Nursing brings strange behaviour

30 Jun 2011 2 Comments

by littlenursey in Uncategorized Tags: hand washing, nurse, nurse behaviour, nurse habits, nurse humour, nurses, nursing, Nursing Times, student nurse

I was reading an article by the Nursing Times about how being a nurse changes your behaviour outside of work too, and it made me think about my habits before I started my training and the habits I have now.

My new-found habits:

I don’t think twice before discussing bowel habits with anyone.
I’ve always easily talked about bowel habits and fecal matter, but only with family, certain friends and boyfriends. Now, I somehow manage to pop these interesting little subjects into most conversations. As do my other friends on my nursing course. I forget that not everyone wants to hear about these things in such detail. I know one person who has now nicknamed me and my boyfriend ‘The Poo Couple’.

I fondle my left breast in public.
On duty, I wear a fob watch on my left breast pocket of my uniform. We’re not allowed to wear wrist watches due to hygiene reasons. Off duty, I forget that I’m no longer wearing my fob watch and when I go to restaurants I tend to cup my left breast as I try to check the time.

I sometimes hold up queues at sinks in public toilets, to do my 7-step hand washing technique.
A few weeks ago I was in the Trafford Centre and after using the loo, I found myself at the sink for a lot longer than necessary. I didn’t realise that I was thoroughly washing my hands using the 7-step hand washing technique until I noticed the woman next to me watching me, and 2 women stood behind me, waiting. I even felt lost when I couldn’t turn the push-button tap off with my elbow, and snubbed the hand-dryer for paper towels instead. Life is becoming one big aseptic technique.

I eat sandwiches at the speed of light.
I normally get a 15min lunch break if I can, sometimes 30mins if I’m on a less acute ward. During those 15min breaks, I have mastered the art of eating slightly less chewed sandwiches without choking to death, drinking the minimal amount necessary, cleaning up after myself and if I’m lucky, weeing. During my first year I began eating as much food as I could get my hands on whenever I was off duty, but then realised I was getting fat so I am now trying this thing called ‘dieting’.

I nurse people who are not patients and force health advice upon them.
This works both ways. When my friends and family aren’t asking me to look at their rashes, moles, feel their bones or describing their genital problems to me, I seem to think it’s my duty to nurse people even when they aren’t asking for help. Just last night I did it on Facebook when a friend wrote a status about scalding her hand, and I felt the urge to comment on what she should do. When someone tells me they have tummy ache I assault them with questions on their bowel habits, how much water they drink and what they have been eating. If I can, I will go and hunt down the right medication for my friends and even administer it to them.
My boyfriend fully enjoys being nursed by me however and will alert me as soon as he feels even a teeny tiny bit ill/in pain.

If you have any nursing habits feel free to comment! You can take a look at the Nursing Time article by clicking here