GoldenRoya

Yep, I've called out patients for their bad behavior before. One memorable occasion was a middle-aged man who continually verbally abused the nursing staff, being very manipulative and rude, and rating his pain a consistent 10/10 - even though he was...

Apparently I knew when I was five! At my graduation, my mom brought out a booklet that I'd made in kindergarten. It was one of those "This is my family:" prompts with room to draw pictures underneath. On the page that said "This is what I will be w...

Best trick I ever learned? Keep quiet. If they're yelling, do not open your mouth, do not quirk your eyebrows, do not make a single expression beyond 'this is my paying-attention face.' Let them yell until they are finished - this usually takes 45 se...

Prioritization questions happen a lot, whether it be "your patient has this happening, what do you do first?" questions, or "you have these patients and these situations arise, who do you see to first?" Brush up on your critical-thinking-in-critical-...

The first time I ever witnessed a manual extraction. The poor gal had not had a decent bowel movement in a week. She was a post-op LE joint replacement in a lot of pain, so she'd been getting a lot of narcotics, hadn't been moving, didn't have the m...

Not among the nursing staff, but our central supply folks seem to have gotten into the habit of hoarding stuff, especially over the weekends. Little things, not so important... like saline flushes...and alligator clips...and gloves...and chux. Becaus...

Tumor juice. Large, weepy tumor that the little old fall-risk pivot-with-strong-assist-of-one lady can't stop messing with...and she grabs your arm to steady herself with a hand that's still damp with the tumor juice. Thank goodness for gigantic sc...

And I think it's great that you had several good experiences. But, as you say, you're not the type to demand and complain. The exact OPPOSITE of the type of patient that most of us are referring to. I've been threatened because I wouldn't let someon...

This is hearsay...but I heard it from the person involved, so I call it probably pretty accurate hearsay. We had a patient - not confused, perfectly oriented, and completely capable of controlling his actions - break a CNA's arm. Deliberately, becaus...

Actually, no, I lied. My favorite story was when she was walking a deaf man down the hallway. He was on a walker, and the video interpreter was being wheeled in front of him so that the things the PT was saying could be translated for him. The PT kep...

Mostly the folks I work with are wonderful people who go the extra mile to make sure our patients are well taken care of and don't leave a huge mess for someone else. However. There are always those fewe rotten fish that stink up the barrel. The par...

A few weeks ago, I took care of a patient who was dying. In fact, I was surprised when he made it through my shift. I thought, 'He won't be here when I come back tomorrow, he's going to go overnight.' Imagine my surprise when he was still there the n...

"Did I forget to mention the rectal tube is a bit tricky?"

I left a position I loved because I was feeling overwhelmed by the insane demands placed on the nursing staff. PT doesn't want to take the patient on a walk? Nursing can do it. Doctor doesn't want to make sure the dismissal paperwork has the correct ...

If the day was made stressful just by the multitude of small annoyances/inconveniences (and not a major bad event), I usually just take a walk with my dog (I have to do that anyway, because she needs to pee bad by the time I get home) and let the day...

The only one I follow is Face Off (making movie monsters and movie magic! With the bonus of being a really positive show with contestants who genuinely want to help one another so that they win based off of the quality of their creations rather than ...

I once overheard another nurse say, "I don't have to answer my call lights, I have a NA to do that for me." - please note, the NA's are assigned to specific patients and NOT to specific nurses. I happened to know that the NA to whom he was referring ...

There are good and bad things about it. Ever since my hospital instituted bedside rounding, I've gotten out later than my "official quitting time," which then becomes donated time, because there's no way I'm logging back into the computer to change m...

Mine comes from a story I wrote when I was in nursing school, about a gathering of dragons in a kingdom where magic was in danger of disappearing. One of the key main characters who I got REALLY interested in was a young golden-colored dragon who got...

The nurse (not me!) goes into this one patient's room to give the Magic Silver Bullet (suppository). She'd just had a hip done and doesn't want to roll too far, so my coworker does the best she can by feel.... which turns out to be a mistake, since s...

I work on a post op floor, and you wouldn't believe the number of people who lie about their pain. Sure, you get the occasional tough old bird who says, "Oh, my pain's about a 2 (out of 10)," but they're clearly pale and shaking. "I'll get you some p...

Ohh! My heart just melted. What a cutie!

Why is it that lab never calls to tell you that your patient came up VRE positive before you spend an entire shift going in and out of their room? (And why is there no "crawly skin" emoticon?)

"You really enjoy quitting time, don't you?"

A day to myself? No dogs or kids or family? Ooh... Wake up naturally (no alarms!) before sunrise, go for a long walk with my camera and catch a few gorgeous shots above the bluffs... coffee and pastries to warm up, and a good book by the fireplace. P...