Grossest thing that you've experienced?

[dirtyhippiegirl]

Story time! And the grosser, the better. Kudos to the first person who makes me throw up a bit in my mouth.

My story - I'm a burn nurse, relatively new. Anyway. I'm helping with a dressing change on a massive (90%+) burn who was also massively fluid resuscitated. Basically, that means that this guy is putting out gallons of insensible fluid loss. Plus skin sloughing. Picture this thick, partially congealed grey-brown liquid - like a poorly made Thanksgiving gravy - that is just sitting in the patient's bed.

Now, we do dressing changes in water proof gowns, hair nets, gloves (duh), and masks for a reason.

So we're turning the guy and, of course, a wave of fluid flows over the bed, coating my shoes and advancing upwards to soak through my scrub pants. I'm in the room for about an hour like that. We're almost done, turning the poor guy butt-towards me, when he starts to liquid stool everywhere. ("Burn poop.") It hits the wall behind me. I duck, manage to only get poop in my hair net. However, the turn buddy on my side who was holding up the patient's leg....drops said leg in order to get out of the way. Splat. (Splash?) I ended up getting a tidal wave of burn goo ALL OVER MY FACE. None in my mouth, thankfully.

Thank goodness for lock rooms and showers.

Admin Note: You might also like this topic with over 2000 fun nursing comments:

What Is Your Most Gross, Yucky, Disgusting Nursing Horror Story?

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

We once had a 3 year old patient who had a sitter and security at her bedside because her mother had made comments about being unable to be safe with her if she was discharged. Anyway, one day I'm walking down the hall and her sitter leaves the room, comes over to me (I wasn't her nurse) and says "she's eating her BM". And I'm like, "Ok, stop her!" Like why did you leave the room to come down the hall to tell me that instead of stopping her and pushing the call light. So I go in and the child is digging for gold in her diaper and smearing it all over her face. The sitter's response? "I thought it was candy."

[Creamsoda, ASN, RN]

Welcome to home health, eh? I did PPD for a while and managed to come home with both bed bugs (but, hey, we needed a new mattress!) and fleas from two different patients.

Which is why I like my little bubble in the ICU. If theres even a thought they have something, the gown goes on! I could not handle home health and contracting all that nastiness. Im itchy...., im sure its just dry skin.

[dudette10, MSN, RN]

There is gross in the nursing profession and there is gross at home. The gross at home is what makes me wretch.

My MIL, dementia, ambulatory, on and off continence, not a safety risk (at that time). I hear splashing coming from the bathroom. I open the door to find my MIL grabbing her own poop out of the toilet, mashing it up, then placing it in the sink.

Another time, same MIL. I went into her room to do my once daily clean up of her "collected" items, mostly rolls and rolls of clean toilet paper, carefully torn off, folded, and tucked into every nook and cranny of her room. The occasional item swiped from other members of the family to be safely returned (and hidden). I saw the only lapel pin I own stuck into something in a Dixie cup from the bathroom. I pulled it out to find it stuck in a ball of poop.

Poop and dementia...they go hand in hand, literally.

[SurrenderDorothy]

When I was a student, I worked as a PCT float. One day on Oncology a gentleman rang his call light and I found him sitting on the bedside commode. He said he was having trouble having a bowel movement and said sometimes his wife "digitally" stimulates him so he's able to go. I told him I am not allowed to do that, but I can see if his nurse can get a suppository for him.

I went to his nurse, told her and she went into his room and inserted the suppository. About 15 minutes later, we are in the room and he still couldn't go. So, he asked the nurse if she could please digitally stimulate him before his wife got back. Thankfully (well maybe) his wife got back and saw he needed assistance, so she says "I'm gonna work on you daddy" and grabbed a glove and went to town. Then, (here's the gross part) she says "I can't feel anything with these gloves on" so she takes them off and sticks her bare finger up there.

The nurse and I stood there like we couldn't believe that just happened in front of us. She gets done and starts smelling her fingers and finally goes in to wash her hands after what seemed like an eternity.

[floridanurse1983]

Poop and dementia...they go hand in hand, literally.

WHY???? So true but everytime I ask, no one has any idea why it is always poop

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

"she looks at me, and says, her teeth coated brown, "leave, them alone, that's my chocolate. "

ding-ding-ding, we have a winnah. :barf01:

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

i read around here somewhere that the poster entered a room and found a man standing at the side of the bed having carnal relations with his wife...via her colostomy stoma.

one of the grossest things i ever did was leap up on a bed to do cpr on a 2-day postop heart. i can still feel that wired sternum creaking and crunching under my hand, which was slippery with blood by the time somebody made it in to toss me a towel.

[netglow, ASN, RN]

The same thread in the humor section. Now I've laughed so hard reading that sick stuff, and then felt nauseous at the same time...

[rubato, ASN, RN]

i read around here somewhere that the poster entered a room and found a man standing at the side of the bed having carnal relations with his wife...via her colostomy stoma.

okay. that's nasty!!!!!!!

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

i read around here somewhere that the poster entered a room and found a man standing at the side of the bed having carnal relations with his wife...via her colostomy stoma.

auuugggghhh!!! that has to be among the top 3 nastiest things i've ever heard of!!! :barf01:

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

Surgeon told me this one: inmate in for a bowel resection with temporary colostomy. Went back to prison, and apparently began selling the colostomy for sex. Ended up with an STD that precluded reversing the colostomy without causing major issues within the peritoneum. Wonder if he considered the money worth the now permanent colostomy?

[Vespertinas]

I read around here somewhere that the poster entered a room and found a man standing at the side of the bed having carnal relations with his wife...via her colostomy stoma.

I shared that one at work that day! I think that patient came in with an infected stoma and it was revealed that her husband had been "doing his business in there." Honestly, I had to read that sentence several times before I understood what it meant.

One of the grossest things I ever did was leap up on a bed to do CPR on a 2-day postop heart. I can still feel that wired sternum creaking and crunching under my hand, which was slippery with blood by the time somebody made it in to toss me a towel.

Open chest tray! I hated but secretly loved hearing those words at my last job.