Funniest/strangest dementia patient stories

Nurses Humor

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I'm sure we all have them, especially those of us who have worked in LTC. Here are some of mine:

  • climbing into other residents' beds and taking a nap...one time we found the resident sleeping in a bed that was already occupied by the resident it belonged to--they were both sleeping in there!!
  • putting pajamas in the toilet, then having an extra-large BM right on top of them
  • taking a cup that had some medication mixed in juice, then turning to the person sitting next to her and saying "here, you can have this"--fortunately I was able to take it back before the other resident could get a hold of it
  • wandering around in the hall and grabbing people's butts
  • blowing nose into a tissue, then using same tissue to "clean" nurse's station counter :barf02:

What other funny/crazy things have you guys seen dementia patients do?

When i was in LTC, the administrator used to like dropping by unannounced. One morning she walked in while I was in the dining room with all my residents. One of my LOLs with dementia calls me over to her table, which happened to be by the dining room entrance, as the administrator walks in. She very loudly asks "Who the hell is the uptight ***** and who invited her over to dinner?" Needless to say, the admin never showed up during meals again....:lol2:

Beautiful!

I would have given up a whole paycheck to witness that!

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Funniest thing I ever saw (so far) - this LOL took out her top dentures, put them on top of her head and wrapped her hair around them. With one hand holding her new "hairdo" in place, she wandered arounding looking for a barrette or bobby pin to keep her creation from falling down.

That is hilarious!

Bless her heart!

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I took a client for a walk outside, when all of a sudden he turned to me and asked if they were any tigers there.

While doing a task, I was mumbling to myself. I told my patient not pay attention and that I also talk to the computer. She wanted to know if it answered me back.

During an overnight shift in an elderly couple's home, I was awakened in the middle of the night by an argument they were having. The wife (who had dementia) was convinced she was hearing noises in their bedroom and the husband (who did not have dementia) said she was imagining. I asked the wife to show me where the noises were coming from. It turned out it was the husband's hearing aids that were making that noise, but he couldn't hear them.

I'm sure we all have them, especially those of us who have worked in LTC. Here are some of mine:

-climbing into other residents' beds and taking a nap...one time we found the resident sleeping in a bed that was already occupied by the resident it belonged to--they were both sleeping in there!!

-putting pajamas in the toilet, then having an extra-large BM right on top of them

-taking a cup that had some medication mixed in juice, then turning to the person sitting next to her and saying "here, you can have this"--fortunately I was able to take it back before the other resident could get a hold of it

-wandering around in the hall and grabbing people's butts

-blowing nose into a tissue, then using same tissue to "clean" nurse's station counter :barf02:

What other funny/crazy things have you guys seen dementia patients do?

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Having worked in Geriatrics and LTC for more years than I care to remember, I as well have many stories! My favorite was playing volleyball with a little Russian lady, with dementia, who's family had taken her home for the evening and brought her back drunk. We used a balloon and the nurses desk for a net!

Another, was a cranky old lady who rinsed her teeth between inhaler doses, then drank the same water! Being pregnant I wasn't able to watch so I looked out her window and shook the next dose waiting for the proper time passage. Her window was level with the cars on the street, I looked at one of the cars and the driver was waving back! I had been shaking 'hang 10' style! When I explained why I was laughing, she started to laugh like she hadn't for years. Until she passed 2 months later, all I had to do was flash her a hang 10 to get the same results.

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Probably the most memorable story for me would be the day one of the LOL had a BM and decided to paint her room with it. She got aggravated when the staff tried to come into her room to clean it. The staff decided to try getting into her room from the outside door since she was waiting for them at her other door, but as soon as they got that door open a flying turd came sailing past their heads and glued itself firmly to the fencing. The staff finally managed to get in and settle down the LOL to find BM all over the curtains and everywhere!

My other favorite is spotting another little old lady giving a very surprised old gentleman a kiss on the lips. What was funny was when I took her away she said to me, 'now don't you go telling (husband) about that!'.

