70 secrets nurses wish they could tell you

“If you’ve been a patient in a unit for a long time, come back and visit. We’ll remember you, and we’d love to see you healthy.” – Intensive-care nurse, California

“Doctors aren’t trained to know everything about medication. They learn from the nursing staff. Their success will only be as good as their relationship with the staff who guide them.” – Ed King, intensive care and emergency department nurse

“I cannot tell you the number of otherwise intact people I’ve had in my care in the past eight years who’ve done something really, really dumb that interferes with their care. If you have to ask me when you can go back to snorting coke or taking large amounts of meth, you have a problem. I don’t care what you do after you’re discharged – just please don’t ask my advice about how to do it.” – Head-nurse.blogspot.com

“We have too much paperwork. It would be nice to spend more time delivering the care that patients deserve, but instead we’re filling out paperwork on assessing patients’ skin or his or her risk of falling – most nurses just copy out what the previous nurse has written!” – Nurse, RPA, Sydney

“I once took care of a child who had been in a coma for more than a week. The odds that he would wake up were declining, but I had read that the sense of smell was the last thing to go. So I told his mum, ‘Put your perfume on a washer and hold it up by his nose to see if it will trigger something.’ The child woke up three hours later. It was probably a coincidence, but it was one of my best moments as a nurse.” – Barbara Dehn, a nurse practitioner and blogger at nursebarb.com. Read about five miracles that the doctors and nurses treating these patients couldn’t explain.

“Some jobs are physically demanding. Some are mentally demanding. Some are emotionally demanding. Nursing is all three. If you have a problem with a nurse or with your care, ask to speak to the charge nurse [the one who oversees the shift]. If it isn’t resolved at that level, ask for the hospital supervisor.” – Nancy Brown, registered nurse

“The one question I get that I find annoying is, ‘Are you going to train as a doctor or just stay as a nurse?” – Intensive care nurse, Sydney

“The more conversation there is, the more potential [there is] for error.” – Linda Bell, registered nurse

“If the person drawing your blood misses your vein the first time, ask for someone else. I’ve seen one person stick someone three times. They need to practice, but it shouldn’t be on you!” – Karon White Gibson, registered nurse

“Don’t page me to your room to fluff up your pillows or to move your trolley closer to the bed. I’m not your personal nurse – I have five other patients to care for.” – Nurse, RPA, Sydney