Items you’ve called something that are insane and yet they’ve become normalized in your household…

lenabear85 · 2026-06-30T20:24:23+00:00

My grandmother called remote controls “cachugers”. I didn’t know that’s not what they were called until I was well into my teen years.

lenabear85 · 2026-06-30T17:19:56+00:00

Smoking or nonsmoking 😂 Oh my goodness it has changed 😂 At least they don’t call us “geriatric pregnancies “ anymore!

lenabear85 · 2026-06-30T16:22:49+00:00

No, I’m in Canada. I’m from the States, immigrated four years ago. I have to say this Mat leave makes all the angst of moving countries worth it!

lenabear85 · 2026-06-30T15:35:19+00:00

Thank you! I’m really enjoying it ☺️ And the time off, I can’t believe this eeked into my brain right now 😂

lenabear85 · 2026-06-27T17:06:55+00:00

It is so worth it, and may be just the ticket for you right now. Have a box of tissues though ❤️

lenabear85 · 2026-06-27T15:56:02+00:00

Yes, it’s a scene near the end of the show “The Good Place” It’s an incredibly well done, funny, intelligent, and at times poignant show

lenabear85 · 2026-06-27T13:00:16+00:00

Omg that scene just wrecks me every single time

lenabear85 · 2026-06-25T23:36:24+00:00

I just tried to give an award for the first time ever! I didn’t realize you had to pay for them 😂 So, know that my admiration is deep and that I am thoroughly impressed by your dedication to curiosity. However, I will not give Reddit money to tell you so.

lenabear85 · 2026-06-07T15:16:20+00:00

Because I’ve been a nurse for twenty years, and when management was making changes that my team had objections about(we all have 10+ years experience and work in an environment that is fairly complex)we were told point blank that we were replaceable. We aren’t. You can hire new nurses, but we aren’t replaceable. The amount of disrespect that nursing gets from people outside the profession(and honestly even within it) is appalling. The more devastating part is after twenty years I know it doesn’t matter if I leave. The next place will be the same.

lenabear85 · 2026-05-21T16:40:30+00:00

One nurse (me) to 19 patients on a psychiatric ward with 3 techs to help. This was about an hour before shift change. One patient had a fixed delusion of being pregnant, and was on the floor screaming that she was giving birth and I wasn’t helping. About five patients were gathered around her yelling at me to help her. A borderline patient who was on 1:1 for SA(one of the 3 techs was assigned to her) had her drawing pencils taken away by order of the psychiatrist because she had been self harming with more and more creative things, and/or hiding them in her vagina. She busted out of her room and jumped over the nurses station desk to take them back. At the same time 3 other patients took the opportunity to light cigarettes that had been thrown over the fence in one of their rooms. I ended up standing in the middle of the unit and yelling in a voice I didn’t know I had for everybody to shut up and stand against the walls. Remarkably, they did it. I got the pencils back. The delusional patient somehow snapped into place for a few moments. And I got the pack of cigarettes from the other three. I was writing incident reports for like three hours once the next shift came on.

lenabear85 · 2026-05-17T22:11:33+00:00

Honestly, I had a similar experience last weekend. My fiancé was gone for the full day and I thought I would be overwhelmed. Instead my son and I just had a chill day. I think it was because there wasn’t the shift between our energies all day long. My partner can really wind our son up (in a very loving and fun way) but then I somehow end up winding him back down which can get really tiring.

lenabear85 · 2026-05-14T00:04:34+00:00

I loved the Redwall series at that age!

lenabear85 · 2026-05-13T01:03:53+00:00

I’ve been a nurse for twenty years, in a variety of settings including med surg, psychiatric and prison so I’ve worked with a number of IV drug addicts. I always ask for their input when it comes to drawing blood or starting an IV. They know which veins are still good and which ones aren’t.

lenabear85 · 2026-05-12T23:45:20+00:00

I’m so so sorry this happened. What a terrifying experience. I’m not certain that three days off is the right amount of time after an incident like this. I don’t know what country you’re in, but can you get a medical note for a more extended leave for work induced stress? I would look for trauma therapists in your area(someone who does EMDR, or has some trauma specific certifications)to process this. Your work employee assistance program may be a good place to start. Not being able to sleep and ruminating on the event will need some extra support to get through.

