Alexandra Glustsenko | Thinkstock
The day you start nursing school your life changed permanently.
There is the life ‘before nursing’ and then life as a nurse. Two very different worlds.
Here are some of the ways I knew my life had changed when I became a nurse.
1. I started using a different language
‘Rationale’ and ‘as evidenced by’ became common terminology. Really… (only nurses will understand this one) don’t ask. Heh heh
2. Acronyms became my best friend
Patient history of COPD, CAD, DM, BKA, CVA with some JVD and new onset CHF noted. What??? Can I get a vowel, Alex??
3. I somehow started caring about the type of pens I use
A ‘fat’ pen with some cushion is like gold when you have to write narrative notes that are pages long for EACH patient you care for during a shift.
4. My bladder grew 3 sizes larger
For some strange reason I could go 12 + hours without having to use the bathroom? Is that normal?
5. Coffee was a mainstay in my diet – and still is.
Without it I don’t think I could blink properly some days.
6. My sense of smell not only got sharper, it also got…duller
I could identify a disorder or disease just by smelling the ‘aftermath’ or the preemptive strike. I also found that most smells stopped ‘bothering me’. How weird is that?
7. Nationally celebrated holidays were simply a date on a calendar
I vaguely remember a time when I didn’t have to work, or worry about covering a shift during a holiday. But, then again, the hospital doesn’t close for the holidays.
8. I began to forget what day of the week it was.
A traditional calendar was useless. ‘What day of the week is it?” Um, when did I work last – let me check my work schedule. That whole ‘week day’ and ‘weekend’ thing… Yeah it no longer applies.
9. I couldn’t call off work anymore.
Not without feeling amazingly guilty! You call off and then remember what it is like to work shorthanded.
10. I stopped answering my phone
Caller ID was an amazing rescue tool. Who’s calling? Is it work?
And, after it’s all said and done, I wouldn’t have done it any differently. I love being a nurse.
So, tell me, how do you know you’re a nurse?
On a excellence scale of 1 to 10, this gets a 9.5.
Scrubs Blogger
Scrubs Blogger
@William Thank you so much! I thought this list would get a good smile.
Your immune system has been known to attack squirrels in the back yard!
RN
Registered Nurse
I have to use retractable pens….to take the cap off takes time! LOL co wrokers laugh at me I am OCD with my pens!
You arent the only one!!! I am also OCD about writing down EVERYTHING on a sheet and keeping it for weeks. I mean what if someone questions my work? I’ll have the answer immediately!
Laughter is good medicine. My prayers are with you. Miss seeing you. Come by to see us sometimes.
I do know who I am. I’m not Marcus V Roberts. Maybe I am and don’t know it. New public email = md_questions@yahoo.com
11. I started checking out random peoples veins while standing in checkout lines, etc.!
RN
Registered Nurse
So true!
RN
Registered Nurse
lol, or their ankles for peripheral edema!!
Student
Nursing Student (you can change this when you graduate!)
I do it all the time! My family thinks I’m nuts!
LOL!!! Right!
I love #6. My kids still marvel at my super power of smell… My addition would be: In the “Old Days” of the 70′s, most nurses smoked.There were cigarette machines next to the soda machines and they even sold cigarettes in the gift shops… Head Nurses had big ashtrays by their phones (then, they rarely left the desk area) and most were chain smokers….. Yep, I started smoking during nursing school, but luckily quit before age 22. During the first week of my first job as a nurse,my head nurse asked, “You went to college but where did you go to nursing school?” Only one Asst. Head Nurse had a college degree… I was only one of 5 nurses (including the DON) with a BSN at that hospital! These nurses told us newbies their stories of their rules: nurses giving doctors a seat and a pen when they came into the “Nurse’s Station” and getting the doctors their coffee. I felt like a trailblazer living in a 1950′s world (most nurses there went to 3 year hospital schools in the Post WWII era.) Even when I was a Clinical Specialist at a Rehab Hospital, I still got the nursing school vs. college question.
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Lots of abbreviation in my world also here’s just a few: ESL, KUB, PVR, TURP, VAS, US/BIO, CIRC ok I’m bored!!!
Where do I begin..ahhh, PENS!! How you can identify a “lost” (read stolen) pen 25 feet away..in someone’s pocket! Holidays??? Oh, you mean “time and a half days.” OK. Calendar weeks vs. work weeks.. who cares? Just as long as I know when I have 2 days off together. Calling off..Yeah, I felt guilty about that too. But, yeah, loved being a Nurse too!! Great article.
RN
Registered Nurse
LOL..so true.. how many of your non-nurse friends get confused when you say, “This is my Friday!” when it’s only Tuesday!
)
Nurses R Best, better ‘n Docs any day!!
I couldn’t pass a neuro physical if I had too. I know the date only, live on coffee, have the bladder of an elephant and would inflict severe pain on anyone grabbing my pen.
Scrubs Blogger
Scrubs Blogger
I’m so glad everyone likes this humorous post.
Wow…I love how the Pt knows and asks for promethazine and 100 micrograms of fentanyl yet they haven’t even graduated highschool big words for such a looser!
