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

[hollyvk]

You know you're an older nurse if:

1. You remember working with nurses who wore caps.

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

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:

[P_RN, ADN, RN]

I just thought of a "terrible one" you hate to empty foley bags for fear of having a "gasseous eruption" when you squat down.

[Liddle Noodnik]

I remember so many of these things! and I have been laughing and thoroughly enjoying these posts. I graduated in 1976.

I remember:

Yep, I remember a lot of that too!

[Liddle Noodnik]

I just thought of a "terrible one" you hate to empty foley bags for fear of having a "gasseous eruption" when you squat down.

Woooo! LOL:uhoh3:

[twotrees2]

I just thought of a "terrible one" you hate to empty foley bags for fear of having a "gasseous eruption" when you squat down.

when you squat? - how about just walking LOLOL

[Liddle Noodnik]

when you squat? - how about just walking LOLOL

Ruh-roh!

It can be quite the musical delight, however, if no one is around to hear -- ROFL!

[pilaschiet]

I go so far back as to remember when the hospital DISCHARGED as many patients as possible before any given holiday, especially the MAJOR holidays-Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, AND, didn't admit anymore! We were asked to take vacation/PTO days as much as possible, and only kept a skeleton crew on! And, if you worked, those nights were the easiest, quietest nights of the year!

[gettingon]

:nono: I still haven't forgotten that soap & water enema I had for my 1st delivery over 43 yrs ago.

Women in labor were shaved and given enemas, then restrained in the delivery room.

There was no rooming in.

Parlodel was prescribed for new moms to dry their milk.

Dads weren't allowed in the OR during c-sections.

Abdominal bleeding was diagnosed with a belly tap.

Needles were recapped after use.

[precious33]

Well maybe the health care system here in St Vincent is way behind example;

we still use mercury thermometers and Mercury spygmo blood pressure apparatus.

pharmacy closed at 4pm monday -friday. closed saturday 12 midday and closed for sundays and hollidays.

ventilators are only 2 and are only located in ICU .Of course only 2 ICU beds.

nursing students practices bath with out gloves unless there are skin breakages and the orifices

we still have 99.9% metal bed pans

woman in labour are given shaved and enema unless they are preterm

we do not have any iv pumps so we calculate and regulate manually

we use bromocriptine to dry breast milk

we use iced saline to stop bleeding in post TURP

and the list can go on and on

[Liddle Noodnik]

I go so far back as to remember when the hospital DISCHARGED as many patients as possible before any given holiday, especially the MAJOR holidays-Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, AND, didn't admit anymore! We were asked to take vacation/PTO days as much as possible, and only kept a skeleton crew on! And, if you worked, those nights were the easiest, quietest nights of the year!

Oh gosh, yes, I remember that too!

[Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN]

Originally Posted by pilaschiet

I go so far back as to remember when the hospital DISCHARGED as many patients as possible before any given holiday, especially the MAJOR holidays-Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, AND, didn't admit anymore! We were asked to take vacation/PTO days as much as possible, and only kept a skeleton crew on! And, if you worked, those nights were the easiest, quietest nights of the year!

Maybe that's why some people are in such shock to learn that nurses work holidays?

[JBudd, MSN]

Well maybe the health care system here in St Vincent is way behind example;

nursing students practices bath with out gloves unless there are skin breakages and the orifices

OMG! Have they never heard of universal precautions?

[adrienurse, LPN]

I remember when I was a kid and my mom was DON of a small rural hospital. We used to bake cookies for the nurses who had to work during christmas and wrote their name on them in icing. Doesn't seem the way things go now with management. It's wham bam thank you ma'am see you in the week, make sure you do all my work while I'm gone......