Grossest Thing You've Ever Seen

Nurses General Nursing

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So today I was emptying my patient's recently revised colostomy drainage...And I removed about a pound of what looked like pot roast, along with peas and cucumber seeds. I didn't freak out in front of him, but on the inside I was gagged and trying not to freak out. I've seen lots of other really "gross" things and not even flinched, but for some reason that almost did me in.

So now I need to know... what's the grossest thing you've ever seen?

Had a guy who was just getting over a sm bowel obstruction. He was on complete best rest. He had to move his bowels so i put him on the bed pan. Couple minutes later I go into his room to clean him up.

His poop looked like a think soft slimey gray snake.. and stunk SO FLIPPEN bad. I was emptying in in the toilet and I threw up right on top of it. I just wonder how long that poop was in his instestines before he was able to pass it. It was the NASTIEST thing I have ever encountered. I still get the dry heaves just thinking about it.

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So today I was emptying my patient's recently revised colostomy drainage...And I removed about a pound of what looked like pot roast, along with peas and cucumber seeds. I didn't freak out in front of him, but on the inside I was gagged and trying not to freak out. I've seen lots of other really "gross" things and not even flinched, but for some reason that almost did me in.

So now I need to know... what's the grossest thing you've ever seen?

That is quite disgusting!

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Specializes in ER/Critical Care.

OMG all of these posts have me laughing SO hard! And gagging a little!

My grossest story:

I took care of a guy who was 450 lbs and 23 yrs old, and clearly hygiene was not his priority (at least not over the last few years). He was vented with an ETT and it was my second night with him, so I knew he had gotten good oral care at least the previous night (when I had him). So I'm in doing oral care, and all of a sudden a little yellowish-brown thing pops out onto his chest and I think "Oh crap-I just brushed a tooth right out of his mouth!" So I stop and look in his mouth-no blood, can't really see a gaping hole toward the front, so I turn my attention to the "tooth" that is on his chest. It turns out to be a tooth-sized chunk of plaque that had formed in the back part of his mouth, and because we were doing such frequent oral care it broke it loose and it came out. As soon as I poked it it fell apart and the stench was of pure poop-absolutely disgusting!

That was literally the only time I flat out gagged/dry heaved in a patient room (I have a really strong stomach and usually find "gross" things like wounds fascinating-not that time!). Thank god he was tubed and sedated!

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Specializes in LTC.
I'm not particularly squeamish, but when I was fresh out of nursing school, I had a patient with no circulation in one foot. I was changing the dressing when two of his toes literally fell off into my hands. They looked like shriveled-up little black raisins. And he hadn't felt a thing. 'Twas all I could do not to freak out and run out of the room, especially when he asked "Nurse, is everything all right?"

Oh, my gosh, I had almost the same experience.Only it was just one toe. But not the grossest thing I've seen. That would be an infected Stage 4 sacral pressure ulcer. The smell only added to the experience. I'm happy to say I made it to the restroom before I gave up my lunch. My co-worker, alas, didn't.

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grossest.......mushrooms growing in crevices of a leg with elephantism :bugeyes:

OH DEAR!!!!!!! I think you win.

I had to edit my post because it was making me sick to look at it.

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Specializes in Urgent Care, Family Medicine & OB/GYN.
OH DEAR!!!!!!! I think you win.

There was a code once and the Anesthesiologist was trying to intibate a patient. All of a sudden the Anesthesiologist just stood against the wall looking real funny. A roach crawled out of the patient's mouth. I did barf after that one.

ANYTHING but roaches!!! How in the world? :no:

Then the mushrooms? *faints*

They never told me it would be easy. -lol-Thanks everyone for sharing these stories!

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Specializes in Emergency, outpatient.

Great stories. Glad I wasn't there.:D

1. Male pt in ED requested to use bedpan to urinate. I should have known something was wrong when he refused the urinal. Went to assist only to find female genitalia.:eek: (It was really more sad than gross.) I did approach the ED doc privately about a pregnancy test.

2. Have learned to remove shoes/socks very carefully and only if really necessary. Do not touch the black toes. They can and will fall off, as evidenced by the earlier poster. :p

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ANYTHING but roaches!!! How in the world? :no:

Then the mushrooms? *faints*

They never told me it would be easy. -lol-Thanks everyone for sharing these stories!

Darn you quoted me it was making me sick to look at it. Well the guy was down due to a drug overdose and the EMT's brought him back and he was actually with it and talking. He was not intibated when he got to the hospital but went bad again and that is when the bug scene happened. Yep it was a site to see. I think we all started screaming. I was in the hall just in case anyone needed any help. I was the first one to run to the bathroom. He was intibated eventually after the docs checked for any more bugs.

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I'm a new nurse so I haven't seen a lot of gross stuff yet though I would love to. My mini story pales in comparison but i was taking care of an elderly lady with Dementia and unresponsive came to us with PNA. So I get her a couple days when I get close I notice that her breath is terrible and see little specks of sputum on the siderails so she must be bringing some of this up. So I get one of the ICU nurses that I know to send me some of the mouth care sponges that connect to suction and start on some good mouth care. I see this "little" piece starting to come loose so I daringly put my fingers in to pull it out and turns out her entire pallet was covered by mucus and it happens that my PCT comes in as the same time I am pulling this mucusy thing out of my ladys mouth kinda scared her good.

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Specializes in Emergency, outpatient.

Toph--tip from an old nurse with a scar......neva put fingers in mouth with toofies without some protection to keep said toofies from damaging you.

Nuff said. :D

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Specializes in ob/gyn med /surg.
KizzyKat you must have never worked on a floor with fresh trachs after a max. facial resection due to CA. You could walk down the halls and look at the walls opposite their bed and see bloody mucus phlegm sliding down the wall from when they coughed and forgot to cover their trach...

ooh yes i have , about 4 years ago and i did it for 9 years..... i never got use to it... i have 6 kids and still phlem and boogies arn't my thing...

i had a patient who had a trach and he use to shoot sputum out of his trach... i use to cover his trach before i got to close before he would sputum me.... it was funny because he died and he had a identical twin brother who came to see him before we sent him to the mortuary... i was so shocked they were so identical... the only way to tell them apart was the trach hole.... i almost peed my pants when that guy came walking down the hallway... crazy

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i had no idea we humans could grow mushrooms!!

just, wow.

leslie

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