"Funny Codes"?

Nurses General Nursing

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One night we got a new admission into ICU from ER. It was a female patient being admitted with COPD in her 40's. She did not appear to be in distress and was able to talk with o2 on vital signs were all within normal limits no red flags anywhere. Her nurse got her admission assessment done without incident and pt settled in. Suddenly, we are charting at the desk, when there is a loud crashing sound in her room. We run to her room to find her face first against the wall(Like she had collide with the wall at a great rate of speed) and was slideing face first down the wall, her catheter was stretched acrossed the room (connected to the bed still) her water pitcher spilled all over the floor and her heart rate dropping in the 40's then 30's then 20's call a code. It was a disasterous (sp) code having to perform it in the floor. It took forever to get her intubated and the doctor was soaking wet when he was done with that, then he had to shock her in all that water (with paddles in his hands he said..just say I was a brave man). We were calling for our strong monitor tech to help but he had run to the "Can" and could not come out. It took us an hour to get her body up out of the floor so the family could see her (we had to bind her up like a turkey and use a backboard and hoyer lift plus 6 people to lift).

I now this was tragic but afterwards we all were talking about the code and how it went and we all started laughing. Sometimes laughter is the only way to cope with this job. Are we just sick or does anyone else have codes like this and how do you cope?

I've had an intern (now a cardiac surgeon!) order a STAT tylenol suppository during a code. Ahh - maybe some IV meds first.

*innocently*

But maybe the pt had a fever!

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Specializes in ICU/CCU, CVICU, Trauma.
*innocently*

But maybe the pt had a fever!

Actually, the pt. did have a temp. of 103.0. This was the same intern who thought we could correct the pt's blood gasses by increasing the dead space on the vent - we had vent tubing halfway down the hall (well, not really).

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Specializes in ICU, ED,.

On a breakfast date in the 80s. Elderly man at the table next to us stands up, clutches his chest and falls on the floor. Check A B Cs and start one person CPR. Somewhere around the third or fourth cycle as I'm positioning to give two breaths the man opts to share his breakfast with me. Nothing to do but spit, clear his airway and carry on. In a few minutes the PMs arrived and took over. The restaurant manager handed me a glass of water and I rinsed as discretely as I could. He asked, " Are you OK." I replied, " Well the pancakes were pretty good but the eggs were a bit under done." He kinda plunked down in a chair and I was afraid he was going to be sick. Later that night when I got to my ER job my date had sent me flowers with a sign that said MY HERO. At the time I was a CPR instructor. I went on to teach classes at that restaurant and others in the area. I guess we all should carry the masks. I wonder how many of us do.

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Specializes in Education, Acute, Med/Surg, Tele, etc.

OH my! LOL!!!!!!! Love your reaction!!!!!!

I have learned and always reminded...if they code, they are going to poop, pee and puke...so watch it! I have a mask handy on my nursing apron but getting the sucker out of the tight pouch and such will take a bit long when I am all adrenilined up...LOL!

I have only done mouth to mouth without mask once...I got the airway open and ewwwwwww...dead person morning mouth! I grossed out for a milisecond, then on to breathing I went! Lucky for me breakfast hadn't been served yet! LOL!

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A couple weeks ago we got a code announcement over the intercom: "Code 1, COR zero, first floor atrium near the vending machines. Code 1, COR zero, first floor atrium near the vending machines." I run downstairs near the vending machines to find a large man supine on the floor, major head lac and blood all over the floor. We run through a series of assessmnets, I find his wallet and get his name and also find a small glucometer and insulin supplies in a fanny pack he was carrying. When I do his blood sugar it's obvious why he's on the floor: it was in the 40's. I couldn't help it, I just started laughing. There he was, on the floor bleeding like crazy, with a blood sugar in the 40's, right next to the vending machines. I had this vision of him feeling sluggish, walking to the vending machines...gotta...get...some...sugar. Dollar...bill...too...crinkled...fading now...fading...fading...

I couldn't help it. For whatever reason it just cracked me up. We got the guy settled, got him to the E.D. and he was fine. After all this was done I was walking back to the unit. I was still smirking to myself at the absurdity of laughing about a situation in which a person took a header due to low blood sugar. As I'm thinking about this, another announcement comes over the intercom that ties up the whole thing: "Environmental services to the first floor atrium near the vending machines. Environmental services to the first floor atrium near the vending machines."

Started laughing again. Man, I have some sort of illness of inapprporiateness...

OMG! Too funny! Mean, but funny:lol2:

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I was working in CCU and it was our turn to have the code pager. We had just finished report when it went off for the PCU and I took off. Arrived in PCU to find both shifts still giving report asking "Where's the code?" They knew the call was for their unit but not which room had called the code and since all the staff were at the desk didn't know who called the code. We all arrived at the room to find the pt standing at the bedside screaming "I'm DEAD. You have to do something. See I'm DEAD. Help me!" The man in his 30's had been napping. When he woke to use the bathroom he pulled off a telemetry lead. When he looked at the bedside monitor he saw a flat line, knew from TV that meant he was dead so he called his own code. I backed out of the room trying very hard not to laugh while the pt became more irrate that we weren't doing anything about him being dead. Others were muttering "well if he really wants us to we could go ahead and treat him".

