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.

[sissiesmama, ASN, RN]

Stomal sex? I never remotely considered the possibility..

Ack! *looking for some Phenergan*

Anne, RNC

[caroladybelle, BSN, RN]

Patient had been treated for cancer and a severe case of DIC. Enough microclots had accumulated that the vessels in the tongue had infarcted. Several days in, the patient was rinsing their mouth, and the tongue came loose and fell out. I never realized how big an entire detached tongue is.

Pt with advanced breast cancer. Or got radiation to the chest and tissue reacted very poorly and she had to get debriefed rather extensively, through the ribs in her chest, requiring wet to dry dressing TID. I had to take care not to tear my glove on the bones and you could see see vessels near the heart pumping.

More cases of fungating breast cancer than you want to know. Denial is an ugly thing. For info, packing a fungating wound with dressings - use either metrogel (gel with metrodonozole) or metrodonozole saturated gauze in wound if moist dressings are used - it takes the odor down quite well.

A man whose member infarcted, necrosed and had to be removed.

[Nurse Leigh]

I'd learned about the stomal sec thing awhile back (here, of course) so that wasn't as jarring.

The tongue falling out though? OMG Just horrific and sad and traumatic for the patient.

[2k15NurseExtern4u, BSN, RN]

Assisting a urologist with a difficult cath insertion on a male at the bedside. He couldn't get it in, blood everywhere, tells me to clean up and leaves the room to get an OR ready for the pt. I scoop up a handful of trash to throw away, and the guidewire covered in member blood whips me across the face. First time I Sani-wiped my face.

#memberBlood

[OCNRN63, RN]

Dang, you two, get a room will ya?? ������

If we do, you can join us!

[OCNRN63, RN]

I had a homeless schizophrenic man in ICU who had stuffed his ear canals with tar and toilet paper to stop the voices. It was very sad. After he was stable and restarted on his meds he let me remove it.

That's so sad. When I worked in psych at the beginning of my career, I used to feel so sorry for patients who were tormented by hallucinations. Occasionally, we'd get someone who was acting out, totally out of it, then they'd stop and start crying and apologizing for their behavior.

Then it would be back to trying to break out of the unit.

[OCNRN63, RN]

Patient had been treated for cancer and a severe case of DIC. Enough microclots had accumulated that the vessels in the tongue had infarcted. Several days in, the patient was rinsing their mouth, and the tongue came loose and fell out. I never realized how big an entire detached tongue is.

That poor man!

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

Dude, don't you have "people" to take care of this for you?

It's NOADLS. He's got ADL-assisting minions.

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

I had a homeless schizophrenic man in ICU who had stuffed his ear canals with tar and toilet paper to stop the voices

That makes me want to cry. How sad.

[kddannemiller]

Vented patient that when cleaning stool off the tushy I tugged at some crusted blood and HUGE blood clots (I'm talking forearm size!) begin spilling out of the rectum (for about 1/2 hour). Pt had not previously been identified as a GI case. Holy freak out! The cause of the bleed was never found!

After one of my normal shifts I went to another understaffed unit to help out for a few hours and immediately after report I am only person to be found on the floor besides the secretary... So I am sent into a room with a very obese, not cathed, patient on diuretics that has to pee and cannot make it to the bathroom in time and cannot hold urinal to genitals... First EWW. Then when in midst of this the urinal is about to spill over and I instruct the patient to stop urinating for a minute while I reach for second one... Patient stops just long enough for me to bend over and restarts stream, peeing ALL. OVER. ME. Second EWW. Didn't even care about the skin no-nos, I wiped myself with sani-wipes and showered and even considered throwing away my scrubs. I didn't though. I probably washed them 3 times in HOT HOT water at home after washing them in the showers. That patient never apologized for peeing on me. Ugh.

Neuro patient with dementia caressing my face and telling me "I want to put you in my bags and take you home with me".... A different kind of ew.

A non-English speaking patient that required 24/7 sitter and thought my buddy was a hospital prostitute (do they even have those in other countries???) and grabbed her arm and attempted placing it on his genitals.

Witnessing a neuro patient that used to be a nurse playing in their poo....

Unsedated vented patient that REGULARLY had to be disimpacted no matter what measures were taken.

[T-Bird78]

Vented patient that when cleaning stool off the tushy I tugged at some crusted blood and HUGE blood clots (I'm talking forearm size!) begin spilling out of the rectum (for about 1/2 hour). Pt had not previously been identified as a GI case. Holy freak out! The cause of the bleed was never found!

After one of my normal shifts I went to another understaffed unit to help out for a few hours and immediately after report I am only person to be found on the floor besides the secretary... So I am sent into a room with a very obese, not cathed, patient on diuretics that has to pee and cannot make it to the bathroom in time and cannot hold urinal to genitals... First EWW. Then when in midst of this the urinal is about to spill over and I instruct the patient to stop urinating for a minute while I reach for second one... Patient stops just long enough for me to bend over and restarts stream, peeing ALL. OVER. ME. Second EWW. Didn't even care about the skin no-nos, I wiped myself with sani-wipes and showered and even considered throwing away my scrubs. I didn't though. I probably washed them 3 times in HOT HOT water at home after washing them in the showers. That patient never apologized for peeing on me. Ugh.

Neuro patient with dementia caressing my face and telling me "I want to put you in my bags and take you home with me".... A different kind of ew.

A non-English speaking patient that required 24/7 sitter and thought my buddy was a hospital prostitute (do they even have those in other countries???) and grabbed her arm and attempted placing it on his genitals.

Witnessing a neuro patient that used to be a nurse playing in their poo....

Unsedated vented patient that REGULARLY had to be disimpacted no matter what measures were taken.

You might want to change your username and profile picture for slightly more privacy on here. If you're griping about a pt or work, and your employer (or pt/pt family) sees your picture, it's all over.

[T-Bird78]

Just thought of another one!

I work in a large-ish city jail that, while better than some, is not the most sanitary place to practice.

One night the officers brought a gentleman to medical with a complaint of ear pain. He stated that he had been sleeping under a bench in the holding tank, and felt something in his ear.

I took a look and saw something that I was pretty sure I recognized, but wasn't sure of the best way to address it. Concerned about sending the patient into a panic, I very calmly asked my charge to come tell me what she saw; she thought it was a chunk of cerumen, so we set up to do a mini-irrigation.

This poor guy was almost in tears, so we calmed him down enough for me to irrigate his ear. He said "Ooooh, I think it's gone now. What was it??"

I handed the basin to my charge and started to explain that it was a small bug, right about the same time my charge squealed "EEEeek, it's still alive!"

Bless his heart, I don't think I've ever had such a grateful patient!

You'd be surprised what we remove from ears, noses, and throats. There's days at work when I realize that a lot of people couldn't do this job. LOL.