Most surprising/shocking/interesting thing you've seen

[TexMex22]

What's the most surprising/shocking/interesting CC/presentation/wound/injury/whatever you've seen at work (without violating HIPAA).

Let's try to keep it real and not write a book per comment.

[klone, MSN, RN]

A full term intrauterine fetal demise, presumed to be related to the mom's completely uncontrolled diabetes due to non-compliance.

Oh, how sad. It's amazing how so many women don't understand the horrible ramifications of not taking care of their DM during pregnancy.

[marayazam]

brownbook: Your story gave me goosebumps!

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

For impact, the worst shock I had in my tender 18th year was an old lady in the ward where I was a full time nursing assistant while taking a year off from college. She was a diabetic whose idea of diabetic foot care was soaking her feet in Ivory soapsuds once a week. I had never even heard of a guillotine amputation, much less seen one. When they cut it off mid-femur it looked just exactly like a big bone-in ham. Which, come to think of it, it was. She didn't report a lot of pain, but they left it open to air and it was quite the sight when you pulled back the covers.

For sadness, the late 60s guy who wanted to get a penile prosthesis so he could please his wife. She told him it wasn't necessary, but he persisted. Got an infection in the OR, which turned out to be one of the first MRSAs in the city (this was 30+ years ago), got septic, spent five months in and out of our ICU on and off (mostly on) a vent, and finally died. Never even got a chance to use the damn thing.

[Nursynursenurse, ADN, RN]

I don't agree. The vast majority of people's gender and sexuality match their chromosomes. I think the psychological damage that would cause by waiting until teens or 20s with ambiguous genitalia and no gender identity would outweigh the relatively small risk of the patient not identifying with their chromosomal gender.

I never said they should be genderless. I said extreme surgeries should be the choice of the child when they are old enough to make that decision. This is also the opinion of the Intersex Society of North America. What does ISNA recommend for children with intersex? | Intersex Society of North America

"Genital normalizing” surgery does not create or cement a gender identity; it just takes tissue away that they patient may want later."

"Surgeries done to make the genitals look more normal” should not be performed until a child is mature enough to make an informed decision for herself or himself. Before the patient makes a decision, she or he should be introduced to patients who have and have not had the surgery. Once she or he is fully informed, she or he should be provided access to a patient-centered surgeon."

[klone, MSN, RN]

That makes sense. Thanks for the info.

[annie.rn]

Man impaled in the chest by something that flew off the back of the pickup truck in front of him. He was driving, wife was in passenger seat and had to hit the brakes from her side to stop the car. Unfortunately didn't make it out of the OR, although there were many who were surprised he made it into the hospital still alive.

Lesson: Always secure items in the back of your vehicle! That driver was never found (and may not have even known of their involvement), but would have faced manslaughter charges if he/she would have been found.

And that is precisely why I avoid driving behind any vehicle with an open load of stuff regardless of how well secured it appears to be. I am trying to drill that into my son's brain as he is currently learning to drive. People will transport the craziest things without securing them properly.

[annie.rn]

Touring a publicly run hospital in a foreign country. Family has to provide all medications (i.e., takes scripts to pharmacy and brings the meds back to the hospital), bedding and food for the patient as well as someone to help them w/ their ADL's. They don't use disposable items. They re-use needles after sharpening and autoclaving them. The staff is there to provide medical supervision/medical treatments. Family must provide all the rest. If the family does not have much money, the pt.'s often don't survive. If they do, it is often with sequelae that could be avoided.

I've taken care of many Guillain-Barre patients and always find the different presentations and courses of the disease interesting.

Have taken care of two people with Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. One sporadic type (only 1-2 cases per million people per year worldwide) and one acquired from eating contaminated meat (variant type). It is a very sad disease in either form. It is hard to watch someone progressively lose all their functional abilities. Both needed surgical procedures and it was interesting to watch the administration figure out how they would handle the cleaning of the O.R., the contaminated instruments and the biohazardous waste.

(Edited b/c I hit save prematurely.)

[sistrmoon, BSN, RN]

Uterus out of the body, necrotic, foul smelling(cancer, hadn't seen gyn in 20 years.)

Head wound/cancer with maggot infestation.

Colon ca in which stool was squirting like a fountain out of the middle of the abdomen rather than out the ostomy.

[sistrmoon, BSN, RN]

Man impaled in the chest by something that flew off the back of the pickup truck in front of him. He was driving, wife was in passenger seat and had to hit the brakes from her side to stop the car. Unfortunately didn't make it out of the OR, although there were many who were surprised he made it into the hospital still alive.

Lesson: Always secure items in the back of your vehicle! That driver was never found (and may not have even known of their involvement), but would have faced manslaughter charges if he/she would have been found.

When I was in college, I was driving home on the highway, and a piece of plywood flew off a truck in front of me and smashed through the windshield on my side(I was alone.) I miraculously only had tiny cuts all over me from the glass. Someone witnessed it and ran the truck down and stopped it and got insurance information for me. One of several "man, I was lucky" experiences I've had. I don't ever follow trucks with anything on them anymore if I can help it.

[klone, MSN, RN]

When I was in college, I was driving home on the highway, and a piece of plywood flew off a truck in front of me and smashed through the windshield on my side(I was alone.) I miraculously only had tiny cuts all over me from the glass. Someone witnessed it and ran the truck down and stopped it and got insurance information for me. One of several "man, I was lucky" experiences I've had. I don't ever follow trucks with anything on them anymore if I can help it.

That same EXACT thing happened to me, except my windshield miraculously did not break. It actually bounced off my windshield and went flying over my car. Scared the bejeebers out of me, though.

[caroladybelle, BSN, RN]

A patient's tongue (necrotic) fell out while they were brushing their teeth. I never realized how large a person's complete tongue was until then.

Necrosing sinus cancer having eaten away someone's nose, sinuses and into the brain. It was a terrible dressing change.

Lung cancer metastasizing to the patients back and rotting out. Various cases of cancer with mets to bone.....when they were walked, they path fractured.

[KatieMI, BSN, MSN, RN]

Speaking about objects flying out of cars, I still pity the missed opportunity to stop and pick up a new mattress which was not so well secured on the roof of a pickup on London, ON -Toronto highway. It was a luxurious "sleeping number", apparently, and I would make a good use to it while the owner didn't seem to notice the loss. At least I saw him to happily speed past the nearest exit.