People in every position probably have a list of things they need to survive in their field. Teachers rely on coffee and the infamous red pen; accountants definitely need calculators; food servers need that pad of paper and pen to take orders. Nursing is no different in the fact that they generally have a few things that they need every day. Of course, these needs vary from person to person, but there are certainly a few recurring elements. Here are a few of the most common “must-haves” for nurses.

Coffee

Ah, the magical elixir that is coffee. While it isn’t unique to nursing, it’s certainly present in the field. You can walk into any breakroom in a hospital and find a steaming pot of coffee ready to go. The caffeine provides a much-needed boost and is an absolute necessity for night-shift nurses.

Pens and Sharpies

Look at any nurse and you’ll probably see a variety of writing utensils in their pockets or clipped onto the neck of their shirt. Nurses are constantly having to make notes on health records, printouts, or charts. Pens seem to disappear into thin air quite regularly, so it’s important to have more than enough hidden in a drawer somewhere.

Hand Sanitizer

Working in a place that is created specifically for tending to the sick means that nurses are constantly surrounded by germs. They are on every surface, in every chair, and with as much patient contact as nurses have, it’s a necessity to make sure nurses don’t get sick. Making sure it’s available to other patients is also crucial in helping prevent the spread of these germs.

A Watch

Nurses are constantly on time constraints. From delivering medication to checking on certain patients to showing up to meetings, nurses need to keep a good eye on the time. Doing so ensures that they are reliable and trustworthy and that patients and supervisors can depend on them.

A Sense of Humor

Ok, this isn’t really a tangible item, but it is necessary, nonetheless. A good sense of humor guarantees a lighter mood throughout the day and helps to prevent work-related fatigue and burnout. Many nurses will agree that a sense of humor makes difficult days that much more bearable. Being able to find the humor in stressful situations really just helps nurses make it through the day, which is of course, very important.

Facebook fans of the NurseTogether page offered their own ideas on what their absolute must-haves are in nursing. Here’s what they have to say: