Most shocking experience on clinical -while in nursing school...:can any one relate?

Nurses General Nursing

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Hi Nurses

I will never ever forget an experience i had while in nursing school clinicals.

I was assigned to bed A and when I got there to do my assessment I was over come with fear of what i saw:........ a pt who looks possessed just the same type of look from the exorcist.

i kid you not, the pt had razor sharp teeth looked like fangs and his eyes followed me as soon as i walked in the room. the moment i walked in i knew some thing was not right.. my gut feeling told me.

i freaked out and left the room and checked the charts etc i found out shortly that my patient was switched THANK GOD because i could not deal with what i saw.

I have never seen any thing like that in my life except from a movie. you should have seen the eyes i cant even describe it.

when I alerted my other class mates as to what i had seen they were scared to go and look in the room.

any one had any experience that was shocking ?

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ooooookay, It's 4am. Maybe you need to go to bed. And don't go to sleep watching t.v. :nono:

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Nope, i have never experienced that and thank goodness. That's really freaky!!! ;)

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I've received a patient like that when I was assigned in the ER during clinicals. It was like her was of saying that she's going to have seizures asap. And there were also times she pulled her IVF off and she took off her oxygen cannula, and we had to restrain her. Poor woman...

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Specializes in SICU.

I've seen plenty of patients that look like they're possessed. Usually they're confused and a bit paranoid, sometimes not, but as a nurse I don't run out and tell all the other nurses about how scary they look. I do what I'm there for and care for the patient. You don't get to choose who you care for a lot of the time, and honestly, there's some freaky looking people out there. They're all human and need compassionate care.

Next time why don't you try engaging the patient in some conversation? You can get a better idea of mental status, etc, and despite looking "scary" may find that them to actually be a really nice person.

Save the drama - you're not in high school anymore. :nono:

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.

You're going to have to deal with all kinds of patients.

Inside this patient with the creepy eyes and fangs is a soul that needs your care and compassion. Don't judge a patient by their outsides.

Good luck in school.

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I don't mean to give you a hard time but, in a perfect world patients are perfect looking, act nicely, get well on schedule, and go home. In the real world, we often deal with confused, angry, noncompliant, combative patients. You should think long and hard on this fact, discuss it with instructors in class to learn ways to interact with patients, when safety measures need to be in place, and how to deal with personal fears and beliefs when dealing with patients that try our every effort. Nursing is not for the faint of heart. Good luck.

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This is not cool. Yes, there are some odd looking people out there but it takes a certain amount of maturity and wisdom (which I have learned are not age-related, necessarily) to understand what human compassion means.

I'm a laid back person and not inclined to get on a high horse but to turn something as serious as snother person's life into a circus side show...well, that's just shameful.

I'm afraid good sense and emotional maturity can't be taught.

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Specializes in telemetry.

We all have to deal with Pts that are not of the norm. There is no choosing only to take the "normal" ones. If you are that persons first nurse, you will have to explore the uncharted territory for yourself. If the Pt has been there for a few shifts, you will be given report often including psycho-social charicteristics. At least you will have a heads up if somthings off. Maybe some suggestions that have worked with a previous shifts. A responsible nurse will not let the next nurse enter an unsafe situation unknowingly. Somtimes it is just our turn to take the confused combative Pt.

In your situation, I would have introduced myself and started a dialogue with the pt as I put my name on their whiteboard. I will do things like wash my hands, boot up the in room computor, get the dynamap ready, find their BP cuff ect. I will ask them how their day went and compare that to what I had heard in report. This usually allows enough time to feel the Pt out. Really nothing different than what I would do with ANY Pt.

Just leaving the room abruptly before giving the Pt the chance was not the appropriate then to do, as you probably figured from the above responses. In any case, a better report from the previous nurse would have clued you in if you needed to be extra vigalent. I would say just use your gut, but I can see that you are still developing yours. It will take time. Until then, suck it up, and give that person the best care that you can. You will be amazed how much you will grow and be able to handle yourself professionaly with all sorts of different people.

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I agree that we don't always get easy work in Nursing. However, this was a young student and she was having this experience for the first time so let's try to be a little more compassionate.

I have cared for people who seemed very demonic - drugs and mental illness have a way of dragging people very far down. I quietly prayed for them and gave them proper nursing care. It was scary, yes. A lot of us feared for our safety dealing with these and lots of other

patients - in ER, lock-up, and Psych settings.

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I've seen plenty of patients that look like they're possessed. Usually they're confused and a bit paranoid, sometimes not, but as a nurse I don't run out and tell all the other nurses about how scary they look. I do what I'm there for and care for the patient. You don't get to choose who you care for a lot of the time, and honestly, there's some freaky looking people out there. They're all human and need compassionate care.

Next time why don't you try engaging the patient in some conversation? You can get a better idea of mental status, etc, and despite looking "scary" may find that them to actually be a really nice person.

Save the drama - you're not in high school anymore. :nono:

believe me I am compassionate at heart but what i saw scared me to death i could have had a heart attack. I had to leave the room and i was in shock looking for help and calling my classmates to come help and nooo one wanted to go in the room

i know what you are saying but it was not like that, i did not go to them in a gossipy kind of way i was in shock

that was the first and only time in my entire life i have ever seen any thing that gripped me with fear

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listen my fellow nurses, its nothing i have ever seen in my life

I enjoy comforting the sick etc etc

but that experience stays in my mind

i remember when i went in the room i did say hi and introduced my self although i was gripped with fear.....

there was no response except for the razor sharp tooth i say and those eyes kept following me with out a word

i left and started to pray because i had neeeeevvvver seen that before in my life

it was not during psych rotation and that i have seen before and i am ok with psych pts who have been paranoid, schizophrenic etc etc but nothing like that pt.

but thanks for your imput any way

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