6 Ways Nurses Goof Around with Medical Equipment During a Slow Work Day

Slow shifts are rare, but when one hits and the weekend stories have all been told twice, the medical equipment becomes the entertainment. Admit it, you've done at least a few of these.

1. Check pulses with the Doppler.

Grab a handful of lube packets from the stock room and practice finding pulses on each other. Somebody always tries to find a fetal heartbeat on a pregnant coworker. It never works.

2. Take your own vital signs.

You check vitals when someone feels off, but on a dead shift you'll do it out of boredom too. Holding your breath to watch the pulse oximeter drop is a rite of passage. So is running down the hall holding it.

3. Weigh yourself on the scales.

The old balance-beam ones, not the digital. Bonus points for comparing your weight across both scales just to see which one lies.

4. Make balloons from gloves.

Not just a pediatric trick. Draw a face on it and you've got a contest for the goofiest balloon.

5. Test out the hospital beds in empty rooms.

This is how you actually learn the chair setting, max inflate, the length extension for tall patients, and how to Trendelenburg someone to slide them up the bed. Half of it makes you better at keeping real patients comfortable.

6. Wheelchair and rolly-chair races.

Long hallways were made for it. Just run them when patients are asleep and won't wander into your lane.

Slow days don't come often, but when they do, you need something to get you through the long hours.