Embrace the Suck
Posted by realityrounds on September 10, 2009
The front page of the NY Times had an article about military bloggers, and I came across the military slang term “Embrace the Suck,“ which is a saying to make the most of a horrible situation. I love this saying, and I will be using it often. It should be a nursing saying (no, I am not talking about breastfeeding, but it would be a great slogan for that too!). How many times have nurses had to Embrace the Suck?
When to Embrace the Suck:
- During a code: Your focus is on saving a life, not on the back breaking work.
- During a digital removal of a fecal impaction as a nurse’s aide: “Happy Thanksgiving,” says my supervising RN. “Gobble Gobble,” says I.
- While being peed on by a confused old man during clinical rotations at nursing school: “April golden showers bring… Maybe it’s not to late to be an accountant.”
- Pushing with a mom for three hours as she is screaming how much she hates you, and you haven’t eaten, drank, or urinated all day: Small price to pay for being there for the most important day of this woman’s life.
- Having a drunk male visitor say you look like Courtney Cox (during the Friend’s years): I’ll take it.
- Working a double shift that turned into 20 hours when your relief did not show up: At least it wasn’t 24 hours straight.
- Holding the hands and praying with the parents of an infant who is being baptized, before all life support is removed: An honor.
- Working Christmas Eve night and dropping your freshly microwaved TV dinner on the floor: I am sure the Chinese place will deliver at 2 am.
- Riding in the back of an ambulance sniffing diesel fumes while transporting a 27 weeker on the hottest day ever recorded in modern times while puking your guts out in a plastic bowl: Maybe I can fit in my new bikini now.
- Not being able to find a nurse to switch work days with you, and missing your child’s school performance: Thank God my kids are healthy.
- Getting SLAMMED at work with constant admissions, high acuity, no breaks, no appreciation. Like running a MASH unit: It could be worse, we could be getting SHOT at while caring for patients.
So tell me, what is your favorite Embrace the Suck moment? (This applies to everyone, not just nurses).
RR
M'Lynn said
Coming in on a Monday morning at 6:30am. The OR is next to the ICU and the funeral home is picking someone up. Said employee doesn’t observe standard elevator etiquette, and barges onto the elevator with the stretcher. It’s only a two story building, so he KNEW I had to get off at that floor. So, I have to squeeze by to get out. I get a dead foot feeling me up across the boob as I finish the maneuver. Everything else that happens today is already an improvement…including the I& D of a perirectal abscess
realityrounds said
Hilarious! If that same scenario shows up on “Nurse Jackie” you have a lawsuit!
maha said
Having two drunks start fighting each other (with blood being splashed out from IVs that are ripped out) while having half my shoe being puked on by a little old lady with a small bowel obstruction. Good times indeed! “Embrace the suck” is going to be my new favourite saying for quite a while!
realityrounds said
Embrace the Suck: At least only half my shoe was puked on!
E.J. said
Courteney Cox? Or even marginally like Courteney Cox to an intoxicated visitor? I think I have a new appreciation for you, RR.
Akiko said
Realizing during a casual conversation with the newly engaged,twenty year old that works at the information desk of the hospital, has cancer and she doesnt know it yet. Her idiot physician misdiagnosed her ovarian cancer as a kidney infection. I diagnosed her in 3 minutes just looking at her and asking a few questions. I will never forget that cold feeling in my gut when she said she was vomiting too much to keep the antibiotics down. I worked in the peds oncology unit, I knew the look she had and the symptoms.
Embrace the suck: Had I taken another route that day I would not have run into her at all. Because of my urging, she went home to rest, changed docs and was in treatment a few days later. She lost the ovaries but stayed alive. Her fiance was by her bedside every day.
realityrounds said
Embrace the suck: your intuition saved a life.
Darcie said
I was charge nurse in OB at the time…packed unit…unknown pt comes in via ambulance, pt moved to the bed, resident breaks away bed, I am stuck holding her leg in mid air, baby comes out quickly along with a TIDAL WAVE of amniotic fluid that goes up and over her leg and hits me from the top of my head down to my shoes, dripping off my head, in my bra, it even got in the little plastic thingy that holds my badge…no time to shower, rinse head, throw on surgical cap, scubs changed and finished my shift comando…
realityrounds said
Embrace the Suck: At least you did not swallow.
Julie said
That is truly a lot of suck!
deborah said
burn unit usa…2 electrocution patients arrive…already short staffed, high acuity, we get a call we must take overflow patient….. a GI bleeder…help hold limb for burn care in between running blood back and forth for our bleeder… help hold another limb same patient. Pt is 350 lbs. We have to gown up for each and every patient. Burn Nurses Rock.
realityrounds said
Burn Nurses do Rock….and Roll. I think it is one of the hardest areas of nursing to work in, period.
TG for you!
Corey said
I love your blog and the new catchphase! It’s a great addition to any vocabulary!
Best/Worst embace the suck moment; first weekend of call and I get slammed. Brain death study on a 15y/o kid after a MVA. Dad was pronounced at the scene (about 5 min from his home). Kid was brain dead. It was mother’s day.
Bawled like a baby when i left that one.
Little D, S.N. said
I love your blog! Here’s one from clinical:
Having my metastatic cancer patient refuse to get out of bed to use the bathroom because “why bother” after drinking an entire CONTAINER of GoLytely- an entire DIGESTIVE TRACT of feces in all directions- at least i wasn’t the ONLY person they had to clean it up!