I have had one of those days. I am not even going to ask if you have had one of those days because I know that all of you have. If you have not, then you are a relatively new nurse or you work and live in utopia. If it is the latter, please call me.

Today has not been a good day in my tenure as a nurse. It has been the type of day where I want to do anything but be a nurse. In fact, dipping chocolate cones at a local Dairy Queen looks pretty good to me right now. I am trying to remember why I became a nurse in the first place. When I received the calling to become a nurse (and I do believe it is a calling), I wish I had been screening my calls.

Now, you are expecting me to get serious and discuss all that is good about nursing. That is not going to happen today. I believe you have to have the bad days in order to truly appreciate the good days. All of us are entitled to "one of those days" once in a while. Besides, I know it will be better tomorrow and even better the next day.

When I have one of those days (and thank goodness I do not have them often), I used to feel even worse because I believed I should always love my career choice. Not any more. The bad days serve a purpose. So now, instead of feeling even worse about myself when I have one of those days, I try to remember something funny that has happened in my career. So today, I started thinking of some of the funny and/or ridiculous things I have heard other healthcare professionals say over the years. Following is a list of things I have heard healthcare providers say over the past 30 years of my career. The list includes statements or questions made by nurses, physicians, respiratory therapists, medical students, and nursing students. I hope you get a chuckle from some of them.

1. When I graduate (from nursing school), I am only going to work nine to five Monday through Friday. No holidays, either.

2. Are hospitals open on holidays?

3. Is "cardiac arrest" under "c" or "a"? A new intern uttered this on a July 1 as he looked in his medical manual describing emergency situations.

4. Doctors don't ever scream, do they?

5. If you have a pacemaker, does your heart beat forever?

6. Is atrial fibrillation-flutter the same thing as atrial flitter flub?

7. If you have right sided heart failure, only the right lung fills with fluid.

8. What attacks the heart?

9. When I graduate (from nursing school), I am going to get a job as a nurse administrator.

10. Surgeons are the nicest people.

11. I thought women did not have heart attacks.

12. Is it true you can die from asthma?

13. I did not give the digoxin because his heart rate was 120.

14. I want to be a nurse so I can marry a doctor.

15. Nurses make a lot of money, don't they?

16. Why do I have to watch the monitors? They aren't going any where.

So the moral of the column is if you have a bad day, enjoy it. Everyone deserves a bad day once in a while. Just remember, when you have one of those days, smile and try to remember something funny or pleasant that has happened during your career. Remember, it will be better tomorrow.

Vickie A. Miracle, RN, EdD, CCRN, CCNS, CCRC

Editor, DCCN and Lecturer

Bellarmine University

School of Nursing

Louisville, KY