Top Ten most trivial reasons to call for a nurse.

FranEMTnurse, CNA, LPN, EMT-I · Sep 30, 2003

BTW, I had one a few years ago, who kept everyone so busy, they finally decided to ask our nursing instructor to take her off their hands. Guess who got the job! :eek:

She was a post-op patient whose vertical abdominal incision dehised. She was also febrile, and very (not-nice?)

I had just finished changing her sterile dressing, and made my way to the end of the hall to care for another patient, when her light came on. :rolleyes:

So I marched my little old self down to her room to answer her light, only because we were told to answer them ASAP by our instructors. Well, low-and-behold, when I entered her room, there she sat, just as naked as the day she was born, with her legs spread wide apart (as if I desired seeing that, UGH!) and her once- sterile dressing was laying on the floor.

Let me tell ya, I was NOT happy! :mad: But I put my little old fake smile on and asked her what I could do for her. That woman ran me ragged ALL DAY LONG!

Why, she was so bad, my nursing instructor brought it up at post-conference, and released us from ever having to care for her again. I'm sure the staff wasn't happy about that, but hey, they at least were getting paid.

I was so fed up with her, I asked the instructor if I could write up a careplan for her. I wanted to write down everything she did, asked for, demanded, and acted with my every creative intervention in mind. But my instructor wouldn't let me. :confused:

I think she was afraid of what she would be reading on it.

kmrmom42 · Oct 3, 2003

My favorite is the room full of teenagers visiting their teenage friends and their new baby. They call out for soda, ice cream etc. If we tell them we are not their servants they go empty out our fridge themselves! We have actually had to hide the food from them!

FranEMTnurse, CNA, LPN, EMT-I · Oct 3, 2003

At the nursing home where I worked several years ago, we had a Nurse's Aide whose elevator didn't quite reach the top floor.

One day she opened the men's bathroom window and emptied a bedpan. The DON had just arrived, and was walking toward the entrance when she witnessed the whole thing. :eek:

:nurse:

Good_Queen_Bess · Oct 5, 2003

You know how patient's say and do the strangest things sometimes? I'm talking about the one's who AREN'T confused.

The other day a patient told me he was "in agony". I got him some analgesia, but came back 10 mins later and they were still on his table. (I know technically I should have waited until he'd taken his meds but.......)

"Nurse I haven't been for a wee in 24 hours." (same patient BTW). "And you've only JUST realised?"

Same patient yet again! "Oh god nurse, my back! I'm in agony etc, I need something strong!" So I went and checked a controlled drug which took a minute or two, came back and he'd gone off the ward for a cigarette!

Patient A who can do for themselves quite easily but won't, annoy me. And then you get your poor sweet granny who is soooo grateful for everything you do and is genuine and you hate it because you think she's getting neglected because your busy with patient A.

The patient who is told time after time NOT to get up because he's too weak, get's up and falls and his family put a complaint in.

The patient who thinks, "I wonder what happens if I pull this, " and put's theory to practice.

The patient who thinks flat bed rest after an LP means wandering off to the toilet, then complains of a bad headache (despite being told what would happen if they moved).

The patient who decides they can't move and needs help getting up, then suddenly develops the ability to go for a cigarette without ANY assistance.

Dave ARNP · Oct 7, 2003

Not to intrude... but I always ask the floor. If the pt. can ambulate down to smoke, then I have to come in and SEE this pain that they say is a 10.

David Adams, ARNP

-ACNP/FNP

jemb · Oct 15, 2003

This is a regional one, but I think you can appreciate it anyway.

We have earthquakes here in California, you know. On an upper floor, you can feel the whole building sway or jolt or jiggle during even a moderate shaker. Things that are stacked will fall over, and things with wheels such as medicine carts, chart racks, and linen carts can take off down the hall on their own.

I have been on duty during several medium sized quakes. While we nurses were diving under tables and dodging suddenly animate objects, almost every call light would come on. When the shaking subsided, and we went room to room, most patients had called because "we were having an earthquake!"

What did they think the nurse could do about it? :confused:

FranEMTnurse, CNA, LPN, EMT-I · Oct 15, 2003

:roll :chuckle :kiss :rotfl:

**canoehead, BSN, RN** · Oct 15, 2003

At 3am

"Could you move me to a private room? I get better service when I'm in a private."

FranEMTnurse, CNA, LPN, EMT-I · Oct 16, 2003

????????????? LOL :mad:

smk1, LPN · Oct 16, 2003

my cousin after she just had her baby "my toes look funny" -this was an emergency situation to her lol:rolleyes:

FROGGYLEGS, LPN · Oct 16, 2003

My number one goofiest nurse call wasn't made by a patient but by a CNA.

I had to go to another unit to pick up some supplies that we were short on. I was gone for all of about 5 minutes and the other staff were aware of where I was going. No sooner than I got to that unit Iwas being paged back to mine STAT. I ran as fast as I could all the way back thinking that there was an emergency to warrant the STAT page.

I ran down my section looking for something bad wrong, but couldn't find anything. I finally found the woman that paged me and asked what was going on. Her reply was that Mrs. so and so needs some Tylenol because she said she has a headache.

I wanted to scream, but instead I gave the woman some Tylenol and went back to that other unit to get what I went for. :rolleyes:

FranEMTnurse, CNA, LPN, EMT-I · Oct 16, 2003

Has your tongue ever gotten sore from biting it? We wouldn't take such guff from our loved ones, but we do from the tootie, fruities we care for `cause they're sick.