Nursing is one of the toughest jobs out there. After 12-hour shifts of dealing with people in their very worst moments, we can’t blame them for occasionally having a laugh at the expense of both doctors and patients.
They do the giant’s share of communicating with patients, cleaning up everyone’s messes, and dealing with complaints, questions, emotional outbursts, and egos – all with little time to rest or even grab a meal.
These 50 memes show just how absurd a day in the life of a nurse can be as well as just how frustrating some parts of their jobs really are.
Nurses do the majority of the manual and emotional labor in hospitals and get very little of the credit.
Who can blame them for having a laugh at a doctor’s expense when he or she gets a little too high and mighty?
If you think a higher power is going to intervene in your health, you better be prepared not to blame your nurse when your test results come back.
Dealing with body fluids is an everyday occurance in the life of a nurse. Be thankful you don’t have to clean up after yourself in the hospital!
Hey, sometimes patient satisfaction is trumped by more important things – like still being alive.
Hospitals aren’t comfortable places, and they’re certainly not hotels. Chances are your requests are going to get an eye roll or two if you’re not mindful of your nurse’s schedule.
Your nurse isn’t there to deliver room service. Just be glad they respond at all if you’re trigger happy with the call button.
7. They keep doctors from killing you
Doctors are overworked too and everyone makes mistakes. But it’s up to nurses to spot those mistakes and make sure all the medications they order are appropriate.
Accidents and illnesses don’t follow schedules and there’s always something that needs to get done in a hospital. It’s pretty rare to see a nurse sit down and take a moment for themselves during their shifts.
For those of us who don’t deal with life and death on a daily basis, it’s hard to understand just what a toll that kind of pressure can take on a nurse.
10. For everything there is a season
Many nurses don’t get weekends off, which can be tough as holidays and summers roll around and events start to happen while they have to work.
Lots of people are in the same boat with weekend work, but they probably don’t have to clean up blood and vomit on their Saturday nights.
Lifestyle changes and non-pharmaceutical approaches to health are great, but probably not for a heart attack.
There’s a reason we should be grateful to live in the 21st century (and there’s a reason we tend to live a lot longer now).
A lot can happen in a hospital, but nurses don’t get to lose their cool, even when they’re covered in your body fluids.
As long as people get sick or injured at 4am, nurses will have to be there to help them.
Props to all the night shift workers who have to try and sleep during the day.
After a day of blood and guts it’s hard to be around people who just don’t get it. Telling stories about your day at work is challenging when it involves gruesome wounds.
It’s hard for patients to know exactly what to tell nurses when they come in, but it’s best to give them the information they ask for without starting with your very first memory.
Sleep deprivation is bad for nurses and patients, and yet our current healthcare system keeps plenty of medical workers fatigued.
17. Hey, where are you going?
Some patients think nurses exist to cater to their every whim. While they’re certainly there to help you, medicine is not a service industry.
Remember how many other people your nurse has to care for over the course of their shift.
You don’t get to be a nurse without a lot of specialized schooling. And while there are different types of nursing degrees, they all require a ton of memorization of anatomy, physiology, administrative policy, and pharmacology.
A good vein makes a nurse’s work much easier when drawing blood or putting in an IV.
There’s not much you can do about your own veins, but don’t be surprised if you get complimented on a good one!
There’s simply no time to be stylish when you’re on your feet and moving around for 12 hours straight.
Describing pain is tough, but chances are if you can communicate at all, yours is probably not a 10 out of 10.
Think the night shift sounds peaceful? Not so much if you think about the kinds of things that force you to go to the hospital at 2am.
Those are some real emergencies and night shift nurses have to be at their best.
Describing your symptoms is important but complaining doesn’t do anyone any good. Use your hot air to do some deep breathing instead.
Do you feel like you’re going to throw up if you smell vomit? You’ll need to get over that if you become a nurse.
25. There’s no romance in medicine
Nurses see every little part of you and have learned not to care. But you should still tie your hospital gown anyway.
It’s perfectly normal to have to ask about your patients’ bowel movements and other things that might cause embarassment. While you might not be eager to share, there’s really nothing you can say that will scandalize a nurse.
Our cultural image of the naughty nurse is a far cry from the reality.
Of course, that doesn’t mean nurses can’t be glam, but that’s usually a priority that needs to wait until after a good night’s sleep.
28. Medicine as a second language
Patients are taught to ask questions about medicine, but it can be tough to explain biochemistry to someone who hasn’t taken a science class in years.
Your discomfort does not count as an emergency to a nurse unless it’s somehow to going keep you from breathing.
Imagine having to answer a call every time a patient needed a glass of water or had a question. It’s a wonder nurses don’t remover the batteries on some patient’s call devices!
While there’s no correlation between full moons and hospital admission rates, studies have found that nearly 40% of medical staff believe that full moons have an effect on their patients.
But perceptions can strongly influence how people feel about their jobs. So be extra nice to your nurses during a full moon!
32. I’m not sure why I’m sick
It’s incredible how many people are stumped by their bad health when they don’t eat healthy food or get appropriate exercise.
Just don’t be frustrated when your nurse suggests a healthier lifestyle instead of a medication.
33. Nurse me back to health
Nurses do not want to see your rash, answer your medical questions, or take care of you on their off days.
Asking a nurse to take care of you sometime is probably the worst pickup line possible.
Is there anything worse than getting waylaid at the end of your shift?
If your nurse is on her way out the door, that means she’s not your nurse until the next time she clocks in.
35. The Internet is not your doctor
If you have a real, live professional in front of you, chances are you don’t need to tell them about what you learned while doing an Internet search, especially if you don’t have expert knowledge.
Patients can’t help it if they have an emergency, but we also can’t blame an exasperated nurse for wishing it happened a few minutes later.
Learning Egyptian hieroglyphs would probably be easier than deciphering a doctor’s handwriting. But nurses do it every day.
38. They’re there to help
Nurses didn’t go to school to get an Mrs. degree. In fact, doctors don’t always behave their best around nurses. Not exactly a recipe for love.
39. Take pride in your work
Hey, every now and then you have to step back and admire a job well done, right?
Sometimes goodbyes are bittersweet. Sometimes they’re just sweet.
We all take our victories when and where we can get them.
Missing a shift is a lot less upsetting when that shift could easily involve struggling with patients, getting barfed on, and seeing people’s worst moments.
Too many night shifts will leave you sleep AND sun deprived.
You gotta love when machines have a mind of their own at the worst possible time. Isn’t technology supposed to make our lives easier?!
Medical students are still getting the lay of the land when they start working in hospitals. But nobody likes when a newbie chooses the worst possible time to interrupt.
Then again, it’s a mistake they probably only make once after the reaction they get.
Think the night shift is easy because everyone is asleep? Then you’ve never been to a hospital at night, especially an ER.
47. Nurses are life savers
If your life is saved by medical staff, always keep in mind that a nurse most likely had a lot to do with it.
48. Overlooking the real heroes
Yet again, doctors get the lion’s share of the credit when nurses deserve plenty.
49. Treatment resistant patient
Hey, a nurse can be excellent, but she can’t make you take care of yourself. Best to take seriously the advice of the person whose job it is to save your life.
Always make sure to thank your nurse. Much of the work they do is invisible but integral to your care.
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Nursing is one of the toughest jobs out there. After 12-hour shifts of dealing with people in their very worst moments, we can’t blame them for occasionally having a laugh at the expense of both doctors and patients.
They do the giant’s share of communicating with patients, cleaning up everyone’s messes, and dealing with complaints, questions, emotional outbursts, and egos – all with little time to rest or even grab a meal.
These 50 memes show just how absurd a day in the life of a nurse can be as well as just how frustrating some parts of their jobs really are.
