SapphPunk

Hello. Are you retired or still practicing? I'm a retired military RN. I had a bunch of similar experiences, as we all do. I am only 50 yrs old, but military ages one very quick in a shorter period of time. Now I'm left with the aching body. I wouldn't trade my experiences at all, but know that I couldn't do another night shift in an ICU anymore or another long deployment. When I worked, the RNs did everything, no nurse's aides! We had the enlisted (they are great), but never enough of them. Now I'm studying to be a mechanic, my childhood passion. I guess it's a guy thing. I'll be getting my hands dirty with grease instead of "shit"! We are a special breed, the people who help the sick. I've never regretted the practice. I still keep the license active, just in case. ⚓️🇺🇸

Yeah, I liked my nursing job, but I chose the profession to pay the bills and save money. I fortunately retired without the typical injuries like back and shoulder problems. I had a car accident in '92 and my back muscles were affected, not the vertebrae. So, I had to do stretching continuously. Body mechanics were a must. I learned to pull the patient up in bed from the actual head of the bed and asking the younger more agile RNs to help. In the military, there was always some young buck that wanted to impress with his or her abilities. I was like, go right ahead and impress....pull this 100kg + patient up in bed or other. They were more than happy to do it. Unfortunately, there were not enough of them around. So, I resorted to machines or the clipboard RN supervisor to help. My family told me to go into RN supervisory job. I was like, and I'm not being rude, but once you're away from the bedside, you lose your skills. RN is one of the only jobs where advancement is an office job where one loses their talents. I learned a lot of skills in the ICU (my unit was the everything ICU!), but I wouldn't count on my skills now because they are not being polished. It's that IV, medications, hemodynamics, time management, charge nursing, etc..that needs to be juggled regularly to take a patient. I remember going on leave (vacation) and returning, just a week or so out of practice, would make me behind in my skills. I would return and my boss would say, "We got a new machine. Learn it now!" Funny, all that relaxing on the vacation went out the window in the first hour of a shift upon my return! I can't imagine what I would do now if I took patients. I read my critical care articles, but there's nothing like taking a patient or multiple. If I had to comment on anything, it's that nurses should consider bedside nursing just as prestigious as administration nursing. Sadly, that's not the case. In the military, it's expected to move away from the bedside in order to advance. My friend, who was higher ranking, once told me that her supervisor told her that helping with an IV was not her job. She was also told that her bedside nursing was finished in her career and the office was her new bedside. She replied, "IVs will always be my job!" If those example do not reveal the problem in RN, I don't know what else would. I am only guessing, but the doctor profession is not treated the same, that paper pushing is the only way to advance or best use of skills. I would again guess, if the doctor was in the office all the time, something bad happened. Whereas in RN, that situation is considered advancement. Sorry, due to my age and experience, I've become cynical. I hope the negativity hasn't darkened some young new grad. I'm just stating what I saw.

Hello again. I can't stop reading these stories. What about your nursing school experiences? We all have our own class/clinical stories. I remember in A&P lab, the teacher walks in eating a sandwich while showing us the cadavers. She also had this unusual Rubbermaid trashcan with what she said were, "pieces parts"? There was one cadaver that didn't take the formaldehyde well and by the end of the semester, I had to use Vick's Vapor rub in my nose to view the body. There was another one we called, "large Marge" who had an apron of adipose tissue that one could actually hold up like an apron. I think my cadaver was once in the military because of a nurse tattoo on his shoulder. It was either a nurse he married or one who cared for him in the infirmary, I'm guessing. I was able to hold an actual adult male lung which was as light as a nerf football 🏈. My cadaver had smoker's lung and was "mushy", not healthy. We even used a vibrating saw to cut through the skull bone. When we were done, we put a rose on each casket, said a prayer, and thank them for allowing us to use their bodies. Walking to the back of the room, one would find the "Freak Show" as we called it. It was an area with jars of preserved bodies of births that were not compatible with life. One had no brain, two heads, conjoined twins that didn't live, and many more oddities. At the medical building, there was a full posterior view of a body showing only the nervous system (all internal organs were taken out, except the nerves). Also on display were pieces of bodies, you name it, you'd see it isolated enclosed forever in plastic. One teacher showed us a body that was completely cut in half (sagittally) and then he just pulls the R/L apart without telling us. I was like, WOW! I jumped back holding my mouth. Then I looked to my left and saw a medical student dissecting his cadaver. I was like, "Wow, doctors almost go down to the atom to learn the body!" I remember the first day the teachers telling us that the only reason they were there was to get us to pass the boards! That was the day I knew they were very stern and the ones who warned us about the "RNs eat their young" culture because they did a very good job of doing that. Both are true, RN teachers want all their students to pass boards, even on first try, and that they eat their young. It's the first taste of survival of the fittest. They told us, forget the pre-nursing atmosphere of the private or state university because RN school tested on critical thinking. From day one we got NCLEX styled test only. Lastly, many eons ago, my psych clinical experience was no less entertaining. We went to the hospital that was actually named for the RN from my school who was killed one night walking home from the bus stop. At my school, I could go down the hallway and see all the different graduating class years framed photos. I did find her going back many years. When we arrived at the hospital, I received the patient nobody wanted. The teacher told me that guy who's smoking the cig is yours. She said the plastic sheet on the wall covers the door he torn off, have fun! I approached him and asked why he tore off the door? He said that he needed a cig. He went outside, walked to his brother's house, smoked it at his house and returned like nothing happened. Unbelievable! Nursing school was full of caffeinated students and eventful experiences.