Scariest things you've seen

Oh goodness, too many to list.

one morning when i came onto duty, one of the nsg. assts. from the 1st floor came running to me stating a patient had fallen out of his wc on 11-7 and the nurse just kept him there, giving him a blanket and pillow, rationale being patient was combative....i ran downstairs, check loc, rom and assisted in transferring pt. w/o incident. this is one of many scary and negligent stories.

Had a doc give NS bolus for v-tach, called him back twice within 10 minutes for a new order and he got ticked because I didn't wait for the entire bolus to finish. (WTH!)

Heard a nurse talking to a confused patient who wanted her to call his family "don't you think they have better things to do than to come in here for you?"

Many, many incidents of charted work not done, like baths, mouthcare, etc, and almost impossible to get anyone to pay attention because a)there has to be a pattern with one nurse, b)all incidents must be documented, c) must be a patient who is not confused, d)incidents must be written up by more than one person, or it looks like a personal vendetta-and no one else will step up to the plate.

Watched a doc circ a newborn, and after taking off the bell the baby was still bleeding. The doc obviously was flustered, looking around the room for a solution, then looking behind him to see if anyone was watching, saw the medical staff president walk by and immediately blocked the view to the baby with his body. Since I knew there was a problem I motioned for him to come in and he casually mentioned a solution to the dumb doc. But from then on I knew which doc would NOT admit he needed help.

Same doc had a fully effaced, nondilating OB patient for over 24h, wanted to cut the cervix with a scalpel to "get it started" Luckily the patient refused.

Delivering provider got so excited about a bad baby that he turned and walked towards the warmer without cutting the cord....FYI big, BIG mess.

Told by ER provider to go ahead and administer sedating drugs pre intubation...and then he walks off to take a phone call for 10 minutes! Luckily the nurses know how to bag.

3yo with a rash, no SOB, Rx 3mg epinephrine IV now. Ummmmm...no way.

Patient gurgling, drowning in her own secretions, I coached a nurse (not a newbie) through helping the pt with coughing and PT, but she can't raise the mucus by herself. Nurse says "I'm just going to go give my meds to _____and then I'll come back and suction.

Patient has Na of 155, and IV order for NS at 150cc/h, so we call the doc and point that out. We got a new order- D5W with NS at 150cc/h. Helpful, huh?

I could go on and on.

What about flushing a urinary catheter with tap water/NaCl from a paper cup drawn up into a non-sterile syringe. Wow...moments like that absolutely amaze me. Put these poor patients on antibiotics right away.

saw a nurse in icu discontinue an ART line without gloves..blood was seeping through the 4X4 she used to apply pressure... when she saw the horrified look on my face she said "i'm old school...i've been nursing 20 years and havent caught anything yet!"... uh okay... what about the thousands of little germies you have passed from patient to patient????

Not the scariest thing but perhaps the most surprising. Saw a seasoned nurse pushing Narcan the other day VERY SLOWLY, The doc finally said push it in already !!

same doc had a fully effaced, nondilating ob patient for over 24h, wanted to cut the cervix with a scalpel to "get it started" luckily the patient refused.

wow!! very, very scary. glad i'm not his pt!!!

a nurse i work with went in to a res room to do a dressing change on a stage 4 coccyx ulcer with mrsa and wanted me to go with her since i was the wound nurse at the time.

i was absolutely shocked when she began taking the old dressing off (that was soaked through btw) without gloves!! and she had not even washed her hands before starting the procedure!

when i was a student , on my very first day of clinicals i saw a used syringe in a regular trashcan although i did not see the nurse who put it there. i was still apalled to say the least! really makes you wonder how some people can become nurses.

ham22, I love your tag line.

Here is some classics

SCD boots ordered for a bilat amputee (and yes i walked into the room with them not knowing)

Patient can not take oral meds so doc writes all meds IVP ..... IVP KCL, IVP carafate etc...

You got to love July!