Scariest things you've seen

[email protected] · Jul 19, 2004

What is the scariest thing you have seen other nurses do? We have all seen some pretty ignorant, or uncaring things. Just curious. Someone should probably write a book.

A new grad just out of orientation on a busy L&D floor was drawing up Terbutaline for administration to a patient in preterm labor.

I came around the corner of the med room to see her with a three cc syringe drawing up a full vial of terb. Terb is given with a tb syringe 0.25mg sq.

When I took a tb syringe off the shelf and pointed to the correct dosage she said uhuh, and proceeded to throw the vial away.

At that time I took a new vial and showed her the dosage and had her review the orders for terb. She said that is a lesson she won't forget.

I have a hard time with new grads in L&D because of their lack of knowledge and their lack of not knowing what they don't know! Nan

heart queen · Jul 19, 2004

Pt. with an ignored abcessed tooth. Infected his jaw, sinuses, all the way to his chest cavity. He swelled up with the puss from the infection, needed a trach, vented, multiple chin and thoracic drains, went septic, swanned, dying, multiple surgeries to clean out the puss pockets. puss pouring out of so many thoracic drains... family can't understand why he's so sick from a "bad tooth" when all they ever do is "yank 'em with plyers".

Family wants to sue the ER nurse for telling him a "long while" back to take those PCN pills, which were "just a bunch of nonsense"

puss filled, I mean flowing night....aaaggghh

cannoli · Jul 19, 2004

I was assisting a doctor (on a remote island) with setting a lady's broken thumb.
First request "Can you get 50mg Fentanyl and 5mg midazolam?"
Me "Don't you mean 50mcg of Fentanyl?"
Dr "Oh yeah, thanks"
This lady was quite intoxicated at the time so I was gonna make sure I gave the drugs (titrating). Just after I arrived back with the drugs the phone rang and I went to answer it. To my horror I came back on the tail end of the dr giving all of the drugs IV!
The dr went about manipulating the thumb. I said "She's not breathing"
Dr says "We always gave them the lot in endoscopy!(I pointed out to him that at endoscopy in the big city hospital that there were many more staff available to assist in a crisis)Thanks for that, that's why I asked for you to help cos you're onto things like that"
Thankfully this lady commenced breathing spontaneously when I go the guedels in but it could have been a helluva lot uglier!
She tolerated the guedels for about an hour before she pulled it out. Someone was smiling on me that day!

What's a guedels?

cannoli · Jul 19, 2004

Pt. with an ignored abcessed tooth. Infected his jaw, sinuses, all the way to his chest cavity. He swelled up with the puss from the infection, needed a trach, vented, multiple chin and thoracic drains, went septic, swanned, dying, multiple surgeries to clean out the puss pockets. puss pouring out of so many thoracic drains... family can't understand why he's so sick from a "bad tooth" when all they ever do is "yank 'em with plyers".
Family wants to sue the ER nurse for telling him a "long while" back to take those PCN pills, which were "just a bunch of nonsense"
puss filled, I mean flowing night....aaaggghh

Did the patient recover?

Angela Mac · Jul 19, 2004

this one upset me more than anything I had ever seen before:crying2:

A Priest came out of an elderly woman's room and approached the nursing station. He asked my co-worker to sign a document. It was a change in the woman's will. He had convinced the woman to sign her estate over to the church. Without a second of thought, my co-worker signed it. He looked at me, but I guess he could read the look on my face, and did not say a word. This matter was brought to the Administrator's attention right away- the family needed to be notified. My co-worker was so upset when she realized what she had done, I do believe she felt intimidated by the Priest, or that it was the right thing to do. I was disappointed in her action without thought, but was very upset and angered by what a man of the cloth had done. :crying2:

Altra, BSN, RN · Jul 19, 2004

I was assigned a pt. with a couple of necrotic toes on his left foot r/t diabetes, neuropathy, etc. When I went to chart my assessment, I noticed the note from the nurse on the last shift - describing his RIGHT foot. I was unnerved by this enough that I went back in the room and stood at the pts' bedside for a minute, just to double-check my left & right!

As a student, the last thing I'm there to do is pick apart other people's charting, but this really disturbed me.

Dixiecup · Jul 19, 2004

This happened several years ago. A two patient room with two patients. One of the patients had a trache and the other patient kept complaining about the noise he was making. Later in the night the nurse went into the room and the patient w/o the trach said. "I figured out out to stop that noise, I plugged up that little hole in his neck" !!! True story! :stone

melpn · Jul 19, 2004

What's a guedels?

Glad you asked- I had no clue either. I Googled "guedels" and it looks like it's an oral airway (Aussie style).

eternaldaisy · Jul 19, 2004

While I was in OB clinicals, I saw a nurse trying to put an IV in a baby. The needle came out of the baby and into her thumb. She was not wearing gloves. She then stuck her thumb (that had not only her blood but also the baby's on it) into her mouth. When she saw the look of horror on my face she said, "don't worry honey they're nice people". :uhoh3:

Hellllllo Nurse, BSN, RN · Jul 19, 2004

this one upset me more than anything I had ever seen before:crying2:
A Priest came out of an elderly woman's room and approached the nursing station. He asked my co-worker to sign a document. It was a change in the woman's will. He had convinced the woman to sign her estate over to the church. Without a second of thought, my co-worker signed it. He looked at me, but I guess he could read the look on my face, and did not say a word. This matter was brought to the Administrator's attention right away- the family needed to be notified. My co-worker was so upset when she realized what she had done, I do believe she felt intimidated by the Priest, or that it was the right thing to do. I was disappointed in her action without thought, but was very upset and angered by what a man of the cloth had done.

Was anything done about this?

When I worked hospice, I was also appalled by the conduct and behavior of a couple of priests.

Hellllllo Nurse, BSN, RN · Jul 19, 2004

Pt. with an ignored abcessed tooth. Infected his jaw, sinuses, all the way to his chest cavity. He swelled up with the puss from the infection, needed a trach, vented, multiple chin and thoracic drains, went septic, swanned, dying, multiple surgeries to clean out the puss pockets. puss pouring out of so many thoracic drains... family can't understand why he's so sick from a "bad tooth" when all they ever do is "yank 'em with plyers".
Family wants to sue the ER nurse for telling him a "long while" back to take those PCN pills, which were "just a bunch of nonsense"
puss filled, I mean flowing night....aaaggghh

What happened?

Hopefully, they were not able to sue the nurse. What ignorant, ignorant people.

Hellllllo Nurse, BSN, RN · Jul 19, 2004

Here is the worst thing I've ever seen. It still bothers me to remember it.

When I was an LPN in a hospice inpt unit, I worked w/ an RN who was very lazy, but highly though of and respected by the company. She slept most shifts. One noc, when she was sleeping

I remember clucking in disgust at this "nurse."

I drew up 20mg of MS and gave it sc.

I reported my co-worker to mgmt. Nothing was done.

Another bad situation-

I worked w/ an LPN at the same company who would sit at the nurses' station and brag about the group sex and swinging w/ her husband that she was involved in. She had a filthy mouth, and was a basically awful person. This is so gross- she would actually compare and contrast the characteristics of the sperm of her different partners in graphic detail. She had two young sons in her home.

Mgmt loved her and she was the only LPN at the company to ever be promoted to the position of admissions coordinator. She was unable to handle the job and she quit.