One Monthaversary Contest Results

Thank you to everyone who participated in the contest!  The winner has been notified via e-mail.  Stay tuned for more opportunities to interact with Nurseables in the new You Tell the Tale section coming soon!

Curious what tales were told?  Here’s a few of the stories we heard:

My legs were shaking as I walking onto the floor for the first time with my brand new uniform and arsenal of supplies.  It was my very first day at the hospital as a student nurse, and, boy, was I feeling the nerves!  “Ok, time to pick a patient and go in to see them!”  my instructor announced.  But what if they don’t like me?  What if I mess up and just frustrate my patient instead of help them?  Looking down the list of patients and diagnoses, I didn’t know where to start.  Maybe I would get along better with an older patient… or maybe I would relate better to a younger woman… or perhaps an elderly gentleman would be the kindest to me…   Finally, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and decided on the diagnosis that I could learn the most from, the new-onset diabetic patient.  It was all I could do to psych myself up to knock on the door and initiate that first conversation.  But once I did, I was greeted by the kindest gentleman and his wife.  My fears of failure and of annoying the patient flew out the window when I realized they were just thankful that I was there to help.  Thanks to their graciousness towards the newbie, I discovered that the world of nursing wasn’t quite as scary as my nerves would have me believe.  Sure there would be difficult patients and situations along the way, but all that was ok as long as I kept my focus.  My desire to help people, and to show them God’s love through my actions, far outweighed any fear that threatened to overcome me.  ~ Adrienne

This story comes from my grandfather who was a Marine in WWII. He told us how they were given all sorts of immunizations prior to being deployed overseas, and some of the Marines would give the female nurses a hard time while going through the immunization lines. This was back in the day when syringes were made out of glass and only the metal tip was disposable, so, if a nurse was unhappy with how the Marine treated them, they would twist the syringe in such a way that it left the metal tip in the Marine's arm. The unsuspecting Marine would then move on to the next immunization, and, since nurses have to stick together, the next nurse would do the same thing. Thus, by the time the unsuspecting Marine had finished his immunizations, he would have a whole row of needles stuck in his arm... That'll teach him!    ~ Pointman2007

Back in the day, when we still did paper charting, I was working a long, slow nightshift and was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open. I had a very young patient with a serious lung condition. His mom brought his lung percussion device (which they called their "vibrator") from home to use at the hospital. The mom performed the treatments herself and I charted this.

At the end of my shift, before going home, I reread my narrative charting for the night. Horrified, I realized that in my sleepy state I had charted, "Patient's mother using home vibrator with respiratory assist." Whoops.  ~ Anonymous

Medical Morales to Remember:

• We all have a story to tell and lessons that we have learned in life.  How we grow and mature through those events is part of the beauty of the nursing profession, and life in general.
• Be nice and courteous to nurses, they might be taking care of you one day!
• Accurate charting is important, just be careful of your wording!