Superstitions? Do they have a valid place in the work-setting? Perhaps not, but they are practiced all over the world, even here in the enlightened USA.

Superstitious

Superstitious practices
Of educated folks,
To the level-headed pragmatist
It seems to be a joke.

But the degree of education
Can't be factored in the mix,
When modern medicine itself
Looks like a bag of magic tricks.

Nurses of the ICU
Are superstitious creatures,
We're trained to look for omens
And other sickly features,
That might portend a menacing
Or evil lurking force,
Like that creature of Mr. Websters
The headless man and horse.

When we get a special feeling
That death is prowling near,
We don't cringe or shake and shudder
Nor show a bit of fear,
But we'll roll the mighty crash cart
To the threshold of their room,
An invisible shield of power
Dispelling any doom.

Another nurse prepares
An empty room this way,
She freshens up the linens
All equipment is OK,
With a flourish of her wand
She casts a spell both left and right,
Protecting her from admits
All throughout the night.

A thousand different nurses
Have a manifold of ways,
Some work best in the middle of night
And others during days,
Thus with superstitious practices
Of an educated crew,
Our workplace is safe and guarded
It's the prognostic thing to do.

Fibril_late;
4/30/08