Embarrassed myself today

Nurses General Nursing

Published

I swore in front of a patient and a family member today. I lost control of a drain tube I was d/c'ing, and slung some blood onto to the (clean!) linens... and a "s#%t" slipped out. :eek:

After the dressings and linens got changed I did apologize to them... I don't think the patient even heard me (either time), but the family member was very gracious... A co-worker helping with the dressing, etc. gave me a good-natured hard time about it.

Just feeling tacky about it and wanted to vent. I don't like it when other people cuss, and I REALLY don't like it when I cuss!

Specializes in CICU.

Thanks all - enjoying the other embarrassing stories too!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in LDRP.

I have two...

1. recently, i was volunteering at a free dental fair, doing medical triage. Was getting ready to check a fingerstick blood sugar on a younger guy (under 30). I asked if he had diabetes. he said that his sugars used to run in teh 140s and was told he had pre-diabetes and was given a oral med. he said his sugar is better now, and he controls it with diet. I check his sugar....its 475! i wanted to yell "holy crap!" but instead said "holy canoli!" in a calmer voice.

next, a worse one...with an actual cuss word

was in a delivery of a 25 week preemie as the labor nurse. resident handed me the syringe of cord blood right after delivery, which i was to put into the tube/vial using the needless transfer device. so i put the tube in the thing, all ready to go, and gently push the top of the syringe, to get the blood going. yeah. instead of the blood flowing from the syringe into the lab tube, the pressure blew the syringe backwards and sprayed blood all over my neck and chest. i quickly yelled "****" and dropped the tube/syringe and dipped my head. (i was afraid it had gotten on my face-it hadn't)

of course, having just had a 1 pound sick baby, they didnt really notice i said ****, but i apologized anyways, after i changed my shirt and scrubbed myself off.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in CICU.
:lol2: . . . and then start singing "Anchors Aweigh" to emphasize the point, lol!! I think it's funny, too. Yeah you've got to apologize but we're human, too.

Well, thanks alot... Guess what song I've been humming to myself all evening??? :p

Up Vote Up Vote ×

nurses have the BEST potty mouths!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ICU, MedSurg, Medical Telemetry.

I got laughed at last night. I was charting and then my window disappeared (joys of computer charting). I let out a screech of a noise between a meow and a yelp and rushed to retrieve my charting (it was safe). I turn around and my coworkers are staring at me. "Did you just SQUEAK?" They thought it was the funniest thing. :lol2:

I've never been one to swear, but various sounds (like squeaks and non-existent words) will come out when others might consider a swear word appropriate. Just waiting for the time I do that in a pt's room -- they're going to think their nurse is demented. :clown:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med-Surg, LTC.

I'm 8 months pregnant and very clumsy. Recently I was training a new grad, and we're walking down the hall as I explain something to her. Then-next thing I know I'm heading towards the floor-after tripping over legs/leg rests sticking out from a wheelchair. Imagine a bunch of little old ladies (all fall risks themselves) trying to get up to help the pregnant nurse. mobility alarms are going off in the middle of the hallway, and it's not Mrs. Smith on the floor, it's her nurse (I was OK, baby is OK)

A couple months ago I was walking past a gentlemen who was in his wheelchair at the nurses station. He suddenly puts his arm around my waist, and pulls me onto his lap, telling everyone I'm his wife(his wife had passed a few months prior) This man was strong and would not let go! I'm sitting on a patient's lap in the middle of the nurses' station. the ADON had to rescue me, the DON was laughing too hard, and family members were walking by giving me strange looks.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ortho, hospice volunteer, psych,.

two potty mouth nursing stories:

i was doing volunteer work at a va psych hospital as part of an abmormal psych class in college and had been assigned to a locked ward with mostly returning viet nam vets. without realizing it, my day-to-day language became more and more x-rated. i went home for christmas break, dropped the ketchup all over the kitchen floor, and out came an entire string of way beyond ordinary swear words, without realizing it. after my parents picked themselves up off the floor and quit hyperventilating (as it were),

my dad remarked that when a 5'3" sweet little daughter could make her 6'3 1/2" combat pilot vet father blush bright red, and render him absolutely speechless, she had accomplished her goal!

i was charge nurse on a locked ward in the state hospital and had been dealing with a disagreeable. defiant, mouthy, vulgar, hostile, menacing, threatening former he**'s angel, who was nearly seven feet tall and weighed almost 400 very muscular pounds. he delighted in being menacing without being openly threatening those of us who were shorter in height. i refused to ok more pain killers for him because he had already been given what had been ordered. he grabbed my right shoulder and my left hip and suddenly i was airborn. as techs were peeling him off me, i swore at him for about 3 minutes straight.

he was still there when i returned from medical leave and treated me with the utmost respect after that. while he didn't actually apologize to me, he did say he needed to be careful of any xxxxx who could swear like that!:uhoh3:

kathy

shar pei mom:paw::paw:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
nurses have the BEST potty mouths!

Seriously, you can't blame nurses though. There are some situations it's so reflex, you can't even control your tongue.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.

Wow, what a lift to see these after "one of those days" finally ends. . .

Do-Over, sorry for the song-stuck-in-your-head thing. . .

rnto? the story of the little old fall-risk ladies jumping to try to help you up is actually incredibly sweet. All those alarms must've made quite a racket, lol!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

My funniest potty mouth didn't involve patients - just a doctor with a team of coworkers watching. Many years ago, we were doing an ERCP (involves injecting contrast dye into a long, very slender cannula), and the doctor wasn't accustomed to using the exact piece of equipment we have. On top of that, he insists on injecting the dye himself, but that's ok. We're ready to inject, but I clearly asked him not to inject yet because I had to tighten the 2nd port so it wouldn't squirt back on us. He didn't hear, didn't listen, or whatever, and the next thing I know, I have a stream of VERY sticky contrast dye aiming right for my eye - and I was wearing contact lenses.

The first words out of my mouth were from the shock of getting a dye bath to the eye - an ugly stream of curse words that typically means I'm p***ed enough that heads are about to roll. Then as I was navigating the room to get to the sink, with coworkers trying to clear a path before me, the cursing changed. As I went around the anesthesia cart, UNDER the C-arm, around the X-ray monitor and finally to the sink, I started a litany of how the doctor was a *************ing dumb*** (as well as several other choice insults) for not listening. Rinsed my eye, but I couldn't remove the contact lens because I wouldn't be able to see for the duration of the procedure.

When I got back to the doctor's side, I apologized for all the ugly things I'd said. His response? "Don't worry. I deserved every word of that," then he proceeded to apologize for not listening in the first place and for the mishap that ensued.

After the procedure, we tried to get the contact lens out, but the dye had turned into super glue. I had to go to the ER to get the contact removed and get treated for corneal abrasions. For several years after that, when we worked together, my string of curses and name-calling was our private joke. At least he took it well and we got a lot of laughs out of it. LOL

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Cardio-Pulmonary; Med-Surg; Private Duty.

My redheaded self can (and does!) cuss better than most men. I need to get in the habit of turning it into a lispy version of "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah".... Shzit-a-Dee-Doo-Dah!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Also a redhead. I know exactly what you're saying. I can (and sometimes do) out-cuss doctors, truckers, and sailors. The docs I work with learn very quickly that it doesn't scare me when they cuss, and there's a real good chance that I can match them curse for curse. On the rare occasion that they DO come up with one I haven't heard before, I'll grin real big, clap my hands together, and say, "WOOHOOO! A new word (insult, phrase, whatever applies)." If nothing else, that makes them giggle and THAT stops the tirade in its tracks. LOL

I like your song, but I don't think my rapid-fire temper and tongue would stop long enough for the song to enter my brain. :D

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment