Gross Me Out ? Contest | Nurses Week

Sabrina Traver · May 8, 2021

On 4/8/2021 at 7:55 PM, Joe V said:

Month-Long Nurses Week Celebration Starts Today! Nurses Week Contest #6

You ever had those moments that you just want to barf? Of course you have! In this glorious Nurses Week contest, I want you to make us do just that. ? Is that too disgusting? 'Cmon. This will be fun. Share your 'Oh gross' moment and you can win a $100 Amazon Gift Card courtesy of allnurses Ebooks!

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Contest Rules

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Each story will be reviewed for originality.

You must share your stories below.

You can submit more than one story.

One winner will be announced.

This contest is sponsored by allnurses Ebooks.

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16ish yrs ago in nursing school doing bed bath check offs. Had an uncircumsized gentleman that was immobile. During the bath kept getting a smell of something so bad I wanted to gag. When bathing we noticed a bump on the man's member. It was clear that is where the smell was coming from so after proceeding with his bath it was found that a corn kernel had made its way under the forskin and had been there for an undetermined amount of time. It was a greenish brown color and had what looked like mold growing all over it. Worst smell ever and the last thing I ever thought I'd find during a bed bath.

Have a hard time eating corn to this day!

Mapayne · May 8, 2021

When working in the ED a homeless man came in and he hadn’t bathed in so long his socks had basically grown into his skin. He had horrid open oozing wounds and a gut wrenching smell. We thought that was the worst but then we got to his underwear and they crumbled off and he had so much dried poop and urine that he had deep penetrating wounds with maggots. The sights and smells were worse than death.

BBNurse09 · May 8, 2021

It was the end of my night shift. I had a laboring patient with an epidural. She began to feel nauseous and vomit (common in labor). She refused to sit up and would only turn her head to the side. I held an emesis basin for her while looking at her MAR to see what I could give her. I turned back to the patient to ask if she wanted medicine (some don’t as they feel fine once they puke). She then coughed the next wave of vomit out as I’m looking at her with my mouth open to ask about her zofran. I got vomit in my hair, all over my badge and clothes, and in my MOUTH. She also had it all over herself and her hair from turning to her side instead of sitting up. This was 15 minutes before end of shift. Per occupational health I had to rinse my mouth with peroxide. The whole was soooo disgusting!

Elizabeth Sayers · May 8, 2021

Emptying and rinsing an ileostomy bag at 0600hrs. The patient lying in bed kindly insisted on holding the full jug whilst I did up the clasp on the end of the bag. The warmth I felt envelop my left foot as he accidentally tipped the liquid contents slowly but surely.. and with precision accuracy ..down the side of my shoe is something I can not even describe! ? Keeping a straight face as he profusely apologised, and reassuringly saying “that’s OK” as I sloshed my way out of his room is one of my finest nursing achievements!
Room 7, BW7 nightshift 1995. So memorable I can still picture it more clearly than the birth of my first child! ???
#ohgrossmoment!

kbrn63, ASN · May 8, 2021

I was working in the ER in the 90's and went to help an RT with a patient having an MI. She was complaining about needing to throw up, and the RT had the basin. I was standing on the patient's right side and the RT was on her left. As she started to wretch, she turned my way, away from the basin, and proceeded to projectile vomit like the Excorcist girl. She vomited SO much, all over me. I was covered from head to toe. The worst part was that I had my mouth open and got the vomit in my mouth. I literally had to lean over the sink and remove chunks of meat and potatoes from my mouth. I was so saturated with vomit, I had to remove ALL my clothing to have housekeeping to clean, and me in scrubs. The poor lady was so apologetic. I'll never forget that. THAT has got to be the grossest thing ever!

ICUAssistantNurseManager, BSN · May 8, 2021

Sooo, I was actually in nursing school at this time. This was my first time doing clinicals in the ICU so I was super stoked. This happened to be a step down ICU, like an LTACH. My patient assignment included a c diff patient. The doctor had come to see the patient and the patient had had a blowout in the bed. So me and my instructor proceeded to clean the patient up. She rolled him, while I cleaned his backside. I was bending down really low, eye level to the buttocks, trying to get all that seedy, mucuosy poop up. The smell was horrendous and I was gagging as I did this but I was determined to get him clean. The patient started coughing while on the vent. The coughing became more and more violent and suddenly a large stream of CDiff poop came out and straight into my mouth. I threw up on my instructor, the doctor, the patient and the floor. I ran out the room in a panic and grabbed the cavi wipes. I started wiping my mouth out with those. I ran to my car, threw up in the parking lot and drove home. I quit nursing school for a week. My teacher had to physically come to my house and talk to me. Her theory? “Well that teaches you never to wipe butts that low again”. I was like “girl you could have warned a sister!”

Edclem4, BSN · May 8, 2021

I’m sorry!! That one takes the cake!! My husband is still shuddering and I’m laughing and crying at the same time. That is truly a gross out moment! Scarred for life.

amoLucia · May 8, 2021

CAN'T. MAKE. THIS. STUFF. UP.

Oh, and Happy Nurses' Week to us all!

DNab · May 8, 2021

I was working as an LPN in a nursing home on the evening shift. My CNA asked for help transferring a patient over to his bed from his wheelchair!
This Particular gentleman used to sit in his wheelchair watching TV all day and coughing up thick green yellow phlegm that he would spit into a Dixie cup and then once it was full then he would dump it into a bigger pitcher, And then at the end of the night would dump it into the trash. Though this is gross enough in itself it’s not the grossest part of the story, so moving on.....

This patient had a roommate who was pretty much legally blind and he would sit in his chair quietly pretty much all day unless he needed to go to the bathroom or whatever and we would always have his cup of fluids sitting on a table by his chair. Well the CNA was going to be helping the blind roommate to bed after I helped her lift the other guy into his bed and she had moved his table of fluids away from him already! As we are mid lift transferring the patient over to the bed I see the blind roommate feeling around for his cup of fluids, and he got ahold of the cup of phlegm and before I could get to him he chugged that Dixie cup full of phlegm without a flinch nothing! OMG! I just kept saying in a shrilled voice, OMG!!

allnurses Guide · May 9, 2021

Assisting an ENT treating a lady with sinus infections, admitted to a med-surg bed. He simply took an 18 gauge needle, went up the nare and just pushed it through the nasal bones and drained the left maxiallary sinus into an emesis basin. The crunch of the bones still makes me shiver, while watching a river of green pus pour out. Lady felt much better.

Shannon McCoy, LPN, EMT-I · May 9, 2021

So I'll make this short. Working in urgent care. Young woman comes in with odor, itching, pain and discharge from lady partsl area. Fast forward to pelvic exam. The doctor and I were floored by the odor. Dr pulls out 2 tampons. Massive discharge. Pus and blood. Worst part.....the Dr asked when her last period was.....2 months ago. These tampons were in there for at least 2 months. Needless to say she got a shot of strong antibiotic with several scripts to take at home. Ugh.

Kitiger, RN · May 9, 2021

9 hours ago, Shannon McCoy said:

So I'll make this short. Working in urgent care. Young woman comes in with odor, itching, pain and discharge from lady partsl area. Fast forward to pelvic exam. The doctor and I were floored by the odor. Dr pulls out 2 tampons. Massive discharge. Pus and blood. Worst part.....the Dr asked when her last period was.....2 months ago. These tampons were in there for at least 2 months. Needless to say she got a shot of strong antibiotic with several scripts to take at home. Ugh.

It's a wonder that she didn't go into full-blown Toxic Shock Syndrome.