You Know You're an Old(er) Nurse If . . .

Nurses General Nursing

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You know you're an older nurse if:

1. You remember working with nurses who wore caps. :nurse:

2. You remember nurses (and doctors) sitting at the nurses station drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes while charting. :smokin:

3. You remember when charting was done (handwritten) in 3 different colors (black or blue for day shift, green for evening shifts, red for night shift).

4. You remember when IV fluids came only in glass bottles.

5. You remember when breast milk wasn't a biohazard. :redlight:

6. You remember when chest tube setups consisted of glass bottles, rubber stoppers, and tubing.

7. You remember when white polyester uniforms were the standard for nurses.

8. You remember when you'd have given your eye teeth for a comfortable pair of nursing shoes (we haven't always been able to wear athletic shoes).

9. You remember when the hospital's top nurse was the director of nursing and not the chief nursing officer.

10. You remember giving lots of IM shots for pre-ops and pain meds.

What else?

HollyVK (with patient care experience going back to 1972) :gandalf:

Specializes in Alzheimer's, Geriatrics, Chem. Dep..
@ that point, wasn't too much I could do about it, either! I didn't even remember to say an Act of Contrition till about an hour later. I had sent the LVN working w/me to the lab w/the am bloodwork, and she was in the elevator. NOT the best place to be in an earthquake. Scared the bejeez out of both of us.

In the elevator... oh my. How long was she in there, or did it not stop?

You reminded me of Esther in the Bible, "If I perish I perish..."

Specializes in Alzheimer's, Geriatrics, Chem. Dep..
You grunt when trying to get up off the floor after draining a Foley into the urinal.

... and you have to hold onto the bed in order to get UP off the floor after draining a Foley into the urinal...

Which reminds me of something I just read today:

The Top 17 Surprises in "Rocky Balboa"

17> "... and in this corner, wearing the purple Depends...."

16> Rocky's training drink now a glass of EggBeaters mixed with Metamucil and a Viagra.

15> His opponent for the big match? Hilary Swank.

14> Post-conversion to Kabbalah, Rocky replaces "Yo, Adrian!" with "Oy, Adrian!"

13> Mr. T makes a cameo appearance as a waiter with one single line: "Fool, you want some chicken?"

12. (deleted)

11> Cuff and Link are long gone, but Rocky has new turtles named Lame and Sequel.

10> Heartrending scene in which Rocky breaks his hip climbing into the ring.

9> After being knocked down for a third time, a frustrated Rocky cries out, "Help! I've fallen and I can't get up!"

8> The waistband on Rocky's boxing shorts almost touches his pecs.

7> A health-conscious Rocky trains by punching slabs of tofu at Whole Foods.

6> "Rocky": "Cut my eye!" "Rocky Balboa": "Cut my steak!"

5> Whenever Rocky gets a bloody nose, his corner man packs his nostrils with Gummi Bears.

4> Rocky calmly bypasses the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum and drives his Rascal up the access ramp.

3> Truly gross scene in which Rocky misunderstands the instruction to leave his stool in the corner of the ring.

2> Taking no chances this time, Rocky gets cornea transplants taken from actual tigers.

and Topfive.com's Number 1 Surprise in "Rocky Balboa"...

1> In a scene employing clever symbolism, Rocky trains by punching the carcass of a horse.

--Copyright 2006 by Chris White. Please do not forward, publish, broadcast or use in any manner without crediting "TopFive.com" - it's the right thing to do.

Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.
Rocky calmly bypasses the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum and drives his Rascal up the access ramp.

LOL

__________

Specializes in ORTHOPAEDICS-CERTIFIED SINCE 89.

That's about the funniest thing I've heard all week!!!

Eggbeaters.....metamucil.....purple Depends!!!!!

I have an aunt who took her LPN training in the 70's and then switched to selling tupperware in the 80s. Well anyway, I got a call from her about a year ago from northern Alberta (you have to understand she's a little..um..different) asking me if I couold find her an iron lung for a friend. I was like....are you on crack? Oh yeah I have one sitting in the other room..... LOL

Specializes in Peds, GI, Home Health, Risk Mgmt.

I forgot to mention one of the biggest benefits of being an old(er) nurse--working with young physicians. After you've been in healthcare for a few decades and are no longer intimidated by physicians, they can be great fun to joke with and gently tease (humanly, not sexually).

