You Might Be a Nursing Student If...

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  • ...your books require wheels

    ...you use a paper towel to turn off the water faucet after washing your hands--even in your own home.

    ...you know the exact location of every coffee shop within a 5 mile radius of your clinical site.

    ...bandage scissors are the only scissors you use.
    ...everyone, including complete strangers, tells you about each and every ache, pain, sniffle, and lump they have.

    ...when you tell a man you meet for the first time you're a nursing student, you're expected to laugh hysterically when he asks you for a sponge bath, as if it was the most original and wittiest thing you've ever heard.

    ...you realize that the sponge bath joke is the wittiest thing you've heard in awhile.

    ...you are not allowed to talk about your school day at the dinner table.

    ...you know it's possible to squeeze 6 people into a car to ride to a clinical site an hour away.

    ...your favorite dream is the one where you ask the nursing instructor what each and every side effect of a medication is and cheerfully write up an unmet objective if she misses one.

    ...you've woken up with a stethoscope-shaped imprint on your cheek.

    ...your family members must have a fever of at least 105 or be missing a limb with active bleeding in order for you to miss class/clinical.

    ...you replaced sleep with coffee and red bull.

    ...you seriously consider using the lecture on sleep deprivation to support a disability claim that will buy you one more week of study time before the next test.

    ...you have no problem discussing sputum and bowel movements at lunch.

    ...you can almost see the germs on doorknobs and telephones.

    ...you get excited when someone says there is dressing change or a catheter to be done.

    ...your christmas list consists of: nclex books, drug flash cards, a new stethoscope, and maroon scrubs.

    ...you car resembles a medical library.

    ...you use a penlight to get around the house when your electricity is knocked out.

    ...you know that one shot of tequila equals 45cc
    ...you find yourself subconsciously giving your family and friends nursing diagnoses.

    ...you are convinced you have every disorder you study, including all psychiatric disorders.

    ...you believe that a large bag of chocolate is a reasonable nursing action for ineffective coping skills.

I'm haven't started classes yet but...

...you're asking your 90+ great aunt how she got that wound on her arm and that she really should put some antibiotic cream and a bandaid on.

Specializes in Endocrinology.

https://allnurses.com/forums/f50/you-might-nursing-student-if-63217.html

The above link is a thread we had going a long time ago...funny enough to revisit I think.

...you privately wonder what it would be like to have a "Loop", "maneuver", area of the brain, "syndrome", or "triad" named after you.

..."Sorry, honey. That was *my* flatus..."

...you've ever attempted to get your cat's carotid, apical, popliteal, or brachial pulse (Of course I haven't tried getting a radial - jeez, I'm not crazy or anything!).

...you've somehow unconsciously come up with both rationales and a cute little acronym for each step involved in, yep, preparing a pot of coffee.

A couple more...

----your family asks you to translate medical-ese tv talk. And you can.

----you teach your family how to wash their hands and expect a return demo.

----you carry hand sanitizer in your pocket as a matter of course

Specializes in ICU.
...when you get excited over the fact that you're going SCRUB shopping for clinicals...

...when you have become a PREMIUM member of all Borders, Barnes & Nobles, etc...

...when you are greeted by name by cashiers from said places...:lol2:

Every book seller in Barnes knows me. I feel like such a loser that I know everyone that works there. When I haven't been in for awhile, they are always like "HEY! Where have you been?" I start thinking...Wow, I have NO life!

Specializes in ICU.
when you are flipping through the channels and stop when you see an operating room or blood!

when you prepare your coffee with aseptic technique (trying not to touch the coffee top to the counter at Dunkin Donuts).

you love hospitals, as sick as that is!!!

you are determined to find the most comfortable white pairs of shoes or sneaks!

you look for nursing jobs online even though you have another year of school!

:trout:

I totally agree with the TV one and the nursing jobs online on!!! I just starting looking at travel nursing jobs online, and I don't graduate until next May..:lol2:

Your neighbor comes home from the ED with 25 stitches in his hand and a suture removal kit and you beg him to let you take his stitches out when it's time.....

Specializes in Cardiac Telemetry/PCU, SNF.

RFLOL...these are great!

- you believe that a balanced breakfast is a Thermos of coffee and a slice of toast you "balance" on your lap as you drive to school.

- your SO doesn't bother asking what time you came to bed lat night, just where you're going to be today.

- you're not allowed to comment while watching ER on TV.

- you other job knows if you had clinical or an extern day by what color scrubs you come in with.

- you have a feeling of lost aimlessness after you graduate when you realize you have nothing assigned to read, no care plan to do, no more clincals and you can actually sleep at night!

Cheers,

Tom

Specializes in General Surgery & Open Heart Teams; NICU.

-you tell your family and friends how important it is to turn off the water with a paper towel and using another one to open the door of public bathrooms

-TiVo all your favorite programs so you can study, and then fall asleep when you have time to watch them

-all your family calls your for advice on every pain, fever,sickness, or injury to get your opinion

-the only books you look for are now nursing books, the only shows you reaaly like to watch asre on Discovery health or Greys' anatomy and House....don't forget ER and Chicago Hope reruns

..when you can say that sleep is totally overrated.

..when your friends' caller ID no longer recognizes your number.

..when the staff at the coffee shop not only know you by name but have your latte brewing

..when you can easily not only diagnose yourself and others but also come up with a care plan

..when you find yourself saying things like "related to" and "as evidenced by" in every other sentence

..when you crave carbohydrates more than sleep

..when the only season you know is summer; the rest of the year is a blur

:lol2:

when your 3 year old comes to you crying because he fell down and hurt his "patella"

when someine asks you when your are going to graduate and you can answer in days and hours.

When you go home with about 30 alcohol swabs in your pocket after clinicals.

You eat m&ms out of a sterile bowl.

You have ativan on a prn basis.

You also smoke and drink on a prn basis.

Your shrink knows your voice on the phone. :)

Antidepressants dont seem so bad anymore.

Your kids know how to check apical pulse.

Your family is tired of being guinea pigs, all of those physical assesments.

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