10 Signs That You're a Nurse

The job follows you off the floor. Here are 10 signs it has taken over.

1. You're a little obsessive about germs.

There's hand sanitizer in your bag at all times. You picture the microorganisms on every surface you touch, and the day feels incomplete until you've washed your hands.

2. You eat fast.

No time for chitchat on a busy shift. You finish a meal in 15 to 20 minutes, sometimes less.

3. Your wardrobe is mostly scrubs.

Between solid colors and printed sets, scrubs take up half your closet. Regular clothes start to feel like a special occasion.

4. You panic about your own health.

You know too much. A minor symptom turns into a full differential in your head, and you jump straight to the worst case.

5. You're the worst patient.

Nurses make stubborn patients. Told to skip cold drinks while you fight a cold, you'll reach for the iced one anyway.

6. Gross topics fascinate you.

Wounds, drainage, bodily fluids: most people won't discuss it at the dinner table, but you'll trade stories over lunch. The grosser, the more interesting.

7. You can hold your bladder for hours.

You forget you need to go until you finally get a break, and only then does your body remind you.

8. Your sleep schedule is wrecked.

Rotating shifts confuse night and day. You lie awake wired after a shift, trying to catch up on the world outside the unit.

9. You're unfazed by blood.

A full emesis basin or a bloody dressing barely registers. Just keep it off your scrubs.

10. You see the world differently now.

The job changes how you notice people, risk, and your own body. Once you're a nurse, you can't unsee it.