🧠 My Nurse Brain Showed Up at Parent-Teacher Meetings

It was just supposed to be a quick check-in.
Nothing formal. Just a five-minute update from the teacher.

But somehow, I found myself sitting in a child-sized chair, scanning the room like I was in the middle of a clinical handover.
My eyes went to the exits.
I did a mental headcount.
I noted which parents looked like they just had a fight.
And which ones clearly hadn’t eaten yet.
(That one dad was definitely tachycardic.)

We don’t mean to do it.
But for better or worse, we see the world in vitals — and possible tiny emergencies.

It’s hard to turn off the part of our brain that knows what to do when things go sideways.
We read people fast.
We watch for small signs.
We prepare for worst-case scenarios while handing out juice boxes.

That day, I caught myself half-listening to a discussion about curriculum goals while simultaneously planning how I’d manage the line at pick-up.

Because even when we’re not in scrubs, the nurse in us is still clocked in.
It’s in how we pack the snacks.
In how we carry the sanitizer.
In how we gently de-escalate a meltdown in the school hallway like it’s 2am in the ER.

And we do it all with a smile, most days — even if we’re holding it together with caffeine and dry shampoo.

P.S.
Ever catch your nurse brain showing up when you're not at work?
At the grocery store, on a plane, or maybe during a school event like this one?

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Let’s build a space where nurses can laugh, vent, and feel seen — even off the clock.

— Still Standing in Crocs