Embarrassing/Clumsy Moments!

Nurses Humor

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Well, I just had to laugh at myself for this graceful moment..

I was filling out an application at a LTC/SNF, sitting in their nice little seating area in the grand dining room during lunch time. After an hour of rewriting my resume for them onto the facility's application and filling out about 8 essay questions about myself, I get stand up to hand my application to the secretary... Immediately I realize that my foot had fallen asleep, but I was past the point of no return and my brain was telling me to 'put my foot down before you lose your balance!' However, when I put my weight on my totally numb foot, my ankle just caves in my cute little pumps and I nearly fall over. I hobble/fall as best I to the arm rest of the chair I was sitting in, but I have already caused quite a commotion (I think I frightened a few little old ladies). :grn: The secretary, a cna, and the director of human resources all rush over and ask if I'm ok, bless their hearts. I try to explain/laugh that my foot fell asleep and I didn't realize it until I stood up on it. Whoops! I'm at home 'rice'-ing it now, and just thought I'd share my clumsy moment with y'all! :bugeyes:

(and I've been a ballerina for 20 years! jeesh!)

Have any funny/embarrassing/clumsy moments to share? I'm sure we all need a good laugh..

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

I would think the hoist getting you out of the sofa would have to be the MOST excrutiating!

My widowed aunt had been living alone for years, when my father went over to her house to help her out with some home repairs. The next morning, she didn't call my mother at 6 AM as usual, so Mom called her. No answer. Convinced that there was something wrong, my parents piled into the car at 0605 and headed over to my aunt's house. There was only one small light on in the back of the house, and no one answered the door. Truly frightened, my parents went in the back door (never locked in those parts) and started calling for Marlene.

"In here," a weak voice called back. "But just Marilyn!"

So Mom went rushing through the house and into the bathroom, where she found my aunt tightly wedged into the toilet. Dad had, of course, left the toilet seat up when he used the toilet at her house the day before. Living alone, she hadn't thought to check before she sat down. She hadn't been able to get back out, and had been stuck there all night. Mom couldn't get her out, so she threw a robe over her and asked Dad to come and help pull Marlene out of the toilet. Even their combined efforts couldn't budge her. In the end, the fire department came and had to break the toilet bowl to release the suction and get her out of there!

Dad offered to buy (and install) a new toilet for her, but she had her son do it. I wonder why . . . .

I work post-op outpatient surgery. This was a particularly busy day where I had patient after patient after patient. The PACU nurse I got report from is usually bare bones when it comes to history and only covers major things like heart/lung issues or diabetes. I charted this lady in. Usually I do a quick scan of medical and surgical HX but was running short on time this day (thus why a good report is SO SO important). I went to bring her family back to see her and noticed her blankets were off and she appeared to be shivering. I asked "You look cold, would you like a warm blanket?" Her response, "I have Parkinson's" :X Well crap...

I was assisting with an overly obese patient off the commode. When I went to wipe her rear end. I noticed her stool was stuck. It felt hard and clumpy and so I told her I was gonna help pull it out. So I'm pulling and pulling and realize it's not budging. She doesn't make any noise. When I look down for a more visual. I was pulling at her very large hemmoroids....I just shut my mouth and had to compose myself to say you're okay now!!! Eeek!

Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
I was assisting with an overly obese patient off the commode. When I went to wipe her rear end. I noticed her stool was stuck. It felt hard and clumpy and so I told her I was gonna help pull it out. So I'm pulling and pulling and realize it's not budging. She doesn't make any noise. When I look down for a more visual. I was pulling at her very large hemmoroids....I just shut my mouth and had to compose myself to say you're okay now!!! Eeek!

:roflmao:!!!

We use Kangaroo Joey pumps for tube-feeding. I was teaching a family how to give meds to their child through their new g-tube. I was giving liquid Tylenol which has a bad reputation for being thick so you have to push harder with it than other meds. I stopped the feed but, in the spirit of being efficient, left the feeding bag tubing attached to the g-tube extension. I clamped the extension tube, attached the syringe of Tylenol, and then pushed hard (because it was Tylenol). I forgot- being new and nervous- to to unclamp the extension before pushing the Tylenol. The only other place for it to go was up into the feeding bag tubing. It went up and then there is a weak spot where the tubing is threaded into the pump and that part popped off and the entire feeding bag full of formula poured right out onto the floor before I could figure out what the heck just happened. I barely pushed any of the syringe and there was now a waterfall of formula splashing the floor and my shoe. After laughing at myself I told the parents that's what happens if you forget to unclamp the tubing, and it's best to take the feeding pump tubing off before giving medication.

This is a friend's story: in nursing school she was helping a patient to the bathroom. The patient had a BM and friend was helping her wipe. Friend's stethoscope fell into the toilet with a loud clunk and the patient remarked, "Wow that was a big one! I must had to go some more!" Stethoscope was thrown away.

I am laughing so hard reading some of these!

I had to give 1/2 a packet of miralax to a patient. I tore open the packet and it spilled little round granules all over the med room floor. It was like those cartoons of people walking on marbles. Remarkably slippery. I had to call housekeeping and told her to be careful but she was slipping and sliding all over the floor while trying to sweep and mop it up.

It's also not fun when you dropped a narcotic pill on the floor of the med room and it rolls under the Pixis. I had to call pharmacy and wait for them to come up and try to get the pill so I could get credit for wasting it.

My most recent embarrassing moment happened shortly after I got off orientation. We aren't supposed to store beds in the hall but someone left one right near the med room door. So here I come almost running out of the med room and slam my hip into the headboard of said poorly placed bed. Not only did my charge nurse come running around the corner to find me but a patients family member ran down the hall to tell me "man that looked like it really hurt". All I could say was I was tired.

I can keep going with these. Always involving Poo! Once I was really wanting to keep track of this patient's output. So the Aide was in there with me to help clean her up because she thought she had a BM. However I didn't see nothing in the toilet. But she did wipe for stool. All the sudden on the ground I saw a Poo streak. Checked the bottom of my shoe. Told the Aide well..."Mark that she did have a a large formed BM.." As I'am staring at this log stuck on the bottom of my shoe....

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