Had to buy my PCA lunch after this one

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Specializes in Med Surg.

well, this was not one of my most shining moments...:(....my patient had not had a bowel movement for about 6 days, best as i could figure from our i&os and the snf records of from whence he came. being the proactive yet lazy new nurse that i was, i figured he need to get goin' but i didn't feel like calling the md for a laxative. my plan? warm prune juice via g-tube. why not?...we give it p.o. when there's no other options at the moment....

about a half hour later, i'm thinking about going down to the room to see if my plan worked. suddenly i see my pca barreling down the hall with an armful of linen and a really stressed look on her face. i stopped in my tracks, looked at her....she looked at me....and said..

"don't even think about going in that room. don't help me, don't talk to me, don't look at me".

somebody please tell me they've done something similar.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Yes... I have given a nurse the evil eye for about 12 straight hours. If it wasn't for those 'bad' times we wouldn't have anything to laugh about. If you had of asked the CNA to do something I do believe they would have choked you. :chuckle:chuckle:chuckle:chuckle:chuckle:chuckle

Of course that's the best way to see if a new CNA is 'up to' the job.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
well, this was not one of my most shining moments...:(....my patient had not had a bowel movement for about 6 days, best as i could figure from our i&os and the snf records of from whence he came. being the proactive yet lazy new nurse that i was, i figured he need to get goin' but i didn't feel like calling the md for a laxative. my plan? warm prune juice via g-tube. why not?...we give it p.o. when there's no other options at the moment....

about a half hour later, i'm thinking about going down to the room to see if my plan worked. suddenly i see my pca barreling down the hall with an armful of linen and a really stressed look on her face. i stopped in my tracks, looked at her....she looked at me....and said..

"don't even think about going in that room. don't help me, don't talk to me, don't look at me".

somebody please tell me they've done something similar.

:yeah:well, it looked like it worked for everyone. you didn't have to call the doc, the patient was surely relieved, and the pca got a lunch. hope she was able to eat it. good for you! better for the poor patient! and, you certainly gave me a heads up on what to do for someone fed up to their neck in poo.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med/Surge, Psych, LTC, Home Health.

Your story made me think of this little gem :)

This happened just a few weeks ago. I got a patient to the floor.. history of CHF... having some trouble breathing. Doctor orders Demedex. Patient doesn't have a foley.

Patient SHOULD HAVE HAD a foley. I SHOULD HAVE gotten one ordered.

But somehow... I UNDERESTIMATED HOW WELL THE DEMEDEX WOULD WORK.

Walked into patient's room a little while later with the RT's to reassess the patient, see how she was doing.

We happened to notice that the floor had about two inches of LIQUID in it, and the bed was soaked, with water still DRIPPING off of the bed as we spoke. We were like, what the heck?

I thought intially that her IV had gone bad or something. Nope.

This was PEE.

:( I felt AWFUL. Really stupid.

Laughed about it later on though... along with my manager who asked me that morning if all of my patients had diuresed well. :) (someone had already filled her in about what happened)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Ortho, Neuro, Detox, Tele.

Wow....I have to say, if I walk into a room and find a patient Dripping....I'm coming to get you! It's amazing what a little demadex can do....

OP, please, please tell me you WARNED the CNA of what you were going to do....there is nothing more frustrating than to find someone swimming in poo, change them, and THEN get told that you did something to help them go....

It happens, but please be more mindful to your CNAs in the future, ok? :p

and I hope you bought her a really goooood lunch!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med Surg.

yeah, i had warned her....we just underestimated how well that would work. she got the chicken ceasar salad for lunch...one of the few hospital foods that's made to order.

i do treat my pcas well; and am very mindful of how their days go. i also make every new nurse that i orient spend a couple days with the pca if she wasn't an extern. i was a cna a while ago, but i haven't forgotten how it is.

that's probably why she felt comfortable telling me off in the hall.:D

Up Vote Up Vote ×

*snort* VERY funny........I'm just glad you are a really nice person who is willing to take time to be nice to a coworker. Prune juice can work wonders......:D

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in LTC.

Oh, yeah, that hot prune juice thing really works, doesn't it ?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Family Practice/Primary Care.

I have given prune juice orally to patients, often times with marginal results.

Does warm juice via PEG or G-Tube give them the runs or something?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment