5. “TMB. One of my favorite doctors actually used this as a diagnosis—’Too Many Birthdays’! Haha.”
— Amanda Belcher Klumpp on Nursing slang terms—got any top picks?
6. “I was taking care of a 96-year-old black lady who thanked me repeatedly for being an angel. ‘Oh, I’m no angel,’ I assured her, ‘just ask my kids. They think I’m the Wicked Witch of the West.’ Without skipping a beat, she said, ‘Child, that means you’re doing your job.’ I love that lady sooooo much and have used her line repeatedly on my kids, much to their displeasure!”
— Maureen Evers on Facebook sweeps question “What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?”
7. “I took a nap in the broom closet and forgot to wake up, and the entire staff looked for me for an hour. They thought someone had kidnapped me because it was on third shift and the nursing home was out in the boondocks.”
— Patrika Cos on Facebook sweeps question “Where’s the weirdest place you’ve take a nap?”
8. “Nap? What is that? Being a nurse I rarely find myself with the luxury of a nap. Those little catnaps work wonders, though…I woke up with my head on the laundry basket in the closet. I only got down there to find my missing shoe, I swear. LOL!”
— Tina Christensen on Facebook sweeps question “Where’s the weirdest place you’ve taken a napp?”
9. “One time when I had worked a double and came back the next day, I had very little sleep in between and was sooooo tired I fell asleep sitting on the toilet!”
— Cathi Alexia Spears on Facebook sweeps question “Where’s the weirdest place you’ve taken a nap?”
10. “Forensic Pathologist fishes a body out of a river and knows right away it’s a nurse. Why? The stomach was empty, the bladder full, and the a** completely chewed off!”
— via Theresa Brown, nurse, New York Times blogger, and contributor to Scrubs magazine and shared on Facebook.com/FunnyNurses
LOL… Now I do believe that laughter is the medicine ever…
when I went to nursing school back in 1980 My instructor told me I walked too slow!
we have very stressful jobs
I think SOME nurses just LOVE to see other nurses screw up in some way shape or form and it’s a real shame and pity as we are all human beings.
no one should ever humliate someone in front of other people.No matter what profession you are in. I would kepp a record of what she does and says, dates and times and when you graduate turn it in to the director.
And, to add to your record, Names of Witnesses to the event.
Nurses gotta love em! I am a clinical student and i work my ass off and it is never good enough for the instructors. I made a minor mistake, NOBODY got hurt. and my istructor made a major scene and degraded me in from of our clinical class. Thats fine, hope it made her feel superior. What comes around goes around. I admitted to my mistake and apologized, and she still made me write a paper on being human and erring.. whatever…
Lots of years in Critical Care gives me the experience to say this to clinical student, a new nurse, or an experienced nurse.
Be prepared with every shift for someone in authority to attempt to humiliate you or to make a big scene over a simple error.
Solution: Take 10 deep breaths, long breath in and a long breath out. Be thankful that you are you and not the nurse that is causing distress for another nurse. You are an advocate for all patients, and other nurses do not have to be your friends, and you don’t even have to like them.
But you must stand tall , use your heart, learn from the bad experience, never repeat that behavior to any other nurse, especially a student nurse.
Believe me, you can work as a team even under the worst situation, because all Nurses have the patients well being and healing as their goal, they just do not like other nurses. Remember you are the patients voice in a hospital, clinic,or in the community.
Excellent advice! Ditto!
I have had managers who did things like that. It is NEVER appropriate to degrade anyone in front of anyone ELSE! Your Instructor should have been the one who had to write the paper.
Some people never heard of the Golden Rule.
I know how it feels. When I was in nursing school years ago, I graduated in 2001, I had an instructor that hated me. She did everything she could to embarass me, degrade me and make me feel awful. I showed her when I walked proudly accross that stage to receive my diploma. Keep your head up, nurses do eat their young.
@Rene. Allow things like that to strengthen you.
Rene, I have been a nurse for over 20 years. I hate when instructors humiliate nurses like that. So sorry you had to go through that. I too feel that this sort of behavior from the instructors stems from some sort of insecurity. Shame on them. Like, Jennifer says, allow it to strengthen you. ((((((hugs))))))))))
These are so funny! After 30+ years of nursing I have heard and seen about everything (or so it seems).
one time a medical student gave one of my patients a urinal after she said she needed to use the bathroom and could walk, she actually used in and i had to clean up the mess .
This is so true ,but the young need to be reminded that they wiil be older someday too!
I have worked in health care for 40 years and worked for my first “nurse who eats her co workers.” I had never been confronted by this type before. I lost a great gig because of her. I heard she left Take Care shortly after. She was a souless, angry old bag. Those type of women aren’t limited to nursing.
You are quite right. The Bully exists in all workplaces and professions. We seem to see it more in Nursing because it is predominately female. Most who have written responses to the Medscape article ‘Incivility in Nursing’, April 2011 have stated that the problem is women vs. (other) women. Perhaps it is a biology thing.
I also lost a job because of a CNO and her ‘girlfriend’ who was our unit manager.
Within the year, the CNO had been fired from the corporation.
Sometimes we actually do see justice done.
I once had an 18 year old non-compliant patient that was having a 24 hour urine collection done and he kept voiding in the toilet. I took a 22 guage foley catheter in and told him if he did not save his urine that I would have to put the catheter in. Immediate compliance. LOL
Thankfully I only came across one professor during my two years in nursing school, who demeaned me in front patients and classmates during clinical. While at the time, I was embarrassed, it did help me to become a stronger human being. I also realized, that I will try my best to not treat another human being in that manner.
I have been in the medical profession for over 26yrs…working as the under paid, under appreciated CNA to ER Tech, and health care coordinator, now a LPN and I have been scolded, talked down to, and although I wanted to bark back I took a deep breath and let it roll off my back. All it takes is a simple thank you from my patient or a smile and the knowing that I work for the patient or family I care for and that is gratitude and payment enough. Those moments of struggle have made me a stronger nurse and a better patient advocate….my advise be strong and work for your patient and let it roll off your back…
I was precepting a student, when i went to lunch, i has someone else watching her. while i was gone, a pt developed pulmonary edema, the student caught it, and charted “Increased rales noted, RN out to lunch. Supervisor notified.”
When I was 18 years old I had to have an operation. They needed to cut a piece of bone from my pelvis. As I was about to go out in came that years student nurses and right in front was the best friend of my girl friend and her fellow students. They were in to watch their first operation and many of them new this patient.
I have found out I have narcolepsy. Which means I can be taking a nap and using automatic behavior. I have since been medicated, but there were a few difficult times before that. Once I was charting at 4 in the am, and I glanced at my charting before closing the chart: “ROM WNL, neuro checks begun, patient is taking a cruise to the Virgin Island and is sitting in a chair on the deck.”