How many times have you heard, “Every good nurse has alcohol in their pocket.”?
While I am sure many of you are thinking the flask or mini-bottle variety of alcohol, really these well-meaning doctors (because that is who says it most often) are referring to Isopropyl Alcohol prep pads (alcohol wipes).
Why is this the common saying for what makes a good nurse? As if borrowing our ever-ready stethoscopes isn’t enough? Yes, because every good nurse also has a “Doctor’s stethoscope” ready to go. When I am the one who saves your life, don’t forget it was my stethoscope that heard your bilateral breath sounds after intubation.
So, what is it that we do with all this alcohol? As an antiseptic, it cleans your IV port before pushing IV medication. It cleans intact skin (remember INTACT skin because it burns like hellfire if your skin is broken). It cleans equipment between patient use so that you don’t get the nasty germs your neighbor has.
Every so often, we have to educate those people who make poor life decisions to drink isopropyl alcohol, which saturates these wipes and exists in your first aid kit (if you have one) when they run out of drinking alcohol, that they are not a good substitute for each other.
Do you know what else I have in my pocket? Normal Saline flushes, at least one spare pen, EKG calipers, scissors, clamps, a pencil, and a sharpie. Not to mention a little sass, a lot of sarcasm, and the responsibility of saving your life. You are welcome.
Don’t define me by what I have in my pocket. Instead, define me by my empathy, my level of patient care, my infinite patience, my relentless attempts to educate you to do better for yourself, my dedication to come back day after day, my willingness to put you first and do things 95% of people are not willing to do, and the ability to do it all with a smile.