Oh dear I really have set myself off on a trip down memory lane!! Recently a doctor called me "very old school" I think it was meant as a complement but unsurprisingly I was horrified but to be fair when I look back so many things have changed so.... so you know your old school when you remember......
Metal bed pans that had to be washed in the bedpan washer. Kind nurses used to warm them with hot water as they were freezing cold and would have patients hopping off the bed :)
Female nurses only being allowed to wear dresses and hats. The number of stripes on your hat indicated how long you had been training and when qualified you got a cotton one with lace trim. Evil things they were you used to spend half your life pinning them back as confused patients knocked them off
Unless you were married you had to live in the nurses home whilst training. Lights were meant to be out by 11pm and the house mother used to do spot checks on the rooms to make sure no men were hidden away!!!!:redbeathe Once a month an army bus used to come and pick all the student nurses up and take them back to the barracks were 300 army boys were waiting for a free disco, free food, free drink and far to much free love :)
We were not allowed to tell patients our first name and were called Student Nurse Smith. When a patient died we would dress them in a shroud, put a flower in their folded hands and then they would e wrapped in a sheet. A window would be left open to allow their soul to leave. They would go off to Rose Cottage, never called the mortuary. The nurse in charge would always say "there be 2 more before the week's out" as in those days people only ever died in threes!!!!
The wards were long open plan called Nightingale wards. 15 patients down each side. We had a back trolley and every two hours would work our way up and down the ward turning and cahnging every patient. We used to rub something onto pressure areas but I can't remember what it was. If you had lots of dependent patients then it was like painting the forth bridge - as soon as you had finished it was time to go round again!!! At Christmas a huge tree would be delivered and we would decorate the beds with tinsel - wouldn't be allowed today becuase of infection risks.
Consultant ward rounds were like a royal visit. They occured at the same time on set days. The Consultant would only talk with the Sister and you were expected to have every pt in bed, sheet folded to middle of the chest looking tidy!!!!! Never figured out how to make a pt look tidy.
Getting your silver nurses buckle was like a right of passage. As soon as you got your results from your final exams the whole set headed off to the only jewellers that stocked buckles and chose their badge. I still wear mine but it's fair to say the belt is notably bigger
Male nurses and female doctors were rare. Now in my department we have more male nurses than female definitely a change for the better.
We took temperatures with a glass mercury filled thermometer covered in a disposable plastic cover and BP's were taken with a manual syphg and stethescope.
I am sure there are more but please other old school nurses share your memories with me :)
Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
My mom used Q-tips!! Oh no! I'm told my eardrums are still intact. . . lol. The remedies our moms used are also an interesting topic. When I was little, she used mercurochrome painted on the cut. The color of it always fascinated me, (red-orange). Now that I'm thinking about it, was it mercury? Mixed with chromium?? :eek: Am I going to die? (j/k)
Standard treatment for any and all respiratory problem, a vaporizer with a glob of Vicks Vapo-Rub near the steam outlet, a card table on the bed covered with blankets to make a tent and concentrate the steam. I have no idea where she got the idea for that. It was kinda fun to have a little house on my bed though. :)
I use like 3 q-tips a day LOL, my mom used peroxide and bobby pins. She would use the curved inside of it to clean the ear out :|
Specializes in Med/Surge, Geriatrics(LTC), Pediatricts,.
My Mom used the peroxide in the ears too, and Q-Tips, OH NO! I still do! I clean my ears once a week just like Mom did when I was a kid! And my Dr. said my ear drums are intact. Mom used mecurichrome on my cuts too! And my crib had lead paint on the teether rails, and I rode my bike without a helmet, knee/elbow pads, I'm sure I ran with sissors in my hands once or twice. And I'm still here, and have all my arms and legs, and don't have an eye poked out! LOL, the good ol' days! I wonder if the white paint on the metal cribs we used in the 80's was lead base paint...
Specializes in Med/Surge, Geriatrics(LTC), Pediatricts,.
I liked the Tubex metal contraptions! One thing from the past wish we still had, I hate the plastic ones, but with the needleless system do like that. In my beginings, we did the pull the cart into pharmacy for fill each night too at the first hospital I worked at in rural Appalachia TN. New Nurses today, raised on gloves, are in wonderment about a time when we did not wear gloves! I still have a hard time with some tasks wearing gloves.
