As my 4th anniversary to my amazing husband approaches, I can't help but wonder if he knew what he was getting into by marrying a nurse. All the freak outs about certain viruses or diseases (Ebola), all the nonchalant talk about poop and puke, and all the stuff in between that he has no knowledge of what so ever!

My nursing/healthcare friends and family get it. The weird conversations about that patient or family from hell,  the crazy complaint of the way stool smells when a patient has a GI bleed, to the laughter of something your elderly man patient does and asks you to marry him on a daily basis. Yes, that has happened. ALL OF IT!

On the flipside, my non-medical family and friends don't always get it. I get calls, texts, messages about everything asking for advise to asking about diagnosis or if they really need to see their doctor. Or my nursing shorthand. It is strange, the shorthand I mean. In the medical world there is a term or shorthand for almost every little thing, symptom, to every little bone or muscle. Except, the bag of water that surrounds a fetus inutero. It is called " bag of water". Really? That sounds oh so fancy. Just my opinion.

We are taught so many different things in as little as 2 years to as long as 4 years depending on your degree. Also, learning "a specialty" in your nursing area of choice takes dedication and a want to learn. My example. I didn't pay as much attention as I should have to Obstetrics. I had no interest in having children at the time. There is a reason in have kept my OB books. I now want children more than ever. My cousins have a mass amount of children collectively and those books have come in very, very handy. My specialty, Dialysis, is different from another's specialty in Oncology.  We all learn on a daily basis. I do and will continue to do so. If you are in the nursing field,  we all know that nurse that thinks he or she knows everything. Dangerous with a capital D!  Disclaimer.....don't be one of those nurses. I am not. I will be the first one to tell you...I have no idea, let me do some research or ask a friend.

I can talk on the phone, message someone, or freak out over something new or old in the medical world to my husband and he looks at me like a deer in headlights. I'm sure many do the same. At least, I hope they do. When my husband gets sick, he comes to and says something to the effect of.....this and that is wrong....what is wrong with me? Most days, it is something simple like a cold or sore throat. Other days, it may be strep throat to which I proceed to get a spoon and flashlight to look at his throat and stimulate his gag reflex to almost make him throw up. And to which, I laugh. Is that wrong? Or if I ask him to me some Tylenol. He goes to look in my medicine cart (yes, a cart, not a cabinet) and says all I can find is acetaminophen.  Lord. He is not medical, he doesn't know and I have to teach him. After I finish laughing.

My husband is a computer nerd. I heart nerds. When he talks to me about something in the computer world, I return the same look of a deer in headlights to him. Marrying a nurse or medical professional should include a disclaimer.  One that I can not come up with that is quirky and accurate. We work 100s of hours, we work holidays, we normally don't leave when we are supposed to and often love to hear every strange, gross, and crazy story out there regarding the medical field. To all the husbands and wives out there married to nurses, I salute you. We are strange, love what we do, don't have all the patience we should with you,  and love you for being the non- medical you.

Oh, and we watch all kinds of medical dramas and point out everything they have done wrong or that doesn't make sense.