Sure, this blog is often about nurse burnout and provides strategies to help nurses enjoy their nursing careers. But once in awhile you gotta let loose and enjoy yourself.

Practice work-life balance in action!

So that’s what we’re going to do with this post today.

Let’s have some fun.

A few weeks ago, I asked a question on my social media channels, which was:

[Tweet “”Nurses, finish this sentence. You know you’re a #nurse when…””]

Here’s what dozens of nurses from across the country had to say:

(Warning… The following is not for the faint hearted. Some of the below are graphic and just plain nasty!!)

• You leave for work knowing there is a big snowstorm coming… (To which I responded: “Or you do not get to leave work because of the big snow storm that has arrived!”)
• You talk about bodily fluids while eating lunch.
• You have trouble figuring out how to STOP working.
• When your comment on a wound is, “Wow! That looks great!” Garners looks of shock and disbelief from non medical people…
• You talk about gross and inappropriate things at dinner without a second thought, thus grossing out your entire group of non-nurse friends (and quite possibly the surrounding tables). Whoops!
• Your kid comes home from kindergarten and you find out she taught the other children on the playground that babies form in the uterus and come out of the vagina.
• When someone looks hurt or sick in a public place and you can’t take your eyes off of them
  waiting for the right time to intervene.
• When you can’t help but analyze your fur baby’s poop.
• Friends and family get sick or injured and ask you what they should do or what type of medication to take or the side effects of the medication..
• You like reading research journals!
• You can diagnose what is wrong on “Call the Midwife” before Dr. Turner does.
• When you wash your hands before AND after you go to the bathroom!
• You’re texting with your sister-in-law about your niece’s upcoming dance RECITAL and your phone auto-corrects it to RECTAL! It must be trending my medical word usage!!
• When you use c with a line over it for “with” when writing regular notes or cards!
• You can change sheets full of vomit or blood or crap and turn around and eat cereal from an emesis basin.
• When you have seen more penis’s than a prostitute!

Now it’s your turn!

Let’s hear from you! Finish the statement: “You know you’re a nurse when…” I look forward to hearing your nursing career stories! Thanks for reading.

About the Author: Keynote speaker and virtual conference host, Elizabeth Scala MSN/MBA, RN, partners with hospitals, nursing schools, and nurse associations to transform the field of nursing from the inside out. As the host of the Nurse’s Week program, The Art of Nursing, Elizabeth supports nursing organizations in celebrating and recognizing their staff in a meaningful way. Elizabeth received her dual master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University. She is also a certified coach and Reiki Master Teacher. Elizabeth lives in Maryland with her supportive husband and playful pit bull.