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
I liked the Tubex metal contraptions! One thing from the past wish we still had, I hate the plastic ones, but with the needleless system do like that. In my beginings, we did the pull the cart into pharmacy for fill each night too at the first hospital I worked at in rural Appalachia TN. New Nurses today, raised on gloves, are in wonderment about a time when we did not wear gloves! I still have a hard time with some tasks wearing gloves.
When I had the job for a while in the "shot room" of the giant clinic, the only thing I can recall using the metal Tubex contraptions for was to give guys diagnosed with gonorrhea (aka "the clap") 2.4 millionU aqueous Penicillin, 1.2 in each Tubex. To us they looked positively medieval, even in the '80s.
When we called the guys in, they usually had a "sheepish" look, and when they saw the shots with Tubex and gunbarrel sized needles, we had to explain over and over that they weren't a special punishment for being a bad boy, but they sure supplied us with some priceless facial expressions.
When I had the job for a while in the "shot room" of the giant clinic, the only thing I can recall using the metal Tubex contraptions for was to give guys diagnosed with gonorrhea (aka "the clap") 2.4 millionU aqueous Penicillin, 1.2 in each Tubex. To us they looked positively medieval, even in the '80s.
When we called the guys in, they usually had a "sheepish" look, and when they saw the shots with Tubex and gunbarrel sized needles, we had to explain over and over that they weren't a special punishment for being a bad boy, but they sure supplied us with some priceless facial expressions.
I remember those things, they were awful, I ALWAYS had them lay down after learning the hard way they most always grew "faint"...easier to start prone:rolleyes:. Those shots hurt like the dickins too...hope that taught 'em a lesson:cool:
Oh man! Thanks for reminding me about the "double shot" penicillin (2.4 mu - 1 injection for each side). I gave a few of those back in the day working for a family practitioner and had absolutely no qualms giving them either. My thought was if you play around you're gonna have to pay for it one way or another. I always had the guys lie down for the injections too. Sure didn't want them passing out on me and hitting the floor!
The thing I always wondered about was if any of those guys told their sex partners they were treated for gonorrhea? Probably not.
all I can say is been there and miss most of it, wxcept the hypodermoclysis, filling babies subcut. layers with a liter or two of fluids-yuk.
Hypodermoclysis is still used in veterinary medicine - I have a litter of sick kittens that are currently getting 40-60mL of fluid 1-2x/day for 0.5kg kittens. Too little to even attempt an IV on. It works, but they sure look funny with all that fluid under the scruff.
My mom used Q-tips!! Oh no! I'm told my eardrums are still intact. . . lol. The remedies our moms used are also an interesting topic. When I was little, she used mercurochrome painted on the cut. The color of it always fascinated me, (red-orange). Now that I'm thinking about it, was it mercury? Mixed with chromium?? :eek: Am I going to die? (j/k)
Standard treatment for any and all respiratory problems, a vaporizer with a glob of Vicks Vapo-Rub near the steam outlet, a card table on the bed covered with blankets to make a tent and concentrate the steam. I have no idea where she got the idea for that. It was kinda fun to have a little house on my bed though. :)
My grandma used Bactine spray, Mom used peroxide on cuts and scrapes. Mom also said that you knew the peroxide was working when it foamed. Band-Aids were plain-colored, no cartoon ones like now. If we got stung by a bee, they had these little ampoules of Sting-Kill to put on the sting. Smelled like ammonia.
My cousin used to get frequent ear infections, which my aunt treated by putting cotton balls in his ears. I think this is not recommended now.
My mom used the steam tent too. One of my earliest memories is being sick, and Mom setting up the steam tent. We got the Vicks rubbed onto our chest. When you got admitted to the hospital, they really discouraged parents from staying, but Mom wouldn't leave us. She had to sit in a hard wooden chair - no recliners like now.
Mixed with chromium??
~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN
5,259 Posts
I use like 3 q-tips a day LOL, my mom used peroxide and bobby pins. She would use the curved inside of it to clean the ear out :|
We got the vicks layered on our chest.