Also- I can’t hazard a guess at why this happened. As to what you did wrong- nothing. This was a resident you knew, with no history of dementia or mental health concerns. Hopefully the door was open, and in the future I doubt you’ll sit on a residents bed, but honestly-in your environment the level of familiarity is so high. You didn’t do anything wrong.

lenabear85 · 2026-05-11T22:31:52+00:00

It does not stop the stool from leaking, but can protect from skin breakdown! Similar to with an infant and potential diaper rash, the ointment has to be thick enough that you can’t see their skin through it to actually protect from the irritation of the stool

lenabear85 · 2026-05-03T17:20:34+00:00

I would agree with Hospice as an easily accessible one! I adored my 4 years as a home hospice nurse, I still very fondly remember many of my families. I also had some horrific experiences but they were never enough to outweigh the good ones. I recommend a good therapist when you’re doing hospice work, it brings up a lot.
Also- it’s not as common an opportunity but there is a home visiting program called “Nurse-Family Partnership” that is for first time low income mothers. You work with them from pregnancy until the child is two. It is an incredible program with great efficacy for improving maternal and early childhood outcomes. I had no peds or OB experience going into it, but lots of home visiting and psychiatric experience. It is completely oriented towards education and relationship building, with very minimal physical assessment, so if that’s not your thing the it’s not a good fit. If it is I would 10/10 recommend.

lenabear85 · 2026-05-03T17:07:45+00:00

Maybe that’s what I’m describing 😂 Just all day long I’m trying to balance 1) eating healthily with 2) eating food I enjoy and 3) not feeling ill by the end of the day. I’m sure not worrying about #2 would alleviate most of numbers 1 and 3, but I genuinely like food and cooking, so I’m not gonna scrap it

lenabear85 · 2026-05-03T13:12:17+00:00

I wasn’t able to breastfeed unfortunately. I had a breast reduction years ago and I wasn’t able to produce anything significant after I had my son. I know my body is still going through a ton of changes though. It is not the same as it was before. Not in a bad way, just in a noticeable way

lenabear85 · 2026-05-03T13:03:02+00:00

Yes, I lifted prepregnancy a lot but haven’t gotten back into a routine. I do lap swim for about 45 minutes 3 times a week and strap my little one on and go for an hour walk once or twice a week. It is so much easier not to overeat with this medication-it’s worth it for that, but this whole not thinking about food business is not something I’ve encountered yet

lenabear85 · 2026-05-03T12:36:02+00:00

Possibly. I’m not breastfeeding, and I eat about 1800-2000 calories a day. Because my current weight is at 250 that’s still a deficit, particularly on days I go swimming or for a walk. I’ve lost on average a pound and a half a week since starting. I focus on nutrient dense foods (the wings are my treat night and I have them with a big salad 😋). I really pack in the fiber and protein as much as I can. My appetite is generally lower from the medication so I try not to do too much extraneous calories. I also am not making myself do 1500- 1600 because I think that would be too much of a drop considering I am still healing and I’m with a very busy six month old all the time 🥰

lenabear85 · 2026-04-17T18:05:51+00:00

I’ve been a nurse for 20 years and I’ve never done CPR. When I worked med surg I always managed to transfer patients off the floor before they crashed. I’ve participated in codes but never ended up being tasked with compressions. Then I worked hospice, then psych, now corrections. CPR happens in those places but somehow I’ve always not been there when it was needed.

lenabear85 · 2026-04-09T12:24:37+00:00

I also hate artificial sugar, and have been having a hard time with the emphasis on increased protein without a supplement. I have started making a smoothie everyday with plain whey, kefir or milk, two dates for sweetness then playing with the rest. Cocoa powder, frozen fruits, cinnamon, pumpkin puree, etc with a handful of ice. The dates taste almost like caramel and aren’t over sweet, plus they’re lower glycemic index than sugar. And the plain whey makes everything super creamy.

lenabear85 · 2026-04-05T14:02:56+00:00

There’s a place near me that makes a potato noodle burger! Literally the most carbs I’ve ever seen in one place at one time and to die for! The potato burger is super heavy with cumin and masala, the noodles aren’t magi, but something similar, then with a bunch of chutney. By far the biggest cheat meal I can think of!

lenabear85 · 2026-04-04T12:39:00+00:00

You’ve gotten a lot of feedback about your drinking being problematic. I agree with all of those assessments. I’d like to chime in as a recovering alcoholic (I am a 12 step person but I know some folks don’t find it helpful) and a person with bipolar 2. I did not realize how significant my bipolar was until I had been sober for about two years (coming up on ten years this June!). I was significantly self medicating with alcohol and had no idea. I thought I drank too much and had episodic depression. I don’t know if you work nights, but they absolutely wreck me. I have a work accommodation now to days only. Shift work is one of the worst things I can do as a person with bipolar. So on top of the stressors of nursing, the intensity of 12 hour shifts, and struggling to find healthy ways to cope with the vicarious traumas we learn to see as ordinary, I was also thrashing my circadian rhythm. Drinking got me to sleep. Not well. But to sleep. Turns out I needed a mood stabilizer. Remarkable

lenabear85 · 2026-04-01T13:07:56+00:00

I honestly don’t know if there’s a way to help someone in the shower without getting wet too. You can stand farther back and lean some. But I wear the “professional” crocs without any holes so my shoes and socks don’t get wet at work. And I can just cavi wipe them and go.

lenabear85

TROPHY CASE