OMG! I'm actually crying here!!!:roll

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Having been in ER nursing since 1969, I've got some really funny ones, but I'll try to keep it short here. I floated to CCU one evening where a 54 year old male had been admitted with chest pain and EKG changes. He was beginning to throw a few PVCs a little too close to the Twave, however, he REALLY had to go to the bathroom. We tried to talk him into a bed pan and even tried it, but it upset him sooo much that I got an actual order to get him up on a commode. Well, of course you guessed it, he coded on the commode. Not only that, but his hips were a bit wide, so we couldn't lift him out of the commode to start the code. So, we had to do the next best thing. We tipped the commode back with him in it and you can picture what THAT looked like. Fortunately it wasn't filled with anything yet. The funniest part was watching the ER doc arrive and seeing his face as he realized that we were going to have to run a code with the on the floor with his legs up in a sitting position over the commode frame. What a site! The good news is, he lived to tell the story!

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:bugeyes: Well, maybe just one more good one. I was working in an ER in early 90s with a doc who was, well shall we say, free-minded....new-agish. Anyway, we had a full arrest come in and of course we all did our "thing" and were wroking away when we got him hooked up to find V-fib. This doc charges up the paddles, yells "all clear", zaps the guy, screams like a woman, flies back against the wall with a crash, and slides to the floor with his mouth open in the form of the letter "O". I guess this doc was so free thinking that he didn't wear underwear under his scrubs. "It" had inadvertently fallen against the side of the guerney and took 300 jeules right through....well, you know. It took us all several seconds to realize that we were still running a code and get the paddles away from the doc on the floor....my goodness. I can't believe we all kept from laughing ourselves right to the floor with him! I still laugh to myself to this day!
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Several year ago while working in our ED, call came in from one of the local EMS. One of the audience at a very large, outdoor country music festival was in full arrest. OK, we got ready and were standing at the squad doors when they unloaded the pt. Watching the medics roll the pt. in, we decided they must be doing excellent CPR cause the guy's color was great. He was hustled into the trauma room, EMS doing CPR, and we began to assess the pt. Anyone arriving in that condition gets stripped immediately, so we relieved the gentleman of his only clothing item, his shorts...as two of us deftly yanked them off, ice flung forth from his uh...southern hemisphere and all over the trauma room floor. Since noone at this point was physically able to do CPR the doc checked the pt's. ABCs and lo and behold our full arrest pt. was mearly dead drunk. His pals found him passed out, emptied their cooler down his shorts and when that didn't revive him, they summond the EMS. The rest is history. The squad got a lesson in assessment once the doc regained his composure. We learned how to hold ice capades in the trauma room. Gotta love ETOH!

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Specializes in geriatric & med surg.

This really needs a beverage alert! Laughing so hard my hubby was concerned that there was something wrong with me. These are all great.

Kitty

I was working in CCU and it was our turn to have the code pager. We had just finished report when it went off for the PCU and I took off. Arrived in PCU to find both shifts still giving report asking "Where's the code?" They knew the call was for their unit but not which room had called the code and since all the staff were at the desk didn't know who called the code. We all arrived at the room to find the pt standing at the bedside screaming "I'm DEAD. You have to do something. See I'm DEAD. Help me!" The man in his 30's had been napping. When he woke to use the bathroom he pulled off a telemetry lead. When he looked at the bedside monitor he saw a flat line, knew from TV that meant he was dead so he called his own code. I backed out of the room trying very hard not to laugh while the pt became more irrate that we weren't doing anything about him being dead. Others were muttering "well if he really wants us to we could go ahead and treat him".
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Specializes in Med/Surge, ER.

One of our older MDs worked the night shift with us one night, and about 630am, we got a call from EMS that they were bringing in a code. We prepared for their arrival, and were in the room waiting for them. Well, the patient was blue....very blue. As we are getting the patient off the stretcher onto the bed, our MD walks into the room, stands at the end of the bed, and says in a matter of fact kind of way...."Oh look, they captured a smurf." He walked out of the room, never saying another word. We all just kind of stood there for a moment looking at each other, and then we all just burst out laughing.

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.

years ago when i worked in ccu in a private hospital, some of the patients hired private duty nurses. the ccu nurses managed the meds, drips, monitors etc. while the private duty nurse were there for pampering and coddleing, pillowfluffing and the like. some of those private duty nurses were quite elderly, retired from the local hospitals and just picking up some extra cash to supplement their social security.

when the call light went off, the ccu staff was sitting around the nurse's station eating dinner (back when that was still legal!) so we ignored it. after several minutes, the private duty nurse still hadn't turned it off. then the patient suddenly went flat line. i was charge so i jumped up and started down the hall toward the patient's room, and met none other but the patient, loping down the hall towards me and trailing his ecg leads.

"someone's gotta look at my nurse," he gasped. "something's wrong with her."

the private duty nurse was deader than a doornail, knitting needles still clutched firmly in her rigor mortised hand!

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