Haha..so true.. Im night shift..exactly 1930 when I finish report..i must..must ha e coffee. I thought I wa going senile forgetting the date daily now. True abo,ut caller id
Yes, I am particular about my pens. Yes, I really get PO’d when I have to buy ANOTHER stethoscope (generally one a year). On a good day I get to pee twice in 12 hours. Speaking of bladders, Had an A&P repair( put it all back where it belongs if you please). The road to recovery was a tad rocky. Couldn’t pee for love nor money for weeks. Asked the doc about said “recovery”. Reply was- you work here, you are a nurse and you all have flabby bladders because you never void! C’est la vie!
Scrubs Blogger
Scrubs Blogger
@Penny I’m going to have to remember the ‘flabby bladder’. Thanks!
RN
Registered Nurse
Say that five times real fast……..
Best way to keep track of your pen… label it. The only time I lost a pen is when a Dr. “borrowed it” and then left. She even called later to appologize. Still never got the pen back, though.
I stick return address labels on my pens.
Me too. And I swab them with the wipes when it returns.
Scrubs Blogger
Scrubs Blogger
@JB I never thought of that. Thanks!
All of the above comments are soooo true. I am glad that we nurses are all alike. I especially like the pen one, because I thought I was the only one who was thought that way. I mean I don’t even like my pts. to use my pen. I will go get them a pen from the nurses station,lol
Scrubs Blogger
Scrubs Blogger
@ shannon I’ve also followed someone using my pen to make sure I get it back! LOL
I have been retired for sometime, but I can still “smell” my first GI bleeder (1966). A nurse’s sense of smell, or memory, never goes away!
Scrubs Blogger
Scrubs Blogger
@Janet No. No it never does. LOL
C-Diff, ewwwwwwwwwww! Worked for a doctor that had a contest with the nurses, “sniff test!” is this or not c-diff!! I won everytime!!
I am obsessed with fine point pens because a lot of the time I have to write very small especially for discharge interagencies. I am very protective of my pens but carry at least 2 cheap ones with me ( like papermate 20 for 2 bucks type) to give to those who need one so i don’t have a fit if I don’t get it back. As for the bladder, it is true and probably not good for us. Funny post
Scrubs Blogger
Scrubs Blogger
Thank you Amanda. Glad you liked it.
I love the pen comments, its all true. However, I have learned that I loose pens constantly so I carry 4-5 pens with me and have several packs in my locker. I love and will only use click top pens and apparently mu co-workers love my pens. I just raid Staples when they have a sale on them and now have a couple drawers full of them at home.
Scrubs Blogger
Scrubs Blogger
I’m willing to bet many of us do that!
RN
Registered Nurse
It’s true! And I have to be careful when writing letters, that I don’t slip naturally into Nrsg shorthand…..LOL
Aww, my favorite is that each time I sign my name outside of work,
I have to stop and remind myself that I don’t need to “document” it with
the initials “RN” at the end….
RN
Registered Nurse
I keep signing first initial, last name on checks and deposit slips. I think I should just change my checks and make life easier.
LPN
Licensed Practical Nurse
Eating your lunch while looking at very detailed, graphic pictures of wounds and then realizing the guy who brought the lunch was ready to throw up watching you!
Cleaning up explosive BM and commenting to your co-worker that you’re really hungry and could you please cover for a few minutes while I eat?
I guess in general, being hungry at times that would make most people want to get sick.
you know you are a nurse when your dinner conversation is all about your day, including foleys, enemas, etc. Nothing is sacred anymore.
RN
Registered Nurse
We have flower pots with cute colorful flower pens on our nurses station desk…they never get taken, the doctors won’t be caught dead carrying one around!
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RN
Registered Nurse
OH SO TRUE!!!!! Don’t touch my pen, it’s a death sentance. My husband laughs because I forget to go to the bathroom…he doesn’t understand how I can forget to pee. I love sitting in restaurants or public places and diagnosing all the people around me. Definately never know what day it is…and if I go on vacation, forget it…I couldnt even tell you the date from not writing it a hundred times in a day. Constantly stopping myself from signing non-medical documents with RN. I am not just a nurse, its who I am! God Bless Nurses!!!
RN
Registered Nurse
I loved this article, we all need the humor and ability to laugh at ourselves
. I’m anal about my pens and dry erase markers! Carry my own “pencil case” with my supplies. I have also discovered that my old HS days of running track have come in handy. I can run to a code and hurdle couches, nurses desk, small children in nothing flat…. they call me Nurse Flo Jo. LOL
I knew I was a nurse when I was at the mall and could spot people with certain diagnosisis or symptoms like moon face or jaundice or the big ascitebelly, things most people would not notice.
Me passing a man on the sidewalk…..Wow he has a significant hernia! The man…fully clothed!! LOL!
I grab free pens where ever I can and then save those to loan out to people so I don’t lose my good pens. I love acronyms and abbreviations, but it’s a pain when doctors or other nurses create there own.
RN
Registered Nurse
I LOVE THIS! =)
You absolutely are correct! I might add how when out to the store, you can spot certain ailments just by a glance! Also, you start to categorize people by their veins!
Calling in is what I could identify with!! When I went to another job(after 12 yrs) they had three months of personal days, 6 weeks of sick leave and 24 holidays they had to pay me for plus a pay period that had 20 hrs of overtime. I worked in the OR and our shortened conservations were about the same- GI, GU, Stat, open, close, 4-0 or a 3-0 or cath, TUR, or the best one DR in PMS so don’t talk.
Oh how I agree! I remember the exact 36hr pay period I worked 127!!! When I changed jobs I was asked “who will we get to work the hrs of two nurses.” LOL!
As a nurse you can discuss any subject and not miss a meal.