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Very superstitious: 5 hilarious nursing superstitions
Nurses and midwives are meant to be a scientific bunch, but it seems we have no shortage of superstitions. In a chat group, David asked what some common superstitions that nurses had were.
Here were some of our favourites.
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The infamous “Q” word
Everyone knows this one. And no synonyms either!
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“Full moon” syndrome
There’s no evidence for this, but too many nurses and midwives swear by the fact that patients inevitably act up during the full moon. The same goes with Friday the 13th.
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Saying the name of a discharged patient
Whether its acute ward nurses saying the name of a discharged patient, or ED nurses saying the name of a regular, nurses seem to agree on an un-proven trend that if you say the name of a former patient, they will return within 48 hours.
So never say their name, or if you do, make sure you knock on wood.
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Having a stethoscope on hand
This one seems to come mainly from palliative care nurses. If you don’t carry your stethoscope with you, there’s a pretty high chance that you’ll have to go back to grab it to pronounce someone during your rounds.
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“I might actually get out on time”
I mean, whether or not you say it, does anyone actually ever get out on time?
What are your superstitions? Let us know in the comments.
Jenny Matthews says
Definitely the Q word, someone said it last year and look what happened in 2020!
Shao Lai says
My partner said the Q ward, then one hour later, we had a resuscitation call.
Shao Lai says
Sorry, typing error
It should be “Q word”
Kris blain says
As a midwife we always said more ladies come in with ruptured membranes during a full moon
Shao Lai says
A full moon night duty is busier. Patients are restless.
Janet says
Q word definately
Used to have a NUM who would go nutso about red and white flowers – she said it meant some one would die
I was fatalistic – that if x piece of equipment was broken it would be the very piece of equipment we needed
Patient types come in 3’s
I.e 3 admissions with haematemesis or gastro or stroke
Shelagh says
oh yes definatly admissions come in three’s I used to work in ortho and we would get one fratured femur inevitably two more would come in within days
Janita says
In nursing homes
When a resident passes away,
This always will result in 3 passing then nothing for a period of time
Barbra says
Never ever say the Q word, full moon syndrome, if a patient goes home wearing slippers they will be back, when finishing a lay out wish the patient safe journey. When taking a patient to surgery never push the bed feet first. Guess we are more superstitious than we admit to.
Deirdre East says
If a labour is not Moving along well, if you label the paperwork for a cesarean and put it in the front of the chart this helps to prevent it. We used to call it L and D Voodoo
woody says
It astonished me to find I agreed with all of the superstitions listed in the top 5 and most in the comments.. the last one, “getting off on time” gave me a good chuckle.
Thanks folks.
Debbie says
I so agree with the full moon shift. This was more evident when working in the goal industry. 500 male inmates and a 100 or so would go off on the sole RN. Fun times!
Johanne Tully says
“It’s a quiet day”