You know you are a PEDS nurse when...

navynurse06 · Oct 31, 2006

I loooooove it!!! :roll

Let me see what I can come up with......

You know you are a peds nurse...

-When the 1st thing you do when you see anybody's new baby is you rub the top of the head to feel the fontanel.

-Sweeties and a binky is you best friend in the treatment room!

-You can pick out that crazy parent as soon as they walk through the door.

-You can hold a baby in one hand while feeding him/her a bottle and do you computer charting with the other!

-You know what kind of infection a kid has by the smell of the poop!

That's all I've got for now...I'll try to come up with more!

km5v6r, EdD, RN · Oct 31, 2006

You know more about the story lines of "That's So Raven" then you do "Sex In The City".

Most IVP meds are drawn up in a TB syringe.

You waste more of the narcotic ampule then you give.

You keep a stock of nail polish in your locker and you don't wear nail polish.

You cruise the clearance racks and garage sales for baby or toddler clothes and your baby is 18 and 6 ft tall. (we have some kids in who are vent dependent at a nursing home, no family)

You live by the motto of "Let sleeping babies lie"

You every had to call and clarify a "Give 1 unit PRBC's" order. How much to a 10 kg kid?

You have ever referred to a TPN dependent baby/toddler as the "Michelin Man"

Great thread. I will keep thinking.

MissJoRN, RN · Oct 31, 2006

-You've invented a recipe for diabetic slushies... and that overweight 11 y/o actually likes them

-you've ever squirted a pt with a water-gun or 30 ml syringe. And been squirted back.

-people are horrified by the casual (comfortable!) way you handle your own first born newborn

-you can suction and bag a kid on a moving school bus without dropping your upbeat conversation meant to soothe the other young passenger.

-your immune system is impenetrable to anything the CDC has discovered

If floated to adult med-surg or getting overflow pts (hey, today's halloween, I can tell a horror story) your adult patients can tell you're a peds nurse because-

-they've had 5 CTs before but you're the first person who ever made the redi-cat yummy... a little sno-cone syrup goes a long way.

-you found stickers in your pocket for their grandkids

-you treated their infiltrated IV with a hot water filled Pamper

-you had to look up Aricept... forgot what it was.

-you actually like admitting adults, very quick- problem, symptoms, history, and meds. Done. No questions about when they first rolled over or their favorite word for BM

If working in an adult OR-

-you've given a CRNA a blank look when he orders a Vt of 600. That high?? Oh, right.

-The CRNA has trouble obtaining IV access and when he turns toward you to point out that the veins are little your reply is "don't look at me, I only do feet"

rnsrgr8t · Oct 31, 2006

This is great..

- your favorite line when asked medical advice by friends/families is "I don't do grownups!!"

- you have a tendency to use childhood phrases around adults "I have to go potty! (yes I have caught myself tons of times" etc

- you can get the most nimble/combative toddler to get down all of his liquid zantac (you know how nasty it tastes)

- you have a special hold that you use to keep toddlers still when doing nebulizer treatments (you sit cross legged with their legs in between yours and use one arm to hold the arms and the other to hold the mask)

- you say, "big bee sting" when you are about to give MMR shot (they really sting)

- can find the tiniest meatus when cathing a infant girl (I once really impressed a Mom who was an adult nurse, she could not believe I could find it)

- you know the developemental milestones by heart

- you can eyeball a child in public and know how old they are (for some reason my mom loves to make me do this all the time then ask the parent to see if I am right)

- when you are taking care of an adult size teenagers, you have to triple check their meds b/c the doses seem so high!

- you forget what normal blood pressures in adults are (you don't freak at a BP of 90/40).

- you cannot believe that adult doses of meds are not figures out by weight how can that dose be accurate????

I am sure there are more, I just cannot think of any right now.

MissJoRN, RN · Oct 31, 2006

-You've ever "fixed" a malfunctioning croup tent by pulling a toy truck out of the mist vent.

-You've ever been given crayon coloured "Thank-you" notes

-You've ever written a note for the doctor or vacation request for the charge nurse in purple crayola. (it never goes unnoticed!)

