Grossest Thing You've Ever Seen

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in SICU, Peds CVICU.

So today I was emptying my patient's recently revised colostomy drainage...And I removed about a pound of what looked like pot roast, along with peas and cucumber seeds. I didn't freak out in front of him, but on the inside I was gagged and trying not to freak out. I've seen lots of other really "gross" things and not even flinched, but for some reason that almost did me in.

So now I need to know... what's the grossest thing you've ever seen?

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Specializes in med-surg, teaching, cardiac, priv. duty.

I'm the "good nurse" that does not like to ask a nurse assistant to do something "yucky". It makes me feel like I am lazy or just pushing off less desirable tasks onto the nurse assistant. (Yea, maybe I have problems with assertiveness...) ANYWAYS, one time something I found in a patient's room so grossed me out that I (even I) had no problem going straight to the nurse assistant and asking her to take care of it...Although I told her I was so sorry.

Okay, maybe it's not so bad but to me it was.... I had a VERY obese patient (probably around 500 pounds) and he pooped in a bedside commode. And it looked like cow manure! It was the biggest pile of human poop I have ever seen in my life!! And it was a huge, soft, blob of poop! Not diarrhea, but this mushy blob!!!! I just about lost it, and if I had to have cleaned the commode I think I would have vomited!!

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

I'm not particularly squeamish, but when I was fresh out of nursing school, I had a patient with no circulation in one foot. I was changing the dressing when two of his toes literally fell off into my hands. They looked like shriveled-up little black raisins. And he hadn't felt a thing. 'Twas all I could do not to freak out and run out of the room, especially when he asked "Nurse, is everything all right?"

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Specializes in Urgent Care, Research, Care Coordination.
I'm not particularly squeamish, but when I was fresh out of nursing school, I had a patient with no circulation in one foot. I was changing the dressing when two of his toes literally fell off into my hands. They looked like shriveled-up little black raisins. And he hadn't felt a thing. 'Twas all I could do not to freak out and run out of the room, especially when he asked "Nurse, is everything all right?"

That was hilarious:rotfl:! Gross yes but I really LOL-ed with that one!:lol2:

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Grossest thing for me was when I was a paramedic student we went down to the morgue at the county hospital to practice central lines. The guy in charge told my instructor the only canidate was someone who had been there for a while. He wheels her out of the refrige area and I unzipped the bag and found my self looking at GREEN BLUE FUZZY MOLD GROWING OUT OF HER MOUTH AND NOSE!

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Specializes in Operating Room Nursing.

The worst thing I've ever seen was when I scrubbed for a a hydatid cyst removal. These cysts are caused by a parasite which passes from livestock, dogs etc and can then be passed on to humans. It was attached to the patient's liver so we had to do a laparotomy. When they opened it up (it was pretty big) the stuff that came out (which was full of smaller daughter cysts) was thick and looked like peanut butter. Absolutely disgusting but kind of interesting as well....

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Specializes in MICU, SICU, PACU, Travel nursing.
I'm not particularly squeamish, but when I was fresh out of nursing school, I had a patient with no circulation in one foot. I was changing the dressing when two of his toes literally fell off into my hands. They looked like shriveled-up little black raisins. And he hadn't felt a thing. 'Twas all I could do not to freak out and run out of the room, especially when he asked "Nurse, is everything all right?"

OH...MY......GOODNESS

I am speechless:barf01:

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Specializes in Icu, ltac, stepdown.

this wasn't so much gross as WRONG.... this obese lady was having issues with yeast in her folds (of course) and when i was giving her a bath one time i washed the fold where her leg bends at the hip and there in front of me where to "skin bridges" that were intact and you could actually place your finger under them. it looked like bread dough, but was her skin!!!! i guess it happened when her skin was raw and fused back together in spots and then eventually stretched out. every thing was healed but i would bring new nurses in and stick my finger (gloved of course) under it wiggle it and they would literally gag!!! funniest grossest thing ever!!!!

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Specializes in MICU, SICU, PACU, Travel nursing.

I would have to say:

Doing peri care on older woman, unresponsive, being "cared for" by daughter at home...

I found tunneled abscesses in the lady parts that my Q-tip just disappeared into, and of course, what I believe were maggots. The smell---words cannot describe.

I had to leave the room and come back with reinforcements to finish:uhoh3:

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Specializes in Icu, ltac, stepdown.
I'm not particularly squeamish, but when I was fresh out of nursing school, I had a patient with no circulation in one foot. I was changing the dressing when two of his toes literally fell off into my hands. They looked like shriveled-up little black raisins. And he hadn't felt a thing. 'Twas all I could do not to freak out and run out of the room, especially when he asked "Nurse, is everything all right?"

i think i would have pee'd myself laughing!!!!:omy:

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Specializes in Emergency.

I work in the ER and a patient came in from a SNF with an infected fistula with an opening to the lower abdomen. When we removed the bandage, the weight of my hand above the opening caused purulent drainage to POUR out:eek: and quickly run down in between her labia before I could grab 4x4's next to me and stop it. Without forcing it, the wound drained about 800 ml and the smell was unbearable. I had to get a mask and leave the room several times to stop myself from vomiting. The only blessing was that the pt thankfully was totally unaware of what was going on due to advanced Alzheimer's. This among the long list of disgusting things I have seen and done still is at the top for me for some reason, I think partly because I was totally unprepared for what was underneath the dressing.

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Specializes in Operating Room Nursing.
I work in the ER and a patient came in from a SNF with an infected fistula with an opening to the lower abdomen. When we removed the bandage, the weight of my hand above the opening caused purulent drainage to POUR out:eek: and quickly run down in between her labia before I could grab 4x4's next to me and stop it. Without forcing it, the wound drained about 800 ml and the smell was unbearable. I had to get a mask and leave the room several times to stop myself from vomiting. The only blessing was that the pt thankfully was totally unaware of what was going on due to advanced Alzheimer's. This among the long list of disgusting things I have seen and done still is at the top for me for some reason, I think partly because I was totally unprepared for what was underneath the dressing.
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Starting to feel a bit sick now...:barf01:

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