Great moments in bad judgement

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Apr 26, 2012

Young Soldier (Gods bless Privates...) finds a training UXO (unexplored ordinance). Tries to detonate said UXO, no luck. Takes it back to camp. Tinkers with it some more. Tries again to detonate it, no luck. Dismantles it some, tinkers some more. It finally detonates, while he's holding it of course. Fortunately he had thick leather gloves on, which took a large amount of the thermal damage. One was half gone, half fused to his hand. Remarkably, he retained all his fingers but won himself a lengthy round of wound care...As he was explaining the saga during triage, he stopped at one point and said "Now that I'm saying all this it was a pretty dumb idea Ma'am..."Yes honey, yes it was.

:rotfl:

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Apr 26, 2012

Had a 50-something year old male patient s/p carotid endarterectomy from Yugoslavia who spoke very little English. Usually very simple patients, they go home the day after surgery. The morning after surgery, he gestures that he wants to go in the bathroom. I was a new nurse, very busy with my other 3 stepdown patients, so I help him into the bathroom thinking he either has to have a BM or just wants to wash up a bit. He ambulates perfectly, I wasn't worried about him at all. He had a Foley, so he must know that he can't pee, right?
Wrong.
After noticing he'd been in the bathroom for about 5 minutes, I knock to see if he's ok and open the door to what looks like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, blood everywhere, and one very sheepish looking patient holding the Foley that he RIPPED OUT, balloon intact, saying, "I sorry, I sorry!" One GU consult and coude catheter placement later, his wife arrived and I had to explain why he would be going home much later that day, and with a catheter for several days. Then followed a loud string of what I assume was Yugoslavian expletives in what could only be described as the international wife-to-husband language of "You f***** idiot!!!"

I've seen this senario.....:rotfl:

Editorial Team / Admin · Apr 26, 2012

My brother was trying to help out the not-quite-yet in-laws when his now wife's father had back surgery by taking care of the mowing for him. Mowing steep bank, ran over foot. Even though he was wearing steel toed boots, he earned the nickname nine and a half toes. FIL told him later that they don't mow the bank, they just go after it with a weedwacker- much lighter and tends to do much less damage to toes.

Me, when I was ten. Playing games in church basement. They had tried to disguise all the pipes running across the ceiling by putting that fake wood paneling around it, which cut a decent amount of height from the already low ceiling. Running around, across the chairs instead of the floor (I know, I know, not smart) and ran into one of the wood panelling boxes. Head stopped moving, body kept flying forward. Landed hard flat on my back on the very thin carpet covered cement floor. Got to ride in the ambulance that time. Freaked my mother out big time because I wasn't able to breathe for several minutes. Luckily nothing major wrong, but the section of my back that hit first is often in pain.

shoegalRN, RN · Apr 27, 2012

I had a pt come into ER as a trauma, young 25 year old girl. Was attempting to play "spiderman" and swing down to the balcony under her because "my friends dared me". ETOH on board. Hit railing of balcony and ended up with a broken pelvis.

About 2 months later, had another girl attempting to swing down to another balcony under her. Was up 4 stories, and instead hit every railing on her way down to the ground, several broken teeth found at scene. ETOH on board as well as other drugs (cocaine, weed). Came in to ER as a trauma. Ended up with a small pnuemothorax, broken leg, and broken jaw. Taken to ICU, left ER talking. Went to oral surgery two days later to fix broken jaw. Was intubated, never extubated upon completion of surgery. Taken back to same ICU. Went into PEA a few hours later. Blot clot found logged into ET tube. Ended up being an organ donor.

SMARN · Apr 27, 2012

Patient comes in with a headache. Given IM Nubain and reglan and sent to CT. Upon returning from CT, pt c/o itching and tongue-swelling. Doc orders saline lock and IV Benadryl, solumedrol, and epipen. IV started, IV meds in. Took epipen out, took all caps off, laid it down to clean leg. I picked it back up and pressed down into the leg...with my thumb on the top end.

Felt pain...what the?!?!

After realizing I had just injected the epipen into my thumb, I went and sat down. HR was up to 261. It was the worst feeling EVER!! And I've never lived it down, lol. Took about 40min to feel normal again, thumb was blanched and cool to touch for 3 hrs.

rgroyer1RNBSN, BSN, RN · Apr 28, 2012

Me, myself, and I were real smart, when I was a teenager, my mom came out back and found me and my best friend standing on the lawn chairs the old, the old ones with the arms that come dowm and make an upside down u, long story short, mom came out and caught, but before she could tell us to get down, my chair went flying and I went flying and fell on my outstretched hand. Needless to say I was 11 and nesides my fx wrist, my butt got tanned by dads belt when he home from work, so not only did my wrist hurt, but my @ss stung for a couple weeks, first time and last time I ever needed dads belt on my bare butt!!!!

rgroyer1RNBSN, BSN, RN · Apr 28, 2012

Anyway to add to my last post I deserved to have my butt busted because me and my friend would not listen to my mom because we were playing mortal combat standing on those lawn chairs and when I fell mom took me to the er b/c I had a wrist fx. Well she grounded me & locked my bike up, so I called her a b**ch, anyway she called dad home, who is a cop, very strict, and southern from Georgia, has a temper and a large belt. But I deserved what I got, my friend got it from his dad too, hes my dads partner as he is a cop to, but he only got the hand, I got the belt when he got home, then I got the wooden hairbrush that night before bed I also got soap in mouth before bed.

AngelfireRN, MSN, RN, APRN · May 8, 2012

Or the guy who decided to make home made fireworks. He was sitting in the recliner with the bowl of gunpowder in his lap when he decided to smoke a cigarette! Boom! No need for a vasectomy :)
Or another one who was playing a game (yet to be named) where he and his cousin threw knives at each other to see who could come closest without actually hitting the other. I guess my guy won because he had a laceration thru the boot into his foot. When he couldn't get the bleeding stopped (maybe a wee bit of ETOH involved here), he did what every good survivalist would do....he poured gun powder in the wound. ( He had seen Rambo do it). Of course that hurt like crazy so he needed a cigarette to relax! The rest, they say is history :)
Moral of the story: Gunpowder and ETOH don' mix!

Isn't that knife game called mumblety-peg?

Dixielee, BSN, RN · May 8, 2012

Isn't that knife game called mumblety-peg?

LOL :yeah:

I had no idea this game actually had a name! I just googled it, and this is what wickipedia says:

Mumblety peg is generally played between two people with the aid of a pocket knife. In one version of the game, two opponents stand opposite one another with their feet shoulder-width apart. The first player then takes the knife and throws it to "stick" in the ground as near his own foot as possible. The second player then repeats the process. Whichever player "sticks" the knife closest to his own foot wins the game.

If a player "sticks" the knife in his own foot, he wins the game by default, although few players find this option appealing because of the possibility of bodily harm. The game combines not only precision in the knife-throwing, but also a good deal of bravado and proper assessment of one's own skills.

I think in this game, they were throwing the knife at each other. I guess when you play with knives you can change the rules if you want to.

BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN · May 8, 2012

Patient comes in with a headache. Given IM Nubain and reglan and sent to CT. Upon returning from CT, pt c/o itching and tongue-swelling. Doc orders saline lock and IV Benadryl, solumedrol, and epipen. IV started, IV meds in. Took epipen out, took all caps off, laid it down to clean leg. I picked it back up and pressed down into the leg...with my thumb on the top end.
Felt pain...what the?!?!
After realizing I had just injected the epipen into my thumb, I went and sat down. HR was up to 261. It was the worst feeling EVER!! And I've never lived it down, lol. Took about 40min to feel normal again, thumb was blanched and cool to touch for 3 hrs.

Four places an epi pen doesen't belong: Fingers, noses, memberes, toeses. You'll never forget it!!

Hagabel · May 8, 2012

TV remotes and Gerbils also find their way up the butt too!!!!

~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN · May 8, 2012

I have heard so many I am drawing a blank on a specific one right now. :| I always follow up with "So how'd that work for ya" and that usually gets a chuckle from them.