My Very Special Snowflake

[Pepper The Cat]

Share your Very Special Snowflake (VSS) stories!

heres mine from this weekend.

My VSS has many foods she can't eat. Dietian has already been to see her once while she was in the acute side ( she is now on sub- acute) and detailed notes about what she can/cannot have have been entered. For brat, she only want 2 cups of hot water. Fine. Sunday, suddenly she wants to know why she is not getting Oatmeal. She wants Oatmeal. But it has to be Oatmeal, not cream of wheat. We get Oatmeal. She doesn't eat it.

Monday lunch. According to plan, she gets two servings of veggies. But ( gasp!) they are both carrots! OMG! This is soooo terrible! How can they do this to her! I get dietitian back in who spends 1/2 hour talking to her and working out a new menu.

Then there physio. She lost her exercise sheet! Ok I say, we will get you a new one. But oh no, this sheet she got on acute! There are the same I tell her. Physio brings her one, and wants to assess her doing them. Oh no! She's not ready for that. Physio tells me later that she doesn't want to hear ohysio's instructions but then gets mad because physio didn't tell her that!

And OMG! The PSW keeps giving her ice water each morning! She doesn't want ice water! So she made up three signs and stuck the up saying "plain water only". Is that OK? Cause she has to have plain water only! I guess it would to hard to say "I don't want ice" like everyone else does who doesn't like ice. Or just dump it out and refill with plain water; she has easy access to a sink and could do this.

Yep, she's a VSS.

[Mandychelle79, ASN, RN]

I have lots of special snowflakes... I work psych.

My favorite though was when I was doing a one to one with a patient who was pouring it on. Trying to get ssdi because of their ADHD. Going on and on about how I had no clue what hell they go through daily and how they are unable to maintain a job because of it. When he was done I launched into him. I said, just so you know I am an unmedicated adhd, put myself through nursing school while raising two kids, able to maintain steady employment, etc.

[duskyjewel]

[NightOwl0624]

I have to ask...how did this subject come up? Did they say something about the nurse following them home, or ask "What, no conceirge RN??" when the transporter appeared to wheel her out??

I'm curious!

I wish I could have seen this go down for myself, I wasn't their nurse, at least not that day.

[BSNbeauty, BSN, RN]

One patient comes to mind in particular. 24 year old, healthy women who had a baby healthy baby lady partslly. She wanted staff to paint her toe nails, spray her bed with perfume, and hand her items off the bedside table. When it was time for her to be discharged after 2 days, she wanted to stay an extra week because her "insurance would pay for it". She demanded to speak to the OB so she can stay a few extra days. Needless to say, non of her requests were made. I had out the door as soon as I had orders. Ain't no body have time for that !!!!

[flyersfan88]

My VSS is about a new grad who just took the NCLEX. They stressed about it for MONTHS and used Kaplan AND Saunders AND ATI AND Lippincott and it is their DREEAAAAAAMMMMMMM to be a nurse. But lo and behold, those RUDE RUDE PEOPLE at Pearson Vue HAD THE NERVE to take away the Pearson Vue Trick!!!! UNREAL! Don't those AWFUL people KNOW how HARD we study?!?!?! We need to know NOW. An older, experienced nurse reminded the anxious new grad that back in the day, it took 2 or 3 months to find out results, but the new grad yelled NETY NETY NETY!

They survived the 48 hours. But barely.

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

Remembered another one I can share. Had a patient sharing a room with a VSS, a real princess. While there was a group of people working with my patient, the VSS kept yanking back the dividing curtain between the beds, demanding to see "what's going on over there". She yelled for more ice water, where was her ice water, SHE DESERVED her ice water NOW, since she was ALSO a patient here, for chrissakes, etc etc.

She wasn't demented. She was old, but not mentally impaired. She was a spoiled beast.

So, you ask, what WAS going on with my patient, one bed away behind the curtain, that was keeping us from paying attention to Mrs. Thing? My patient was trying her darnedest to DIE, and we were all actively CODING her. That's right, full code going on and this nasty bat of a VSS decided we weren't paying enough attention to her.

Nursing supervisor (who was running the code at that time) had finally had ENOUGH of that woman, yanked the curtain herself and told her "STOP IT!!!" as though scolding a four year old. Which she kinda was. I miss that NS.

Kinda wished there'd be ANOTHER code that night.....

