Many jobs are a nine-to-five type deal. When you clock out you go home and leave your work life behind. I’ve attempted this, but it’s just not possible as a nurse. Not completely. Nursing is not just a job, it’s a lifestyle. It becomes a part of who you are, and you’re unable to just turn it off. I tried, believe me. It’s not happening.
As a professional nurse you are always connected to the knowledge and skills you possess. They bleed into everything you are. If you’re a mother then you end up being a nurse for your children. You also serve your other family members, friends, and community. You can’t help it. Every action, every thought is laced with your career choice.
I’m sure there are a number of careers that are like this, jobs that you just can’t leave at work, but they instead follow you and influence everything you are. I’m sure there’s other jobs like that, but there’s not one quite like nursing. Even if your job is one you never leave I’ll bet you haven’t said any of these things. Only a nurse could truly understand these comments we make even when we’re not at work.
- See you soon! This is something you say to yourself when you see someone not being as healthy as they should. Cardiac nurses think this especially. This may occur for example when you see a morbidly obese person, drunk, and smoking a cigarette. I can understand weight problems may be unavoidable, but the others are a choice. Let’s not add insult to injury.
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Do what?! This is your response when someone says, “I can’t believe I have to work on Sunday.” Like seriously I forget that a lot of people don’t work Sundays.
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That is so wrong and unrealistic! This is what you say when watching a medical drama on television. As a young woman I hated watching the show ER with my mom (a RN). She never shut up. Now I understand.
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He is not allowed to work on me! This is what you say concerning certain doctors you know when you are confronted with the thought of being hospitalized.
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That’s not really my area of expertise. This is what you say when a church member, your postman, or some other acquaintance wants to show you some personal part of their body so you can give them your opinion on it. Think rash on the inner thigh of the man who sprays your house for termites. Yikes!
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I could hit that! This is what you say when you see that muscular, young man in front of you at the checkout line at Walmart. No, you’re not thinking about a romantic interlude. You’re simply admiring his Basilic vein.
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No. You don’t need an antibiotic for your cold. What you say when someone keeps complaining that their doctor didn’t give them “a shot.”
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Oh Lord. Please don’t let them wreck. I don’t have time to stop. This is what you say when a car passes you recklessly on a hill in the rain.
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So what did the doctor say? What do you mean you don’t know?! This is what you say to your spouse when they come home from their check-up and have no clue what happened there. The doctor mentioned high blood pressure, but your spouse can’t give you numbers! You knew you should have went along!
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Yes, everyone has one. But don’t worry, she doesn’t have a fever. This is what you say when someone asks about your sick child and enquires if they “have a temperature?” You don’t want this to be a pet peeve, but you can’t help it.
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When was the last time you pooped? This is what you ask your child when they say their tummy hurts. Or when your spouse says their tummy hurts. Or when your tummy hurts. You pretty much need to know the bowel habits of anyone with a stomach ache.
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So, what’s our plan? This is what you say to the poor nurse or doctor taking care of your friend or family member when you’re there at the hospital as a visitor. You actually loathe when this happens to you at work, but once again, you can’t help yourself. You want to be involved in that plan of care!
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He better straighten up. I’m off duty! This is what you say when you see a teenage boy doing some risk-taking behavior in your neighborhood, like letting his friends drive him around the block in their beat-up van while he “surfs” on the roof. It’s your only day off this week, and you just know if he gets hurt and you see it you’ll end up out there working on him until EMS arrives.
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That’s outside of my scope of practice. This is what you end up saying when a family member continues to needle you for a diagnosis based on the laundry list of symptoms they have. You want to help, and you appreciate their faith in you, but sometimes folks just need to go to the doctor!
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Oh God. I’m sorry. I’m going to make the worst patient ever! This is what we say when we realize we’re getting admitted to the hospital. Come on now. You know it’s true.
If you’re a nurse I’m sure you’ve said a few of these things once or twice. So tell me. What could I add to the list?
Tabitha Ward says
I have to admit I’ve said all of these things a lot. Lol! We also use frequent flyer term. Lol! Working in the NICU I often get to hear some crazy names, but my favorite is when the mother tells me she will have to call her sister or auntie on how to pronounce it and spell it. Lol! Oh there are tons more. I’ve meet all kinds of daddies to one baby, and the mother told me she was trying to decide which one of the men her baby looks like. Lol! My lands!
brieann.rn@gmail.com says
Thanks for the comment. I’ll bet you see all kinds of things!
Joey Wilder says
“Let me do some checking on that…” We all say it. Pretty much universal in the use and “translation” of the phrase.
brieann.rn@gmail.com says
Ahhh yes. There’s no way I’d admit defeat on not knowing the answer. And I certainly know what you mean by your quotation marks. Lol.
Jane says
“Nurses eat their young” was in common practice back in the day! Today, we had better help the newbies out with our experience, because they are not getting it in their nursing education!
Jane says
My only contribution is the RN license plate, who wants or needs to advertise this? Better left a secret, as most experienced nurses will tell you!
brieann.rn@gmail.com says
Haha! I know what you mean!