In another thread, someone mentioned preparing a body, but forgetting to tell the next shift it was still on the unit. Got me to thinking about times when something odd happens.....
10 years ago or more, we had a really nasty night, far more patients than we could safely deal with, stretchers up and down the hallway. One poor old man was sent over from a nursing home, DNR papers and all. He died in the hallway, peacefully passed away in his sleep. We honestly had no time to take proper care of the body at that time, so slid his stretcher into an unused xray room (right next door). A transporter taking a short cut found the stretcher, and pushed the man to the ER and told us he didn't know how this poor man had gotten there but had been left all alone in xray! We gently pointed out the man was dead...... and had been put there on purpose until we could give him the attention he deserved. Transporter was wide eyed, shaken up that he hadn't realized the man wasn't breathing....
In a very very busy ER- the whole department under construction, with various "portions" closed off/boarded up at various times. Patient died in an acute bed (public area/curtains etc). Morgue overfull. No place to put patient. Patient was discreetly wheeled into the construction zone- yep- behind the thick plastic/plywood- just until proper care could be provided. Problem is, he was forgotten about for 3 days there. --insert gasp here--
BTW..... *NOT* my patient, & this was passed on to me when I started there (I don't work at that hospital anymore)
Specializes in Emergency, Internal Medicine, Sports Med.
The story sounds more like legend to me. Just sayin'.
I'm not sure of the outcomes of this case, but I know it's not a legend because when I was precepting there my preceptor witnessed the whole thing. Not exactly a tale passed down from generation to generation.... I asked him what the worst thing he saw working there was and that came up.
Morgue was full. Hospital was full. 2 patients died in 2 separate units. House sup had those units move their respective patients to an overflow unit with empty rooms, so the ER could use their previously assigned rooms. Techs had to swap those bodies with the morgue bodies throughout the night, so they wouldn't get ripe.
Morgue was full. Hospital was full. 2 patients died in 2 separate units. House sup had those units move their respective patients to an overflow unit with empty rooms, so the ER could use their previously assigned rooms. Techs had to swap those bodies with the morgue bodies throughout the night, so they wouldn't get ripe.
whichone'spink, BSN, RN
1,473 Posts
Can you imagine the smell?