Red Face Stories

[suzisweet]

When I first became a nursing assistant back in the 70's you didn't need any certification, only a strong back, strong stomach, and the endurance for the work. So needless to say, there wasn't any medical terminology or anything of the sort taught, you did personal care for the patient and that was it. The LTC facility I worked in was small, and required everyone to hear report at shift change. I worked dayshift, and during report the night nurse would say, "Mrs. So-and-So was SOB again last night, but was better toward morning." This became a common statement during the next several days during report, patient was "SOB". After about a week of this I mentioned to my charge nurse during a break that I couldn't believe what the night nurse was saying about Mrs. So-and_So, she was such a sweet and polite lady. The charge nurse got a big smile on her face and explained that the patient had breathing distress, the nurse wasn't calling her a bad name. Boy, was my face RED!!!

[kaiasunshine]

Haha that's too funny! This week (I'm a care aid in a LTC facility) I was waiting for one of my residents, this elderly lady with a L leg amputation, to wash her face at the sink before we began hs care. There was a sock on her counter and I was half-daydreaming when I meant to ask "Why is there a sock on your counter?" but instead asked her "Why is there only one sock?" She paused for a moment and replied "Well, I only have one foot!"

*facepalm* We laughed about it for a couple of minutes but it was probably not the smoothest thing to say

[StormyNever]

Oh my gosh! i know how you feel! Im in a high school course and my teacher was assigning med term. She asked the class publically what SOB stood for and i was the only one who had the guts to say what i thought. lol i didnt get in trouble but it came REAL close!