I worked for awhile assisting with minor surgical procedures (i.e. local, not general, anesthesia) with a number of really fun male and female surgeons (general, gyn, plastics, hand, podiatrics). I always tried to keep the conversation interesting (both with the patient and the physician) so the patient wouldn't be so focused on the procedure and to give the doc a pleasant experience in an otherwise gruelling day.

HollyVK

Specializes in Alzheimer's, Geriatrics, Chem. Dep..
LOL

__________

{{{{{{{{{{{{Marie}}}}}}}}} You have the most DELIGHTFUL avatars! (Carol Burnette as Scarlett O'Hara)

xo

Specializes in Alzheimer's, Geriatrics, Chem. Dep..
I have an aunt who took her LPN training in the 70's and then switched to selling tupperware in the 80s. Well anyway, I got a call from her about a year ago from northern Alberta (you have to understand she's a little..um..different) asking me if I couold find her an iron lung for a friend. I was like....are you on crack? Oh yeah I have one sitting in the other room..... LOL

They are saying that cooking with Tupperware in the microwave is bad for ya. Maybe that's the problem! ROFL!

Specializes in Alzheimer's, Geriatrics, Chem. Dep..
I forgot to mention one of the biggest benefits of being an old(er) nurse--working with young physicians. After you've been in healthcare for a few decades and are no longer intimidated by physicians, they can be great fun to joke with and gently tease (humanly, not sexually).

I worked for awhile assisting with minor surgical procedures (i.e. local, not general, anesthesia) with a number of really fun male and female surgeons (general, gyn, plastics, hand, podiatrics). I always tried to keep the conversation interesting (both with the patient and the physician) so the patient wouldn't be so focused on the procedure and to give the doc a pleasant experience in an otherwise gruelling day.

HollyVK

I remember being a rather new nurse and we had MD residents as the House Officers. It was fun sometimes when I knew the treatment for a particular problem better than they did - I tried to be humble (and tactful) about it though, ha ha

I am AMAZED at all the Dougie Housers (they look like they are in 5th grade).

Congratulations on your NP!! Woot!

Thank you! Unfortunately, my parents decided to get sick just as I was graduating, so I had to take this flexible NP position with awful pay just so I could be available to help my parents. After having no life for the past 4 years while I was in school, and now not being able to reap the rewards (better job, better pay). Hopefully this won't be permanent.

Specializes in rehab-med/surg-ICU-ER-cath lab.

When I was a student nurse we did a month's rotation at a local chronic 250 bed rehabilitation hospital. We were required to get into an iron lung so we could "feel" it working. Wow, you quickly understood why respirator patients cannot speak on inspiration. I graduated in 1975 and there were no acute care RN positions to be had so I end up working as the evening charge nurse at that chronic rehap. hospital. We used iron lungs for our post-polio and end stage D. Muscular Dystrophy patients. At one point, on just my "floor" we had 6 residents sleeping in those monster tubes each night. Add on to those "lung" patients a total census of 50 high level physical care patients. As time went on I became a part-time evening supervisor. I had to go to the very, very scary basement one night to pull some old medical records. As I walked past all the rows of storage I notice many iron lungs in all sizes includes one made just for ambulance transport.

Speaking of knowing you're an older nurse, as evening supervisor I was the senior staff member on site - no MD after 4 pm. I mixed meds. for pharmacy, settled staffing problems, decided if an MD would be called for a acute situation and my absolute favorite, I ran the codes. Once the code was called I had to run to the second floor and unlock and push that monster red tool/crash cart to the unit where the code was called. Then turn around and hoof it back to the lab and unlock and run back with the EKG machine. Meanwhile I would be praying that resp. therapy had already unlocked and was on the way with an ET set. Now the MD is on the telephone, an ambulance on its way to transport the patient to an acute care facility. This was a horror show each time. If I was really lucky there would just happen to be a MD making rounds in the building. I would grab and drag them with me so we could have something that resembled a resuscitation. Ah, youth, today I would tell them my license meant more to me than the supervisor pay!

Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.
{{{{{{{{{{{{Marie}}}}}}}}} You have the most DELIGHTFUL avatars! (Carol Burnette as Scarlett O'Hara)

xo

Occaisionally a thought just pops in my head for an avatar idea, then i seach online for one. Carol Burnett was last night's idea.

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