Your best(or worst) exposure story

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Here's mine: This PCA who constantly slacks, doesn't report pertinent info, etc left a foley bag unclamped after he drained it. He had tucked the end into the holder, just left it unclamped. Flooding the room with urine! I walked into the room and was standing in a lake of urine. Got everything mopped up, Cavi wiped my shoes, come in the next day to see the patient on contact for...wait for it...VRE in the urine. Ugh.

Specializes in mental health / psychiatic nursing.

I the course of a week I was exposed to pink eye, bed bugs, and scabies. Fortunately I didn't get any of them, but yurk... was a good reminder to be very, very good on hygiene and personal safety precautions. Other fun one... one of our residents took golytly to prep for colonoscopy the next day. She then proceeded to wander the whole building while having massive diarrhea. We pretty much just chased after her with cleaning supplies and bleach water for an hour straight.

In terms of other exposure... the best was an overweight Asian male who came into hospice care and who refused to wear any clothing at all. He also refused to keep a sheet over him, and was very confused and kept trying to get out of bed and walk the facility. We eventually had to put him on 1:1 care because every time he tried to get up it would take 4 of us to get him back to bed and covered up again. It was fine if he wanted to be naked in his room, but for the sake of our visiting families we really didn't want him wander the halls in the buff.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Emergency and Critical Care.

I'm with you all Gosh I Love being a Nurse. I have been lucky enough not to get stuck with a dirty needle, but I have been splashed with the best and got hung up on a finger joint pin on a burn patient, have had an old guy ask me for a BJ, told him it wasn't in my job description. One I laughed a while on wasn't too awfully long ago. A post stroke man came into the ER complaining of belly pain, he was aphasic so minimal speech. I was assessing him and saw he had a leg bag, empty and looked nasty, checked his belly very distended, so I went and got a new catheter set up to change it out, I deflated the balloon and there was so much pressure that the catheter flew out and even though I was standing to the side his member flopped my direction and I was dowsed with about a liter of wonderful smelling urine, soaked through from waist to ankles into my own undies. I looked at the patient and he had this half cocked grin on his face and I said I bet you feel better he nodded. The housekeeper was on the other side of the curtain and asked if I was ok, I told yes we'll need a clean up in isle 6 but while I'm cleaning the patient will you get me a set of scrubs. I took care of my guy who was a happy camper, I had to get a pair of those sexy maternity panties and took a shower in the lounge. I had a bunch of young nurses that said no way they would have went home, I was like why I had everything I needed, and it all hit me from the waist down. I thought it was pretty funny, the look on my patients face was priceless.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in geriatrics, psych.

I was pregnant with my second child and while giving an insulin injection to a resident she got up before I finished and somehow I was stuck ?. This woman was able to sign herself out and would walk to the local stores dumpster's and dive for sweets. I was terrified and being pregnant I was required to be tested often. Thank God all was okay and the resident tested negative as well. I think the C.diff story takes the award for worst ever! ?

Sent from my iPhone using allnurses. Angi/LPN (?RN)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ICU.

Oh wow!! Some of your stories...just wow!! Nothing in my 3+ years has been as bad- thankfully!!

I share a similar experience with a post before me. Was around 4 months pregnant and giving my patient (homeless and frequent flier) a heparin injection. Went to slide up the needle cover afterwards and my thumb slipped! Was tested for what felt like forever- and everything has been clean! (3 weeks later my pregnant clumsy self slipped in un-seen patient's pee! So lovely!!)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med Surg, Perinatal, Endoscopy, IVF Lab.

I was pulling out a huber needle from a mediport of a pt being discharged. Pulled it out...and it stuck right in to my thumb. Ouchy. Thankfully, he was clean.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

How did you get scabies?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
How did you get scabies?
Welcome to AN! The largest online nursing community!

I don't know to whom you are speaking to....we have a quote tab/button that you can use to direct your question to the person you are asking a question.

This is an old thread and it is good to revive them. I know I got scabies from work many years ago. I was working an ICU and this patient was admitted from a home that could have been on hoarders. This patient was elderly and coded several times....the eventually expired on our shift. Within a couple of days we were all complaining about itching at our waistbands and bra lines. I pulled one of our docs over to look at it and...low and behold....scabies. THe patient had scabies. The entire night shift that cared for this patient on nights had them. Grrrrrrrrr....but after lindane we were fine. I will tell you though I was much more careful on my assessment and handling linen from then on....I was not as quick to jump up and do CPR...LOLOL

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Welcome to AN! The largest online nursing community!

I don't know to whom you are speaking to....we have a quote tab/button that you can use to direct your question to the person you are asking a question.

This is an old thread and it is good to revive them. I know I got scabies from work many years ago. I was working an ICU and this patient was admitted from a home that could have been on hoarders. This patient was elderly and coded several times....the eventually expired on our shift. Within a couple of days we were all complaining about itching at our waistbands and bra lines. I pulled one of our docs over to look at it and...low and behold....scabies. THe patient had scabies. The entire night shift that cared for this patient on nights had them. Grrrrrrrrr....but after lindane we were fine. I will tell you though I was much more careful on my assessment and handling linen from then on....I was not as quick to jump up and do CPR...LOLOL

How many days after exposure did you feel the itching and visible rash ? I was under the impression it too anywhere from 4-6 weeks to develop a rash

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

Got splashed on the side of my head to my feet with amniotic fluid once, when the woman's water broke as the head crowned. I was pregnant. She was less than clean, to put it mildly. I was in the shower as soon as I could get a coworker to take over.Saw the bag bulging and turned my head just in the nick of time to avoid my face being hit.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
How many days after exposure did you feel the itching and visible rash ? I was under the impression it too anywhere from 4-6 weeks to develop a rash
I am trying to remember.....this was back in the eighties. I remember that we were ALL infected that worked that night. I don't remember it being that delayed and I remember that we all started itching about the same time.

Advice to note: Lindane lotion/shampoo is neurotoxic. We had a patient we kept treating because the patient kept being infected. We discovered that the family was brushing her hair with a brush from home. We also had to treat the entire family....and waiting room cloth couches.

The patient who was stuporous to comatose woke up. She would not be able to play Jeopardy but she was awake.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment