Has anyone seen...

[lilac47]

I would just like to know has anyone ever seen any kind of flying insect in a hospital PICU or NICU or Med/Surg ?

[RNAnnjeh, MSN, CNS]

Oh yes, we have quite the infestation of drain flies. They look like fruit flies but live in the drains. Apparently they live on the glucose from TPN, formula and IV fluids that the staff flush down the drain instead of the hopper. We had to have UV lights installed in our med room (doesn't really do much) and our unit aides keep rotating dished of vinegar (which works great!). Kind of freaked us out when we had our long term vent pt on the floor. Had to keep everything wrapped in plastic....certainly didn't want one of those little buggers in his trach!!!:barf01:

[leslymill]

I used to go to the hospital cafeteria at night and there would be a large amount of small flying black insects all over the buns and bagels in their little clear case. I brought it up to the cook and he said.

" Oh those are JUST fruit flys. "

A fly is a fly. The transmit germs on their little feet and produce maggots.

Just a fruit fly?

No it was a bread and bun fly.

[EmmaG, RN]

Oh yes, we have quite the infestation of drain flies. They look like fruit flies but live in the drains. Apparently they live on the glucose from TPN, formula and IV fluids that the staff flush down the drain instead of the hopper. We had to have UV lights installed in our med room (doesn't really do much) and our unit aides keep rotating dished of vinegar (which works great!).

That's where we suspected our infestation originated.

Ugh...

[EDNewbie]

When I was a PICC nurse, there was one room in the Xray dept (where we checked for line placement) that ALWAYS had mosquitoes. I even had one land on a sterile field once (thank goodness I hadn't started yet and just trashed the whole thing). We reported it repeatedly but nothing seemed to be done about it; as a joke we photocopied a picture of a mosquito and hung it up as our mascot. The bad thing was at this time West Nile virus was being reported in the community and we had mosquitoes flying around our facility.

[teeituptom, BSN, RN]

Its a bird

Its a plane

Oh My its the Super Bug

[SICU Queen]

I used to work in an SICU that was an open ward of 6 beds. One night there was a HUGE cockroach flying around the unit and I freaked and ran into our little kitchen while the other nurse was chasing it and trying to kill it with a plunger from the bathroom. (I know, I know...)

Our only A/O patient (post CABG) was laughing his butt off and offered to get out of bed to kill it! I could hear him, but not see him, because our little kitchen was around the other side of a wall, and I told him if he got out of bed and pulled his chest tube out he was in BIG trouble... and he pipes up "What are you gonna do? Beat me with that plunger?"

I was laughing so hard and telling him "HUSH UP!!" but way too terrified of that roach to come out of the kitchen (I have a serious phobia), and the patient was complaining that we were making his chest hurt from HIM laughing so hard at my coworker running around with that plunger.