come back from spring break everyone has their hair cut & colored, eyebrows waxed, and everyone looks like they've gotten more than 3 hours of sleep!

[pitaya]

Your eyebrows are overgrown, you roots are coming in at full force and you're stopping at Target on the way home from 7 hour clinical days to buy underwear because there's simply no time to do laundry.

Hahaha...this one I can definitely relate to. There is never time to wax my eyebrows or re-highlight my hair!

[mangopeach]

You hope the person sitting next to you will still be there at the end of the semester