If you’ve ever found a stray alcohol swab in your pocket while doing laundry three days after your shift, or if you can identify a C. diff infection from two hallways away by scent alone, then welcome. You’re among Nursing friends.
I’m Ginger Graham, and for nearly 15 years, I’ve been living the glamorous, high-octane, fluid-splattered life of a Registered Nurse. People often ask me, “Ginger, why on earth would you start a blog called Nurse Thoughts? Don’t you get enough nursing at the hospital?”
To which I usually respond by staring blankly into the distance until they feel uncomfortable and leave. But the real answer is much more complex—and involves a lot more caffeine.
The “Aha!” Nursing Moment (Or: The Time I Cried in the Clean Utility Room)
They don’t tell you in nursing school that 40% of the job is clinical expertise and 60% is essentially being a high-stakes waitress in a gown that doesn’t close in the back. I started Nurse Thoughts because the things we see, hear, and—let’s be honest—smell, are too wild to keep bottled up inside.
The breaking point for me wasn’t a code blue or a double shift. It was a Tuesday. I was trying to explain to a patient that no, they could not have a cheeseburger while NPO for surgery, while simultaneously trying to hunt down a bladder scanner that had seemingly been kidnapped by another unit.
I realized then that nurses are a specific breed of human. We have a “gallows humor” that would make a pirate blush, and we have a collective trauma that can only be healed by sharing stories. According to the American Nurses Association (ANA), nurse burnout and well-being are at critical levels, with many professionals seeking outlets to process the emotional toll of the bedside. I decided my outlet would be digital.
Why “Nurse Thoughts”?
The title of this blog isn’t just a catchy name; it’s a lifestyle. “Nurse thoughts” are the intrusive, bizarre, and often hilarious reflections that plague us at 3:00 AM.
Standard Human Thought: “I hope I remembered to lock the front door.” Nurse Thought: “Did I actually chart that I gave the Lasix, or did I just think about charting it while I was being yelled at for more ice chips?”
Nurse Thoughts was born from the need to bridge the gap between the clinical “robot” we have to be at the bedside and the exhausted, funny, compassionate human we are when we finally kick off our Danskos.
1. The Need for Nursing Community
Nursing can be incredibly isolating. You’re surrounded by people all day, yet no one—not even your spouse or your non-nurse friends—really gets it. When you tell a “funny” story at dinner about a projectile vomiting incident, and your friends look at you with horror instead of laughter, you realize you need your tribe.
2. Information That Isn’t Boring
Let’s be real: most nursing journals are drier than a piece of overcooked hospital chicken. I wanted to create a space where we could talk about the latest evidence-based practice or the importance of self-care without feeling like we’re back in a 4-hour pharmacology lecture.
3. Nursing Advocacy through Storytelling
By sharing the reality of the bedside, we can advocate for better conditions. The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) provides incredible data on the nursing workforce, and using that data to highlight why we need better ratios and mental health support is a core mission of this blog.
The Anatomy of a Nursing Shift (A Relatable Retrospective)
To understand why this blog exists, you have to understand the average 12-hour shift. It’s a three-act play where the protagonist (you) loses their mind by the intermission.
Act I: The Morning Delusion
You walk in at 06:45. Your hair is done, your scrubs are crisp, and you’ve got a venti coffee. You think, “Today is the day I get all my charting done by noon.” ### Act II: The Chaos Vortex By 10:00 AM, your coffee is cold, someone has leaked something on your shoes, and you’ve used the word “rectal” more times than you ever thought possible. This is where the “Nurse Thoughts” begin to spiral. You start wondering if you could successfully fake your own disappearance by hiding in the linen closet.
Act III: The Post-Shift Zombie
You get to your car. You sit in total silence for 20 minutes because the sound of your own blinker feels like a personal attack. This is the moment I usually pull out my phone and jot down a blog idea.
