Lucky he was constipated, or he'd be dead

[adventure_rn]

After lurking on this site for years I just joined last week, and I have to say, you guys tell the best stories!!!

So, I'm wondering: Has anybody had patients who probably would have died if they didn't happen to be in the hospital for a completely unrelated complaint?

Had an elderly patient years ago in the ED to rule out small bowel obstruction. Came from a nursing home, had a 'touch' of pneumonia (whatever that means) for which he was already taking antibiotics. X-rays showed that his 'bowel obstruction' was simply constipation and gas. About to get discharged, waiting for transportation back to the facility, hanging out eating a ham sandwich, and BAM, he codes.

After twenty minutes of resuscitation, he's up to the ICU. Apparently he had a systemic inflammatory response related to his pneumonia. The poor resident nearly wet himself, and kept saying over and over, "I don't know how I missed it!" Not sure if the patient ever made it home, but I'm certain that he wouldn't have survived if he hadn't coincidentally been in the ED with bad gas! Blows my mind to this day.

[blondy2061h, MSN, RN]

Crash cart in the room and a 1:1 assignment due to a flutter? Isn't that a bit of an over reaction? Had to be unsettling for the patient, and that's not going to help the rhythm any.

[AceOfHearts<3]

A friend fell and hurt her back. While getting x-rays and scans for that they realized she had a major vessel that was 95% occluded. She was totally asymptomatic and in good shape. She had surgery and is doing great.

[JustKeepSmiling, ADN, BSN, RN]

I don't recall the specifics of the story but remember a patient who came in with stroke like symptoms. Was actively having a massive stroke but also had urosepsis and didn't know it. She died of sepsis. Family felt it was not coincidental and the death from sepsis spared her from living with the severe deficits she had from the stroke.

One way to look at things.

[deminurse]

A nurse I worked with stayed overtime said she didn't feel well. Based on her color charg nurse whisked her into a wheelchair and to ED. She had an dissecting aortic aneurysm and did well.

[JaneS, BSN, RN]

When in nursing school, a fellow student found a AAA in a patient she was assessing in the PACU!

[blondy2061h, MSN, RN]

Had a pregnant patient at the hospital for childbirth classes. Had a full blown abruption. Rushed up to L&D, Stat section, mom and baby lived. Both could have died if it happened anywhere else.

Man, they ain't kidding when they say those classes improve outcomes.

[nursel56]

When I worked in dermatology we had a 14 yo boy come in for severe cystic acne. I can't recall at the moment which oral medication was prescribed, but that it required a CBC, and that was the first indication of leukemia, as the parents said he never complained or appeared sick. Giving the acne patient directions to the cancer hospital was pretty surreal.

[WKShadowNP, DNP, APRN]

Get a gentleman to our ED from a facility and staff there called report PTA. He was coming for rectal bleeding and prior to the episode his cardiac baseline rhythm was Brady in the 50s.

Oh really? I could walk through the 3d degree heart block and had atropine taped to my top for his heart rate in the 30s. We gave him .5mg and he came up to 60s. Variable rate, never sinus. Bigeminy. The blood loss wasn't a gross amount. Hemoglobin of 10.

And of course this 91 year old was a full code.

[blondy2061h, MSN, RN]

When I worked in dermatology we had a 14 yo boy come in for severe cystic acne. I can't recall at the moment which oral medication was prescribed, but that it required a CBC, and that was the first indication of leukemia, as the parents said he never complained or appeared sick. Giving the acne patient directions to the cancer hospital was pretty surreal.

Did that cystic acne end up actually being leukemia cutis?

[quazar]

Had a pregnant patient at the hospital for childbirth classes. Had a full blown abruption. Rushed up to L&D, Stat section, mom and baby lived. Both could have died if it happened anywhere else.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand I'm never teaching childbirth classes. I have enough of a cloud following me around at work as it is.

[kater_92]

Two years ago on vacation in the US, my dad's blood pressure was dangerously high and he was complaining of a massive headache. I freaked out and forced him to go to the hospital. He has been suffering from some sort of sinusitis for years, and we thought maybe his blood pressure was just unusually high from the stress of it (he already has hypertension). The doctors ordered a CT scan (which I guess can check for sinusitis or something? Not sure, I haven't started nursing school yet LOL) and we were expecting a normal result. The doctor comes in and tells us he actually has a subdural hematoma and needs an emergency craniotomy the next day. I was devastated. He had fallen 3 months earlier and hit his head but the doctors cleared him and said there was no internal bleeding, but I guess it started up months later. The nurses did a stroke assessment on him and he had zero signs of having had one. I feel so blessed that he came out okay in the end. Scariest few days of my life. He says if I hadn't pushed him to go to the hospital, he would be dead. Please please please, if something seems off, get it checked out!!

PS: ALWAYS GET TRAVEL INSURANCE

PPS: this experience is what made me realize I want to be a nurse as the nurses were so amazing and comforting

[lizzyRN40]

Not quite the same, but I worked on a CICU/CCU combined unit. We had a guy who had a bad cath and got bypass surgery. His brother had bypass about a month before his in another state. While his mom was visiting our patient in the hospital she started having chest pain and we took her to the ER to get checked. They admitted and ordered a stress test. She coded in the stress test lab and also got bypass surgery a few days after her sons.