If you read the personal ads online (not that any- one does; no one reads Craig's List, right?) you'll note one ubiquitous desire. No, not that one. People look for a mate with a sense of humor. Beauty, wealth-all the initial interests eventually fade. But the ability to make someone laugh endures.
Nurses often have dark, mordant, irreverent senses of humor. When asked why, they reply, "You've got to laugh, or you'll cry-or go crazy." In fact, many nurses do go a little crazy. Call it inappropriate laughter, compassion fatigue, or secondary traumatic stress disorder; they are all just points between coping well under stress and losing it in the trenches. Each syndrome has slightly different signs and symptoms, but their causes and results can be similar. Treatments range from taking your giggling self into the nurse's lounge until the moment passes to a six-month leave of absence, psychotherapy, and King Kong-size doses of antidepressants. But the ability to see the humor and irony in sad situations can be a lifesaver. And let's face it; the life you save with a funny story or practical joke may be your own.
TOUGH CROWD
The inside joke, the sarcastic remark, the ribald but inoffensive tale, anything that strikes the funny-bone can ease an aching heart or relieve the utter disbelief of witnessing patients' parades of bad luck and bodies gone bad. Eventually the foibles of physicians and the sometimes bizarre or riotous behavior of patients becomes the stuff of legend.
There have been collections of humorous nursing stories published and innumerable lists circulated online under the heading of "You know you're a [fill-in-the-blank] nurse when . . ." Some of my favorite conclusions include:
* ". . . you hope there's a special place in hell for the inventor of the call light."
* ". . . a patient with a nose ring and 12 earrings says, 'I'm afraid of shots.'"
* ". . . a patient looks you dead in the eye and says, 'I don't know how that got stuck in there.'"
* ". . . you've sworn to have 'DNR' tattooed across your chest."
For nurses, true stories trump fiction every time. My favorite involves a woman who presented in my ED in labor on a dark-and-stormy night. The baby-her first, of course-was crowning. The ED staff ran around looking for sterile delivery trays and obstetric attendings, anything to keep them occupied and not involved. I thought, "Oh, well, someone has to deliver this kid. I guess it's me." The obstetric resident appeared just in time to talk me through the measures needed to relieve the fetal distress. With my gloved hand in place and my long fingers spread to lift the umbilical cord from the infant's throat, the fetal distress was relieved, at least momentarily. "Okay, let's go," said the resident. "Go? Go where?" I asked, in near panic. "To the delivery suite to finish delivering this baby," he replied. Then he pushed the stretcher toward the elevator as I ran alongside, my upper body beneath the sheet and my hand still in place. En route I heard a colleague say, "Who's that under the sheet?" "Must be Thom," was the reply. "Who else has feet that big?"
IT'S YOUR CAREER; ENJOY IT
Nursing humor needs to be discreet, tactful, and employed often and heartily. Laugh at yourself, tell a joke, or post a Dave Barry column in the nurses' lounge. In this year's Career Guide Karen Roberts brings her broad humor to bear on the state of the profession, taking a look at some special opportunities. Julia Freeman's deadpan humor brings a whole new slant to the term "career path." And Belinda Puetz presents a no-fooling-around guide to preparing for your next job interview.