Most Embarassing Nursing Moments

When I was still a nursing student, we had to do this project on interviewing nurses from different fields of the nursing career. My uni has its own teaching and training hospital, so we immediately got access to a staff nurse we could interview. I was one of the interviewers... and I wasn't really listening nor paying attention to what the staff nurses' name was. I totally spaced out, then my co-host gave me the signal to end the interview... Of course, I thanked the nurse who gave her time, and when I was about to tell her name, I realized that I don't even know and remember it!!! So I frantically tried to peek at her ID, i felt relieved to see a name, and I immediately blurted out the one I read... which to my HORROR, wasn't her name, but the name of the HOSPITAL DIRECTOR!!! All I could do was apologize profusely, but I felt kinda relieved since I won't encounter her that much. I was so humiliated and was taken aback by her surprised and annoyed reaction! My groupmates wouldn't let that issue down.

Days passed and they got tired of teasing me.. and I stopped worrying. Until there was this time that she was our lecturer in a certain class!! I wanted to disappear at that moment!

So I was busy doing admissions for the first 4 hours of my shift and I had an LPN helping me taking the new patients vital signs and writing them down for the admission form. I was standing in the patients room with the computer in front of me and I come to the page to enter the vital signs. I begin to enter them and I come to the tab that asks where the BP was taken. I notice that the LPN had not written it down so I begin to ask the patient "Which ar-" and quickly stop myself as I look at him and remember he has had an AT THE SHOULDER ARM AMPUTATION!!! I turned six shades of red and pretended I did not just say that. Luckily he had a good sense of humor as the amp was done years ago. No one said anything and I got that admission done as fast as I could so I could get out of that room and all my blood could leave my cheeks and return to the rest of my body.

NurseeB: More than once I've asked below/above knee amputees to wiggle their toes as I've given IM injections, or asked if they can ambulate unaided ("That's why I'm going to rehab, love").

When I was a baby student I was doing a set of obs on a cute young guy. I wanted to impress him and his family with my competence. So I gave the (mercury) thermometer a brisk shake - and sent the thermometer flying across the room to shatter in a pool of glass and mercury, just as the Chargie and Grand Round came in the door.

When I went back to the nurses's home at the end of the shift I confessed my embarassing story to a student a group or two ahead of me. She said "Don't worry about it - last week I rushed through the nurses' station and knocked a brand new box of 100 thermometers to the floor, breaking every one." It only helped a little.

This happened a few hours after I gave birth to my first son....I was out walking around with my husband when we bumped into my nurse (who by the way was fantastic). She stopped me to ask how I was feeling, etc and suddenly I was attacked by the worst gas! Oh my goodness, you know how your muscles down there are all out of wack after giving birth, so I had no control! It was so loud and it seriously lasted for a whole minute! It was so embarrasing! My husband was trying not to snicker and the nurse was not to as well! I just had to laugh it off, but it was still so embarassing! At least it didn't smell! When I start clinicals I'm sure I'll have some good stories of my own!

Damn that really sucks that is pretty embarassing.

This just happened a few days ago. To put the scene in perspective I am a new grad and have been working as an RN for about one week, I'm with a preceptor but she encourages me to be THE nurse and ask questions as they come up. This includes talking to the docs and stuff like that. Granted, I am not completely used to being THE nurse for anyone. So, I answer the phone and it's the doc for one of MY patients. I'm only taking 3 for now, so you'd think I'd know the patients names. Well....he asks, "I'd like to speak to the nurse for Mr. K......" So, I say ok let me get her.....then after what seemed like a 10 minute pause that was prob actually like 5 seconds, I said, Oh WAIT that's ME!! I had that patients chart open right in front of me and everything! He made fun of me. I was so embarrassed! Ahh!

I've had my share of embarrassing moments, especially as I'm far from the most graceful person on the planet. My latest was just yesterday.

Since it was Super Bowl Sunday, we had about 20 residents and their families in the dining room, and all of us were running back and forth serving chips and dip and root beer floats to everyone on top of our usual duties. After everyone had gotten their goodies, we kicked back for a bit to watch the game and have some snacks of our own. Well, it was hot in there with some 60+ people, and I downed my root beer float in about 30 seconds. Trouble is, ice cream and soda combine to produce double the trouble as far as intestinal gas is concerned...........and when I opened my mouth to say something to my med aide, out came a long, loud, roaring "BUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRP!!"

I mean, this thing sounded like someone had stepped on a bullfrog. Of course, everyone within earshot broke up, and one of the residents quipped "What a lovely singing voice you must have!"

I was walking down the corridor and didn't realise that there was something slippy on the floor and as i was walking I slipped and fell I was so embarassed and everyone burst out laughing even now it is still remebered

One morning at 5am I was checking one of my dearest patients. He was failing and had respiratory distress at about 3am. I came in the room to see him finally sleeping semi-peacefully and went to the bedside and wooosh! a large pitcher of ice water went right down my crotch, pants, socks and shoes. It woke everybody up in the room and looked bad in the hall. At least it wasn't body fluid!

On entering an isolation room a few years ago - I'd knocked and then entered - I was confronted with the site of the young woman visitor rapidly lifting her head from her husbands groin and him simultaneously covering his lap with a pillow, both looking at me with utter shock on their faces. Needless to say I left the room rapidly, mumbling something about coming back in a few minutes.......I don't know who was the more embarrassed, them or me!