Another time an electrician came in, one of the LOL thought he was quite the looker so she followed him around making eyes at him and giggling every time he spoke. The electrician was rather freaked out and glad to escape afterwards!

Then there is the surprising places they decide are toilets: the drawers, the kitchen bin, I once found a BM sitting neatly under a table, no idea how that got there or who laid it!

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Specializes in LTC, CPR instructor, First aid instructor..

:yeah:Very entertaining.

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I may have posted about this before, but years ago I had a little 80-something year old demented lady from Trinidad on my inpatient Psych. unit. She did a lot of peculiar things, but the two that got the most attentions were: 1) yelling "I want to ****" repeatedly at the top of her lungs, and making accompanying gyrating motions. She also often grabbed males by their "naughty bits" as the British say. No intervention was ever successful. 2) She thought the built-in radiator/A.C. unit in her room was a fish tank, so she would take parts of her meal trays and shove them down the little louvers. We did not realize this until the room began to smell of rotten food.

It was amazing to me how word of this patient's behavior spread throughout the local area, and when it came time for her to be discharged, no local facility would take her, and one facility in a neighboring county sent her back after only having her 1 hour. I heard she finally was accepted at a nursing home after much negotiation and legal wrangling.

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Specializes in Medical /Neuro, Oncology, LTC, Home Care.

Here's mine, nothing too special but a pt on my floor has dementia, depression, and learning disability. Well I come on my shift and he's already pacing, going into others rooms, ******* in corners and what not.. andlet me add this older man is like 6'2 and hefty but a just a big baby. Anyways as all this is going on he is consistently cry and moaning/screaming. I go to give him a pain killer and see that the news paper I gave him to help distract him was all in his mouth! With the staples in it just chewing away! I grab a Kleenex holding it near his mouth and tell him spit it out! He grabs the Kleenex from my hand and shoves it in his mouth and starts chewing! Other pt's just busted out laughing!!!!!! I couldnt hold it in an had a few giggles.... but no worries I got the paper out of his mouth.. lol!

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Specializes in 3 years MS/Tele, 10 years total ICU, 5 travel.

As a CNA working during nursing school on a geri psych unit:

Had a little old lady, 70's but ambulatory. On the 2nd day I had her, I noticed she was hiding from me. She'd pull covers over her head, or duck into the bathroom if I walked into the room. Finally got her to talk to me, and she told me I was "annointed by God" and she was "unworthy of being looked at by (me)". And when it was time for lunch, I told her (being one of my more alert patients) that I would be back at x time. She actually teared up and told me "No honey. When you leave, God is going to call you up with him, and the rest of us will suffer in fire."

My co-workers laughingly called me "The Chosen One" for a week.

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Well, at least that's better than the young African-American Muslim lady who used to call me "djinn" all the time (Arabic for "evil spirit", and the root of the English word "genie"). Actually, I got to learn a little bit of conversational Arabic from her.

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Specializes in ortho, hospice volunteer, psych,.
well, at least that's better than the young african-american muslim lady who used to call me "djinn" all the time (arabic for "evil spirit", and the root of the english word "genie"). actually, i got to learn a little bit of conversational arabic from her.

:rotfl: the two year old next door has a favorite word we hear a lot when he's here.

it's pronounced like "nahin" and means no! (surprise ... surprise) in urdu!

the kids are learning urdu because they'll visit the grandparents this summer

in pakistan. hmm... the older boys are well behaved but the baby is a very typical

two year old!

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Specializes in Trauma, ER, ICU, CCU, PACU, GI, Cardiology, OR.
when i was in ltc, the administrator used to like dropping by unannounced. one morning she walked in while i was in the dining room with all my residents. one of my lols with dementia calls me over to her table, which happened to be by the dining room entrance, as the administrator walks in. she very loudly asks "who the hell is the uptight ***** and who invited her over to dinner?" needless to say, the admin never showed up during meals again....:lol2:

seriously i would have hit the floor lmao & then be taken to ed for uncontrollably lol :rotfl:

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