This is the stupidest thing I have ever done.

Nurses General Nursing

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I did something so stupid that it astounds me. I was working a third shift last night and decided to ride a soiled linen cart like superman, oh I hope no one from work hears about this. Well after about two feet on the linen cart one of the wheels snaps off, I roll of it and land in the floor with a linen cart on top of me. I went and got the housekeeping/laundry woman who takes it to the laundry room and puts a sign on the cart, basically "cart broke". The nurse and I quickly scrambled to make up the "truth". I am sore all over tonight. I attribute it to lack of sleep and temporary insanity brought on by listening to a resident screaming for her medicine for 10 hours, having one woman use her clip alarm as a call light despite the fact that her roomate has one too and has recently developed a bad habit of getting up and falling very hard (basically me running up and down the hall trying to keep roommate from falling only to find out she's too cold and wants the blanket pulled up. Plus I took one woman to the BSC about 20 times last night, she fights against you trying to position herself the way she wants and it just makes me crazy!!!!! Anyway, I am basically waiting for them to call me and tell me I am fired or that the "truth" didn't fly. It was made of PVC pipe, I guess they can fix it by going to the hardware store. I would even be willing to pay for the pipe it takes to fix it. It was PVC for goodness sakes, I should have known better than to think it would support me.

Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.
Let me describe the conditions on the unit that led up to my "incident". I had been on the unit for over 13 hours, I had been listening to one of my residents curse me out for about 8 hours because I wouldn't let her drink from another residents water pitcher, I have the woman who talked to me like a dog because she thinks that we don't like her and put her on thickened liquids to be mean to her, the one woman who had to pee 20 times, each time she had to go pee she pulled her clip alarm and I had to run down the hall each time because her roommate has begun having syncope and has had multiple falls in the last few days. I was so frazzled that I threatened to jump under a train on my lunch break if things didn't get better. Whoever decided to build a nursing home between a river and freight train tracks was a genius by the way. Not to mention the violent man that beats on us and tries to break our arms and twist our fingers off if we try to keep him from eloping who was talking about leaving. It was about 85 degrees and we aren't able to leave the windows open because they are about the right height to walk right out of. So I was more than a little stressed.

I am sorry that I destroyed facility property and yes I could have been killed. I promise to be better.

Rationalizing irresponsible behavior....still can have dire consequenes. :rotfl:

Just kidding Chad, you sounds like an awesome worker and I'd love to have you around here. You just have to find a safer way to relief that stress. I go to the bathroom and silently scream and jump up and down like a two year old having a tantrum. Doesn't get me hurt and I can compose myself rather quickly. The cool beer after work sounds good though too. :coollook:

I had been asked to come in and work a double because one of our CNA's brothers died in Ohio and she had to go to the funeral. It was awful, two halls with about 20 total residents. I had worked 10-6 the night before and only got about 6 hours of sleep before going back in for 16 hours of work.

Props to YOU, then, Chad.

Ok, how is it forseeable that a person would ride a linen cart? Is this common practice in facilities today? Sheesh.

Yes, it is very common practice.....I do my med pass sailing along the hall atop a linen cart.

Specializes in Home care, assisted living.

Yes, it is very common practice.....I do my med pass sailing along the hall atop a linen cart.

Woo-hoo! :lol_hitti

You all are awful, lol. It is quite apparent that the linen cart will not hold up a human being, I think we have all learned a couple of valuable lessons from all of this. First off PVC linen carts aren't as strong as one might think. Second, sometimes even the best people make stupid irresponsible decisions. At least I wasn't driving 135 mph or anything.

Tweety, I usually go into the clean linen closet and scream there.

This thread is turning into a bad case of the "poor me's" and I hate that. I have a friend in EMS who complains constantly about how lousy her life is and how much she wants a baby. This morning our dog was hit by a car and dad allowed it to lay there for an hour after I told him that it was still alive and critically injured and I got madder after each second of that. I need a drink but I am probably not gonna get it.

Specializes in ER.
I do not recall a water tower story but I would like to hear said story.

I'll pass on telling the water tower story....I'm not sure what the statute of limitations is on that one!:chuckle Plus I was under 18 at the time, so I don't think it counts.

I did work with a nurse a few years ago who went sledding on lunch trays down the hill out side the ER (on duty), hit a tree and dislocated her shoulder! They did not fire her, but everyone got a warning!:rotfl:

On time the clerks had made a big ball out of patient labels. This of course was made over time, but it had gotten be the size of a very large grapefruit. One night when there was only 1 patient in the ER, several of the staff were "bowling" with the big ball and a row of urinals. The family of the one patient we had complained to management. Some people have no sense of humor!:crying2:

I guess the worse thing I have done at work, was to take this really ratty plastic plant that sat by the window, and move it to another floor one night. I just didn't think I could look at it any longer!:rolleyes:

I don't think riding rolling IV polls is out of line at all, after all, it is more efficient that way!

This morning our dog was hit by a car and dad allowed it to lay there for an hour after I told him that it was still alive and critically injured and I got madder after each second of that. I need a drink but I am probably not gonna get it.

Oh, Chad----I am so sorry!!! You need a hug, too.

(((((((((((((((((Hugs)))))))))))))))))

Is your dog OK? Pets are family.

I think that you are a perfectionist who just allowed himself to be human once and to be a young kid; burning off excess stress and nervous energy. Don't get down on yourself.

When I worked in Rhode Island, in the Navy, the "older" (30 somethings and up, LOL!) used to go and fish off the dock of Narragansett Bay when things weren't busy. They would let us go out and have snowball fights, and make snowmen, and we were always borrowing some officer's car to go make an ice cream run on summer nights, or grinder runs.

And of course we amused ourselves endlessly with bubble wrap.

Never thought of linen cart rides, though. The fun we missed!

Specializes in ER.

Chad, sorry about your dog. I posted the above while you were posting about the dog. Some people do not seem to have a heart. Unfortunately that is the part of "humanness" that I will never understand. Chin up, you are young and have a lot to learn, and most of it is not easy. I hope you have a better day.

stevierae,

The dog died sweety. It probably needed a doggie trauma team. Which we don't have and can't afford. I hope y'all have a nice day.

Chad, I'm so sorry about your dog. I can't bear for living things to suffer. And rescue animals any time I can.

When my kids were smaller, if we saw a dead animal on the side of the road, I'd them "It's just resting." They knew it wasn't true, I knew it wasn't true, but it still helped (and they still say it when they see one...sometimes I do too).

Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.

Chad, I'm sorry about the dog. That must have been horrible to see.

I'm going home and will be sleeping for as long as I possibly can. Hopefully tommorow everything seems a little better. I will let you all know.

Two years ago on Christmas Eve, I was working in the ER. The RN and PA that were covering ER that night decided to have office chair races...the floor was freshly waxed and it was SLICK! The PA ran into the supply Pyxis, broke the glass or plexiglass or whatever covers the doors and ended up needing seven staples in his bald head...the RN put in four, I put in three...it cost us $18 each to repair the Pyxis...:)

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