my poor son has to listen to my nasty/disgusting stories from work...i find them hilarious, but he looks at me like i'm nuts. plus everytime one of those nurse shows come on, i say come watch this, you'll see what mommy does all day...he sits there then says can i go now. poor guy!

we have several nurses in the extended family....we all sit together but isolated from the rest of the family at holidays cuz we tend to "talk shop" and it can gross out the rest of the family. They have actually asked us"how can you eat while you talk about that stuff"...they don't laugh at our jokes either.

It's hard to live with a nurse because:

They will try to fix you and this usually involves sharp instruments, hence the reason their kids run from them when they get a splinter or scrape.

They freak out when people put their shoes or dirty feet on a bed, sofa, or if someone touches the bottoms of their shoes.  Hey, don't blame us nurses...blame it on having to take Microbiology and knowing what grows on surfaces.

They comment on how gross poeple are, like when people lick their fingers to couunt money or shuffle through papers.

They make comments on possible diagnoses and note signs/symptoms of the general public, like "That person has CHF." or ascites, or dyspnea on exertion, especially if they're an ER nurse like me.

Unless you have a major arterial bleed or are unconscious,  they don't have sympathy for you, esp ER RNs.

My husband says the hardest part of living with a nurse because "they always have to be in control."  I secretly think he's still grumpy from the Bell's Palsy that I thought might be a stroke about six weeks ago.  In my head, I really had a differential dx of Bell's but his face was REALLY droopy.......................

One of my sons went into health care and called me the first time he made a med error.  (He was 19 at the time, and I was 19 when I made my first med error, too.)  He called me the first time of lots things that happened in his medical career.  Both kids came to the nurse mom before the doctor dad on all medical issues.

I asked them about that every time, and they always said it was because I would actually DO something about their issues.

ST

 The problem I have from so many years of nursing.  When my family complain about being sick, I want to say sick...you have no idea what sick is.  The other problem is they don't understand how you can clock out late....their reasoning is "if you have a relief then you can just leave"...no point in explaining giving report to a nurse that wants each and every dot and t crossed, or walking out with vital information written on your hand, or did you waste the narcotics, did you balance your I and O, oh my gosh did you sign off your orders, the list goes on and on.  I am sure each and every nurse drives home wondering if all tasks are completed.  

Then they hate our stories, they do find them gross and disgusting and would prefer for us to keep them to ourselves.  Yet when we come home we need to talk and talk and no-one ever wants to listen, yet we can pick up the phone and call a colleague and speak for hours and hours on end.  Then we decide to go out socially with our families and we meet other nurses and we yap on and and on about our jobs and inadvertently exclude them.  So I believe it is tough to have a nurse in a family.  The other thing I have noted is the need for each and every family member use us as a resource, "should I still take that little green pill...no name for it, they assume we know the name of each and every green pill out there.  Then they want us to diagnose, treat and advise and don't understand it is beyond our scope of practice.  Parents are the best because they ask questions and don't believe a word we have to say, they trust their Doctors to the extreme.  Then there is the group of people who think we are angels, thank us constantly and make us feel like miracle workers and we feel a little embarrassed by their admiration.

My husband is a Paramedic... Not the same, but in many ways still the same...

The hardest part about living with him is that he ALWAYS has a few extra pairs of gloves in his back pockets... I do all the laundry and I always seem to miss one from his uniform. Best part is that if they get out in the wash, they get water in them and I always seem to spill the water onto my feet while transfering it to the dryer...

I am taking my pre-reqs for nursing school so I soak up the stories he tells like a sponge so that part isn't hard at all... But, our son doesn't like it at all and watches me in amazement when my hubby is telling the story then says, 'you really want to be on the receiving end of that patient Mom???' It's hilarious!