Funny new nurse story. :)

[SillyStudent, ASN, RN]

So last night, I am working in SICU.....

We get a Patient that was "Suicidal, Homicidal, and had been assaulted by a person over drugs".

There were no psych beds so we got her as overflow, since she was a 1:1. We did not have enough staff to make her a 1:1, but that never matters to night supervisors.

She told the nurse that was trying to put a cardiac monitor on her to keep his hands off her......private parts but a word that reminds me of housecats. I am reasonably sure she was withdrawing from her drug of choice, because she had all the signs.

So anyway, we get her mostly settled. All of a sudden, one of the nurses looks up and says ...."Oh...expeletive. Where is your patient?!?!"

ELOPEMENT!

We have 5 nurses on, and 3 of them immediately take off running out of the unit, leaving me and another nurse with the patients....lol. There were 2 docs hanging around, and one of them said "I guess that justifies a sitter". lol

She was in the family lounge getting a coffee!!!

We got her back. It was highly amusing....AFTER we got her back. It was pretty nerve wracking for about 10 minutes, though!

[nurseaboveboard]

Yeah, glad it all turned out, but it could have ended MUCH differently. I posted somewhere here about an elopement we had from our psych unit ( I was thankful it wasn't on my shift). This old and frail fellow escaped on oxygen, and with our tank, called a taxi, and traveled through three counties. Finally, his tank went dry, and only when he developed breathing issues, and behavior problems, did the driver catch on! I guess they'll do anything for a fare! Ya gotta earn a livin' right? Well, your story did make me laugh! Some of the stuff we have to put up with :).