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

Nurses General Nursing

Published

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:

Remember the "In Box" for lab to deposit lab results every so often?

Your charting was a free-hand entry written on a blank, lined paper marked "nurses notes".

CABG patients were not even considered for extubation until the next day, then kept in ICU until POD 3.

Nipride and Dopamine for CHF....better yet, how about rotating tournaquets?

Lidocane for even a single PVC in a post MI patient.

NO CATH LABS!!!!!!!

Specializes in Cardiac/Telemetry, Hospice, Home Health.
i started in 1987

we [tried] to measure cvp

something like putting a ruler beside the pt's neck

i can't remember

oh the good ole days

how many times a day would we remake a bed[no fitted sheets]

side of bed facing the door had to have bedspread longer than the sheet

so no sheet was showing [whatever]

thank god for progress and change

thanks for the walk down memory lane

hmmm... I just did a demonstration test out for my health assessment class yesterday and I had to measure JVD jugular vein distension with a ruler on the sternal notch. Is this ever used?

RN in May 07;)

Lisa Marie

Specializes in Cardiac.

AM labs included a "SMAC"

I'm a new nurse, but old tech. I remember SMAC 20's.

Specializes in OB, M/S, HH, Medical Imaging RN.
during some dressing changes tapping patients buttocks to the side rail for that previously mentioned heat lamp treatment

How how I remember doing that! Patients with a decubitus on the coccyx or inner buttocks. Yes, we taped the patients buttocks to the side rail to hold the buttocks apart so the heat lamp could do it's job drying the maalox and betadine mixture. Granulex spray in the green can. Spray and rub reddened areas.

Specializes in Med/Surg.

Giving castor oil with orange juice with a pinch of baking soda to mix it for Ba Enema preps ,followed by enema "until clear"

And I think it was 6-12 pills ,one every 5 min the night before a xray for gallbladder test. Don't remember the name,tel something.

Counting all those narcotics ,there was Darvon 32 and Darvon 65. And Darvon compound and Darvocet plain and Darvocet N,to name a few.

3 H enemas ,High, hot and a H*** of a lot.

TURP post ops with rubber tubing with big glass bottles of Sterile water to irrigate with, seems like there was always lots of bleeding.

To do a Foley cath ,had to open a sterile tray and put the cleaning solution in a little glass cup and put in the cath itself. All sterile and then close the tray back up and take it to pt's room to use.

Lots of pt's on "bedrest" almost until discharge, didn't dare get anyone up without a Dr. written oder. Had to make beds with pt in it. No fitted sheets, pillow case opening facing away from the door.

Starting IV's with real needle, butterflies were a big improvment! Short thin metal needle.

No call "lights" just a bell by the bed. No matter how sick pt was wanted to pay to have their TV turned on and a ash tray at bedside!! For them and their visitors.

Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

- beds that raised and lowered with cranks that always stuck out just enough to smack into your shins.

I have scars on both shins from whacking my legs on bed cranks on night shift.

Specializes in OB, M/S, HH, Medical Imaging RN.
Specializes in OB, M/S, HH, Medical Imaging RN.

I remember when they injected a rabbit with a woman's urine and if the rabbit died the test was positive and the woman knew she was in the "family way".

Truth is the poor rabbit died either way. The ovaries of the rabbit were examined to see if they were affected by the urine indicating the presence of HCG and thereby confirming a pregnancy. Bizarre when you think about it. Really bizarre. But true! Thankfully we now have EPT's.

Specializes in Neuro ICU, Neuro/Trauma stepdown.
I'm a new nurse, but old tech. I remember SMAC 20's.

what is SMAC?

Umm, I did this yesterday, only the inner cannula was plastic and on it was imprinted "not to be cleaned or reused"; but guess what? To save $$ we DO!

been there, checked with the supplier, they WILL NOT stand behind their product if you do this!!

Thanks to all of you for making my day. I have really enjoyed all of these memories.

OLD OB RN:

remember when:

1. C/S, in bed for 2weeks and then sent home

2. Vag deliveries in bed for 7 days.

3. Babies were only brought out to mom for feedings, then whisked back to the nursery to be cared for.

4. Absolutely, no children allowed on the unit.

5. Dad's did not attend deliveries/surgeries

6. Epidurals? How about twilight sleep, pudendal blocks...

7. We were actually considered a hospital, not a hotel with "clients".

+ Add a Comment