I’m a pretty healthy gal. I’ve never been admitted to the hospital, except for childbirth, and even then I was begging to leave ASAP. Lately, though, I’ve had a few medical appointments and procedures.

It’s always interesting to see which nurses (and other healthcare professionals) look at my occupation on the admit sheet and which professionals do not. I’m usually unsure whether I should tell the other healthcare professionals that I am a nurse. I don’t want them to assume I know everything they’re talking about, I’d rather skip all the small talk, or secretly, sometimes I just want to see how others explain things.

For example, recently I had a very brief outpatient procedure that required conscious sedation – a first for me. The anesthesiologist proceeded to explain every step of the IV stick. (I’m going to put this band on your arm and look for a vein…etc.) I almost stopped him, but I just wanted to get on with the procedure and go home. After he administered the IV meds, he asked what I did for a living. My recovery nurse said I mumbled something about nursing and went back to sleep. Lovely.

Surely I’m not the only one that sporadically keeps my nursing background to myself during personal healthcare, right?