CRAZY / GROSS / NASTY

[kvn813]

It's no secret. We all know that nurses see a lot of crazy/gross/nasty things when on duty. Would anybody be willing to share their story with us? Please, don't spare any details.

I'm interested in your stories because I know that it's not all rainbows and kittens. There must be things that sometimes you'd wish you could un-see or un-experience (I know that's not a real word). Whether that be sticking your fingers in a patient's wound (for whatever reason), or having phlegm coughed on you, etc. Don't be shy.

I'm very curious to know some of the things I might see and/or experience once I become a nurse. Being a nurse is so exciting!!!!! 😃😃😃😃

Thank you.

[K+MgSO4, BSN]

Mental health patient admitted to a surgical ward with a rectal prolapse. That stank! Ulceration, oedema.....and then another lady came in with a rectal prolapse as well. When those 2 ladies left we were all experts in reinserting bits.....

The entreocutenous fistula in a obese pt skin fold.......

Ingestion of bleach

[cardiacfreak, ADN]

Maggots in a foot wound. They were not put there medically!

Cockroaches climbing out of a ladies home CPAP.

Midline sternal packing, I had to have pt take a deep breath, place packing, let patient exhale, then inhale and more packing, etc.

Projectile vomiting up to the ceiling and across the room.

Gangrenous leg up to the groin.

I could go on, but I'll stop now, it's too early in the morning and I want some bacon and eggs.

[kvn813]

This is all great! I'm enjoying this thread so far. Keep 'em coming. 😀

[ThePsychWhisperer, BSN, MSN, APRN, NP]

- Being elbow deep in a continuously flowing GI bleed

- Trying to reapply a colostomy bag to a goofball that is for some reason doing pelvic thrusts and is spraying stool everywhere

- Patient with sacral wound large and deep enough to fist

- Removing a Foley catheter and accidentally flipping it back in your face (only time I have ever Sani-wiped my face)

- Accidentally spiking a bag of blood in the wrong place and having it end up all. over. me

I'm sure there are more, but these are just the ones off the top of my head

[KatieMI, BSN, MSN, RN]

Patient with severe OB bleed from airlift, being rushed to OR. A good twenty or so people around, blood going in with pressure infuser... then someone somehow torn the connection. Then I knew what "bloody murder" really sounded like.

Sacral wound, when you go into and pack, you feel the bones moving and need to be careful not to tear your gloves and not to enter iliosacral jount line.

Colostomy behaves most mysteriously, for no apparent reason... a condom accidentally found sticking out of it. Stomal sex and big surprise upon getting the news that it is not a good idea.

Venous gangrene of lower extremities with skin and flesh literally falling out of there.

[Hygiene Queen]

Check this out:

What Is Your Most Gross, Yucky, Disgusting Nursing Horror Story? | allnurses

https://allnurses.com/nursing-humor-share/what-is-your-20151.html

That is years and years of our stories!

Enjoy!

[Cricket183, BSN, RN]

A breast cancer patient in her 50s that ignored all the signs and symptoms for so long that by the time she went to the ER the tumor had eaten through her breast and embedded in her bra. The smell was overwhelming. I wasn't her primary nurse, I was charge the day she came in but I remember trying to help her nurse to remove the remaining bits of bra from the tumor. (She was not a surgical candidate. Very end-stage.) After what seemed like hours of trying, we ended up calling wound care. Denial is a powerful thing

[kvn813]

Check this out:

https://allnurses.com/nursing-humor-share/what-is-your-20151.html

That is years and years of our stories!

Enjoy!

Oh coooool! You weren't kidding Hygiene Queen. There are LOTS of pages on the subject. Thanks for the link. I'm for sure going to check it out. 😃👍🏻🌟

[Libby1987]

Stomal sex? I never remotely considered the possibility..

[2k15NurseExtern4u, BSN, RN]

This one guy had a diabetic foot ulcer that stunk up the entire wing of the ER. The stench was a mixture of fonky socks, sulfur, and old skin. It was pretty terrible.

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

A breast cancer patient in her 50s that ignored all the signs and symptoms for so long that by the time she went to the ER the tumor had eaten through her breast and embedded in her bra. The smell was overwhelming. I wasn't her primary nurse, I was charge the day she came in but I remember trying to help her nurse to remove the remaining bits of bra from the tumor. (She was not a surgical candidate. Very end-stage.) After what seemed like hours of trying, we ended up calling wound care. Denial is a powerful thing

That sounds just like one of the incidents described in Echo Heron's book Intensive Care. The lady had breast cancer just like you describe and kept insisting that she needed to get home to host her dinner party...