The Mayo Clinic emphasizes that creative expression and journaling can significantly reduce stress and improve mental health for healthcare workers. Writing this blog is literally my therapy. It’s cheaper than a psychologist and much more fun than a treadmill.
Your Digital 15-Minute Break (No Call Lights Allowed)
Think of Nurse Thoughts as the Instagram of the nursing world, but with fewer “fit-tea” ads and more relatable content about why we all own 47 different colors of compression socks.
I want this to be your go-to “time-waster” site. You know that glorious, rare five-minute window where you’ve actually finished your assessments, the pharmacy finally sent the meds, and you’re hiding in the breakroom eating a lukewarm string cheese? That is when I want you to come here.
Instead of doom-scrolling through pictures of your high school classmates’ perfect vacations, come here for:
- Quick Hits of Relatability: Short, punchy posts you can finish before your pager goes off.
- The “At Least It’s Not Just Me” Feeling: Because sometimes you just need to know that someone else also accidentally called their patient “Mom.”
- Stealth Learning: You might accidentally learn a new clinical tip or a better way to handle a difficult family member, but it’ll be wrapped in a joke so you won’t even feel the “education” happening.
This is your sanctuary for pure enjoyment. No charting, no “patient satisfaction” surveys, and absolutely no “mandatory fun” hospital potlucks where everyone brings store-bought napkins. Just you, me, and the shared absurdity of the scrub life.
What You’ll Find Here
If you’re looking for a blog that tells you nursing is all “angels and heroes,” you’ve come to the wrong place. We are heroes, sure—but we’re heroes who are currently wondering if we can go another four hours without peeing.
On Nurse Thoughts, we’re going to cover:
- The Best (and Worst) Shoes for the Floor: Because your arches shouldn’t have to suffer for your career.
- How to Survive a Night Shift without Seeing Goblins: Tips from a 15-year veteran.
- Deciphering Doctor Handwriting: A lost art form that requires a PhD in Hieroglyphics.
- Nurse-Patient Relationships: How to stay compassionate when your patient is trying to bite you.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has designated the coming years as a pivotal era for nursing and midwifery, emphasizing the need for global support systems. I want Nurse Thoughts to be a tiny, hilarious corner of that support system.
More Than Just Meds and Monitors
As much as I love a good poop joke, this blog is also about the heart of what we do. It’s about the patient who held your hand while they passed away because their family couldn’t get there in time. It’s about the win you feel when a “frequent flyer” finally gets the resources they need to stay out of the ER.
I started this blog because nursing is a beautiful, messy, heartbreaking, and hysterical profession. We shouldn’t have to carry the weight of it alone. Whether you’ve been a nurse for 15 years like me, or you’re a nursing student currently crying over an acid-base balance chart, I see you.
So, grab a cup of coffee (or a glass of wine, I won’t tell), and let’s dive into the madness together.
Keep Reading: More From Nurse Thoughts
Don’t go back to the unit just yet! Check out these popular posts to keep the laughs (and the learning) going:
- [Read More: The Top 5 Things Nurses Say vs. What They Actually Mean]
- [Read More: Why “Self-Care” Isn’t Just a Lavender Candle and a Bath]
- [Read More: A Nurse’s Guide to the Best Hospital Snacks (Ranked by Stealth)]
- [Read More: 10 Signs You’ve Been a Nurse Too Long (You Check Your Spouse’s Veins)]
About the Author: Ginger Graham
Ginger Graham is a Registered Nurse with nearly 15 years of experience in the trenches of modern healthcare. When she isn’t navigating the complexities of patient care or mentoring new grads, she is a professional food writer and the creator of the popular blog Culinary Passages.
Ginger lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their two daughters. Her “third child” is a cream-colored Goldendoodle named Barnaby, who is excellent at emotional support but terrible at cleaning up his own toys. Ginger started Nurse Thoughts to give her fellow healthcare workers a place to laugh, vent, and remember why they fell in love with nursing in the first place—before the paperwork took over.