[Lev, MSN, RN, NP]

My VSS was the wife of a high level executive in our company. She came in due to a somewhat typical pattern of intractable headache without anything showing on any scans or blood work as to cause. She was a very delicate VSS. Hair had to be washed three times with two warm water rinses followed by one cold. Only the nurse was permitted to attend to her personal needs and her showers took almost two hours from start to finish of settling her back in bed. She had, I kid you not, PRN meds of Dilaudid, Nucynta, Lyrica, Flexeril, Valium, Oxycodone, Norco, Skelaxin, Phenargan, Ambien and Imitrex. She had a carefully worked out plan of which meds were to be combined with which in what worked out to two hour rotations around the clock. Her father stayed with her (she was in her late 40s) and babied her. She would actively avoid sleep at night by playing on her computer. She had two favorite nurses during the day and two at night. If she didn't get one of these nurses, she launched a complaint via telephone to higher ups who have gone to her house for dinner at some point. She stated she was allergic to our sheets and demanded different ones. We had to tell her there were no others but that she could bring some from home. She would send her father out to get her special food and PJs. She'd wear fancy PJs and either bed jackets or robes. She'd hold court in her bed. She would reference with her "favorite" nurses all the time that her husband is a lawyer. She would make up stories about her symptoms during the night to the day nurse and during the day to her night nurse. After two weeks of solid inpatient stay, she told me she had passed out during the night on the toilet. She told this to her husband also, who promptly launched a "what kind of show are you running here" tirade to someone up the chain of command. By this time I had had enough of her. I sweetly told her we were very concerned about her safety with such dizziness coming on I would have to be with her any time she was out of bed. She demurely agreed and dutifully called me for her trips to the nutrition center. It became apparent though she was not calling when she needed to use the bathroom. I had a solemn discussion with her regarding this and she was outraged. Of course I could not stay with her in the bathroom, that was undignified. I calmly explained MY liability in leaving her alone since she "passed out" the night before. She said fine....when she peed but not when she pooped. I said nope. All the time. Every time. She had a fit. I told her if she could not agree to this we would have to use the bedpan. She was miffed, but even her higher up friends told her if she was falling off the toilet someone had to be there. She quit calling as often.

She lingered for 3.5 weeks or so before the docs got up the guts to tell her there was nothing wrong with her and she was being discharged. A week prior I had sent my manager a blunt email stating I would no longer be willing to be assigned to her case. She wore me out. I still feel worn out when I think about it. She was a VVVVVVSS

OOOOOMMMMMMGGGGGG

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

I have lots of special snowflakes... I work psych.

My favorite though was when I was doing a one to one with a patient who was pouring it on. Trying to get ssdi because of their ADHD. Going on and on about how I had no clue what hell they go through daily and how they are unable to maintain a job because of it. When he was done I launched into him. I said, just so you know I am an unmedicated adhd, put myself through nursing school while raising two kids, able to maintain steady employment, etc.

Ouch. After much soul-searching and the recommendation of my psychiatrist, I just filed for disability because of my bipolar. I have to remind myself constantly that I paid into the system for 35 years and will NOT be living off the taxpayers, but then I see this and I feel bad all over again. Hope nobody will think I'M a VSS.

[Lev, MSN, RN, NP]

Ouch. After much soul-searching and the recommendation of my psychiatrist, I just filed for disability because of my bipolar. I have to remind myself constantly that I paid into the system for 35 years and will NOT be living off the taxpayers, but then I see this and I feel bad all over again. Hope nobody will think I'M a VSS.

Oh Viva.... You are a nurse, not a VSS. The two don't go together. ((Hugs))

[wanderlust99]

Kind of OT but this thread reminds me of a hospital I did a travel assignment at. Their VIP unit had a red carpet on the outside for discharges to home. A red carpet. Seriously. We would put them in the wheelchair and wheel them about 20 feet down a ramp with a red carpet. They also had full room service, with those silver tops over the plates like a hotel would have, regular silverware, etc..

[LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN]

Remembered another one I can share. Had a patient sharing a room with a VSS, a real princess. While there was a group of people working with my patient, the VSS kept yanking back the dividing curtain between the beds, demanding to see "what's going on over there". She yelled for more ice water, where was her ice water, SHE DESERVED her ice water NOW, since she was ALSO a patient here, for chrissakes, etc etc.

She wasn't demented. She was old, but not mentally impaired. She was a spoiled beast.

So, you ask, what WAS going on with my patient, one bed away behind the curtain, that was keeping us from paying attention to Mrs. Thing? My patient was trying her darnedest to DIE, and we were all actively CODING her. That's right, full code going on and this nasty bat of a VSS decided we weren't paying enough attention to her.

Nursing supervisor (who was running the code at that time) had finally had ENOUGH of that woman, yanked the curtain herself and told her "STOP IT!!!" as though scolding a four year old. Which she kinda was. I miss that NS.

Kinda wished there'd be ANOTHER code that night.....

It's OK, I've been there.

[AdamantiteEnigma]

I've got a few better than fiction ones; but really I'm enjoying reading everyone else's responses too much right now!