You Know You're a Nurse When....

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You’ll know you're a nurse when ...

you tenderly reach over to touch your husband’s hand in the middle of the night and find yourself feeling for a vein. (This actually happened to me last week.) — Amy Zavesky, RN, BSN, Lansing, Ill.

you’re the only one on rounds who knows the name of a child’s imaginary friend and that the intern is about to sit on him.— Martha Driessnack, RN, PhD, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, Des Moines, Iowa

your 97-year-old teary-eyed patient says, “My journey has about ended†and you tear up, take time and stay.— Alma Sullivan, BSN, RN, LNC, Vicksburg, Miss.

you replay your entire shift in your mind on the way home to make sure you didn’t forget anything.— Diane Tilkemeier, RN, MSN, Cumberland, R.I.you constantly reflect about the things you could do to improve the care you deliver to your patients.— A. Gatesman, MSN, FNP, West Jordan, Utahyou’re sitting on a bus next to a really gorgeous guy and you think to yourself, “Wow, he’s really got good veins!â€â€” Cheryl Hoyt Zambroski, RN, PhD, Louisville, Ky.you open the refrigerator door and notice that the already opened milk jug has been dated and timed and has your initials on it.— Kris Haws, RN, SRNA, Pawtucket, R.I.you’re at home, sick, and you’re worried about your patients, and call in to check on them.— Judy A. Wessell, RN, Nurse Practitioner, Virginia Beach, Va.all of your relatives and most of your friends consider you their primary medical person for information and advice.— Gerri Kucharik, RN, MS, CHPN, Port St. Lucie, Fla.you’ve worked 40-plus years in the profession and, when you look back, it seems like so much less. It was so much fun, and it all went too fast, and you’d do it all over again!â€â€” s, RN, BSN, (Ret), Port Townsend, Washingtonyou gauge how busy your shift was by how many times you were able to use the bathroom.— Ken Schmidt, RN, MSN, BC, Huber Heights, Ohioyou care for a family whose beliefs directly conflict with yours and treat them as you would your own family.— Narad, APRN, BC, Fairfax, VAyou drink wine in the morning and coffee at night.— Kathy Maddox, RN, ACLS, Dumfries, Va.you are doing your laundry and think to yourself, Is this the only thing I wore last week (blue scrubs)?— Erkel, RN, BSN, Presto, Pa.you drive past the fast-food window to “prepare†dinner for your family because you stayed with your patient until his/her family arrived. — Cicconi, RN, BSN, CNOR, Pittsburgh, Pa.you’re at the local mall in street clothes and a former patient recognizes you and thanks you for the great care.— Doris Cavlovich, RN, MSN, Pittsburgh, Pa.you heroically smile and don’t run away from your elderly patient who shyly shows his appreciation by handing you a handful of stool.— Raquel -Bennewitz, MS, MBA, RN, Palos Park, Ill.

you realize that the medical student you taught to insert an IV is now an attending physician.— Sherry Fox, RN, PhD, CNRN, Richmond, Va.

a patient states that you saved his or her life and, if it wasn’t for you, wouldn’t be here today.— Connie K. Cupples, RN, MS, MSN, Germantown, Tenn.

your husband’s eyes lovingly acknowledge that you’re staring at his veins again.— Fowler, RN, BSN, Seattle, Wash.

at the grocery checkout, you look at a stranger’s veins and decide which size IV catheter you would use.— Law, RN, BSN, MBA, Wilmington, N.C.

you just comforted a dying patient and his or her family, then continued on to your next patient with a smile and encouraging words.— Crawford, RN, BSN, NCSN, Barre, Mass.

before retiring for the night, your clothes are laid out neatly, much like those of a firefighter preparing for an emergency. You’re on call.— Holly Klinger, RN, CNOR, Brecksville, Ohio

you look eye-to-eye with disease and see only the woman, man or child.— RN-BSN leadership class, Walsh University, North Canton, Ohio, submitted by Sherrie Underwood, RN, MSN, CNS, clinical associate professoryou are totally comfortable with discussing body fluids at the dinner table.— Deborah Sensenbach, BSN, RN, BC, Coos Bay, Ore.you watch “ER†to point out the mistakes.— Colleen Baker, RN, BSN, Lebanon, N.H. (a nurse since May 2005)

you look across the patient’s bed at a co-worker, smile, and you both just understood and “spoke†the same language.— Vorwerk, finished BSN program at Lourdes College, Sylvania, Ohio, on Dec. 14, 2005, presently a patient care tech in a rural hospital with plans to take board exams in early 2006

after 15 years as an RN, you take an employment test only to be told you should be a nurse!— Stahl, RN, MSN, Vicksburg, Mich.

your heart realizes death is a part of life and there is such a thing as a good death.--Joanne Sickler, RN, MSN, St. , U.S. Virgin Islands

From the editor:The above statements are just a sampling of the many submissions received in response to my invitation in the Third Qtr. 2005 issue to complete the sentence “You’ll know you’re a nurse when ...†in 25 words or less. Because of the enthusiastic response to my invitation, I am extending it for one more issue. If you would like to submit an entry for consideration, send it via e-mail to jim@... by Feb. 17, 2006. Please provide your response in the message body of an e-mail (not as an attachment) along with your credentials and location (city-state/province-country). Thank you. RNL— Mattson, editor, Reflections on Nursing Leadership