-You've ever admitted a child after sending mom home since you are more familiar with his history and she looked like she had an important party to go to anyway. (just get her off MY unit!)

-You get a little nervous when you have to insert a "large bore" IV. You sometimes consider a 22 "large bore".

-You've ever tried to explain to a doctor that the IV clotted when the toddler chewed through the tubing during the night.

-You carry your lunch to work in an Enfamil lunch bag and you have a Similac diaper bag ("tote bag") but you don't have kids.

-Adult sized stethoscopes make you whine "but it's sooo heavy"

-You have ever decorated a tongue depressor

-You've ever given motrin to the same sleeping toddler the OP mentioned without waking him up by gently removing the pacifier, sliding in the oral syringe and taking advantage of his automatic instinctual suck-swallow. You know this toddler screams and kicks and his mother is sleeping for the first time in 2 days and you will resort to giving the med through a bottle nipple if necessary!

-You have ever looked with sympathy at a mom buying Alimentum at the grocery store because you "know" the baby's history and the cost.

-You have ever been standing near a baby who spit up and without knowing the mom can tell (by nose) if he's breast or formula fed.

-You special ordered a stroller as soon as you found out you're pregnant knowing that it was the sturdiest, most practical, and easiest to push stroller any homecare baby you've ever cared for had. (not to mention most elegant) "And, the basket is big enough to hold a ventilator" you explain to your horrified mother.

-You sadly compared all cribs at Babies R Us to hospital cribs. But why can't they have a nice squeeze handle to lower? But why must I strain my back because it's so low?

MissJoRN, RN · Oct 31, 2006

This is great..
- your favorite line when asked medical advice by friends/families is "I don't do grownups!!"
- you have a tendency to use childhood phrases around adults "I have to go potty! (yes I have caught myself tons of times" etc

Yup, used those lines frequently. Don't ask me about your bladder CA! As far as "potty"... after a year in homecare I stopped saying it. Now I sign it, LOL.

Kidrn911 · Nov 8, 2006

You know you are a peds nurse when you don't mind getting hugs and kisses from your patient.

You know every knew disney movie, and you don't watch TV

PedsRN1991 · Nov 14, 2006

Let's see:

-All of your uniforms have cartoon characters on them.

-You pick up extra cartoon bandaids at the store because your unit never has them.

-You know a kid has roto a mile away.

-You know a kid has RSV a mile away.

-You know the kid has RSV (and the ER nurse did it wrong) no matter what the results say.

-Your wristwatch has Mickey on it.

-You give meds through a bottle nipple.

That's it for now. Going to work tonight, so I'm sure some more will sneak up.

scribblerpnp · Nov 29, 2006

You incorporate playing games in with your physical assessment!

You've sat and played X-box during your break time with a chronically ill 8 year-old who can't sleep and whose parents have finally gotten out of the hospital for a moment together

You start to have "baby withdrawl" when you take a few extra days off from work

You can make at least five different types of toys out of commonly found medical supplies/equipment- none of which pose a possible choking hazard

You don't have your own kids, but your friends consider you the go-to-person for advice about their kids.

You have taste tested every form of liquid/chewable PO meds you can get your hand on, and have your personal favorites

You can "burrito roll" a baby in record time

Without waking up the pt OR the parent asleep in the bed with the pt, you can perform a full physical assessment, give po meds, and take vital signs on a todder. All by the light coming into the room from the hallway.

Adult patients give you the heebie jeebies!

nursprl · Dec 1, 2006

You know you're a peds nurse when you look for scalp veins in a newborn at home.

You know you're a peds nurse when you feed your niece facing you in your lap and burp her using the chin hold (this is true with me and my cousin who is also a ped nurse..we have pictures).:smackingf

You know you're a peds nurse when adults ask you for medical advice, you tell them they are out of your age range.

kessadawn, BSN, RN · Jan 5, 2007

*you have at least 3 different techniques for cutting the taste of liquid po prednisone...

mind sharing those techniques? i'm more than tired of smelling like orapred every am on my way home from work! :rolleyes: