Embarrassing moments...

Sleepyeyes · Aug 26, 2002

probably the time I was so rushed during orientation that I went in to spike a bag of IVF's on a patient who just happened to be an RN, and I was so nervous, I unplugged the first bag while it still hung on the pole--and took a 200cc bath.

Oops. :imbar

monkijr · Aug 26, 2002

Embarrassing, yet not my most.

When I was an LPN in and an RN student I was working nights (going to school in the day) How do we ever get thru that anyway?

So I am charting (you know that stuff you do at 0530 when you are sleep deprived and sometimes you write right off the page cuz you dozed off?) Well...... I had a patient expire and was charting that "postmortem care was given", but I charted "postpartum care was given" I was called into a meeting and asked why? and how?? Oh my GAWD, I had OB on my mind... Go figure???

sharann, BSN, RN · Aug 27, 2002

I too have taken a "bath" in IV fluids when a newbie. I also opened the wrong port in a autoinfusion blood bag (luckily I had the cap on quickly). Looked like a muder scene. Did this while showing a new member of staff how to do this task!(Embarassing).

Nurse Ratched, RN · Aug 27, 2002

Originally posted by sharann
Did this while showing a new member of staff how to do this task!(Embarassing).

It's never in the quiet, witnessed only by a comatose patient, is it??

Always while orienting someone with 12 family members (10 employed in health care) looking on.

Glad I'm not alone in my embarassing moments lol.

nimbex, RN · Aug 27, 2002

long one sorry....

had a patient expire. seven plus children, only one present. Waiting for 3 local to arrive, view body before funeral home could pick up, sister told them dad had just died, they wanted to see him before he was moved... I'm waiting at the nurses station for the call at the door.

Half hour later, 3 people arrive, all about the same age. I greet them at the door and ask if their sister has told them what has occurred. They respond "yes", so I lead them into the room.

They keep looking from the monitor (which is shut off) to the patient, the monitor... the patient.

PANIC sinks in... I ask"what has your sister told you" The response is that dad was very sick, come quickly"..

They had no idea that dad had passed, as I quickly led them out of the room to the sister to explain what had transpired.

Who the heck would have guessed that these three were the ones that the sister did not think would come... while the other 3 were still on their way!

I've yet to recover from this blunder.... what a booboo!!!!:imbar :imbar

nimbex, RN · Aug 27, 2002

Have one more, happened to a peer. Two patients with the same name were admitted to our hospital about the same time, one to MICU, one to our CCU. I'll call the patient billy bob.

Two very different diagnosis mind you, one with sepsis in the CCU, the other with a clotted dialysis shunt to MICU who's electrolytes were out of whack... go figure.

Women comes to the door identifiying self as billy bob's wife, we let her in, as billy bob is a DNR and is crashing quick... maxed on all drips and a do not intubate/ resucitate.

Nuring staff consoles the wife as all efforts are futile and we are loosing him fast. She is naturally upset with his passing and we offer to contact more family for her.... about same time... her brother rings at the door, we let him in..... He takes one look at the patient and says.....

"That's not billy bob" what in the hell is going on????

The "wife" who is legally blind, nice to know hind sight, had no idea this is NOT HER HUSBAND who has passed, saw no problem with our lack of efforts to attempt to resucitate and merely let her husband die, who mind you came in with a clotted dialysis cath... not at all similar to a septic patient.....she never questioned it!!!!

Story ends, we find her husband in MICU, she is so "thrilled to get my billy bob back" that she is not upset at all over her ordeal and stated "I'm glad to at least be there for that man to die".

Mind you CCU is the first door in our units, families usually hit us first... Who would have thought two patients with the same names, wife with no clue on health care and a group of nurses who now need therapy :roll

If you read my last post you may be thinking that we are #1 nuts and #2 have problems with death... these two examples happened in about two days of each other..... no problems since...WHEW!

DIPLOMATICRN4HIRE, MSN, RN · Aug 27, 2002

This happened today:

New Anasthesiaologist with me ( wild sence of humor is all he has heard about me)

we finsih the carotid case we are working on : take the patient to pacu for recovery , and he is giving report to the Nurse... I speaking with another nurse ask if it was HUNG... (Im talking IV fluids) anasthesiaoloigst blushes and askes if thats a prerequisit... we all die laughing at him and then he realizes once he see's Im changing tubing on the IV fluids, he covers his head with his clipboard....

We continue to die laughing as I finish report ... I look over at him and say "So John , ya ready .... He looks and whispers My name is Doug , I said yes I know but since you have announced your endowmant I thought we would call you John... he asks why I smiles and whisper Homes to him he quickly leaves the PACU , we contiue to laugh... Day went well lol

finally

ernurse728, LPN · Aug 28, 2002

I am not sure if this is the most embarrassing...but it happened fairly recently....I have a very anxious women in our ER for abd pain....pt to have an abd and pelvic ct scan...walk into the room to deliver PO contrast and while explaining what this very large jumbo cup of red liquid is for I proceed to drop it all over her and my white tennis shoes! Guess I should be glad I wasn't wearing my clogs that day!

Pretzlgl · Aug 28, 2002

This is from nursing school - and not a clinical moment, but embarrassing nonetheless. I went to school at a large teaching hospital and our classrooms were right in the middle of everything. I went to use the restroom in the main lobby of the hospital between classes - and came out with a 20 ft. piece of toilet paper hanging out of my skirt!! Mortifying! LOL

mario_ragucci · Aug 28, 2002

Farting...I eat...therefore I fart. I start in the mornings, and always eat a power breakfast. Then, when the digestion of that meal occurs, gas is produced. Honestly, I eat whole foods in bulk.

Sometimes if I have to quickly crouch/squat down and do something, a normal release of gas will occur. Usually I can tighten up and compress the gas until I am in a safe area, but sometimes a call light will trigger me to hafta make a sudden crouch/squat. It happens very infrequently, but it is embarrassing. Im not ashamed to admit my normal flora produces sweet gas from the digestion of whole foods :-)

Dr. Kate, BSN, RN · Aug 28, 2002

It's been awhile but . . . I was working ICU. We didn't have TVs in every room. Our TVs were on 4 ft stands we moved from room to room as needed. The TV cords were of varying lengths, none very long. In ICU we had two private rooms. The TVs were plugged in on the wall at the foot of the bed, the door wall. We had a trauma patient in one of the private rooms, the plastic surgeon was in suturing this guys face. The patient AAO had been watching TV. The TV was sitting close to the foot of the bed the short cord was about 1 ft off the ground between the wall and the TV. Naturally the surgeon needed something, as I am walking into the room I gracefully tripped over the TV cord, slammed elbow first into the floor. The surgeon and patient are now both asking after my condition.

A few years later, we still have those same TVs and I am pulling one down the hall, the TV proceeded to "trip" on the smooth tile and crash down. Had to label the thing as it refused to work, "I've fall and I cant get up" The engineers always want to know what happened.

:chuckle Guess that's why they call me grace.