Share your "Gut feelings...."

KaraLea, LVN · Jul 9, 2002

I used to work on a combination Med/Surg/Tele floor, had a patient who had been admitted on day shift. I came in on night shift and the Tele monitor tech starts calling me saying that the patient is having "Pauses". I called the Cardiologist every time. I kept getting the same answer from him... "I know she is doing this, this is why she was admitted!" I just told him, "Yes, I know this, but the 'Pauses' are getting more frequent and longer in duration (got long enough at one point, they said the monitor was showing that she was in Asystole). And by the way, she was standing in the bathroom when the last one happened (I had her call for assistance before getting up JUST IN CASE...so I was standing right there with her) and she ended up on the floor". Needless to say, he came in at 2:00am. He went and checked on her and then came back to the Nurse's stations and said "OK, you win...I'm transferring her to the ICU and we are putting in a Pacemaker TONIGHT" They had to call in the on call OR crew and did it on an emergency basis, before shipping her out to a larger hospital. I just about fell over dead when he actually said "You win". HA HA HA This guy was notorious for verbal abuse of the nurses.

mark_LD_RN · Jul 9, 2002

i often get gut feelings and have learned to follw them. Just last night had pt come in, put her in observation checked her , 4cm/25%/0, baby looked good. admitted her to room rechecked her she was 6 cm , doc on her way. i felt i need to stay with patient so i sat with her , about 10 minutes go by, bag ruptures freaking prolapsed cord baby decels has prolonged brady episode, called for help put her in trendeleburg and held head of cord, preped for emergency c/s, when doc got there we had here in c/s room. everything turned out fine. just wonder how bad i could have been if not right there by her side.

**canoehead, BSN, RN** · Jul 9, 2002

I just "love" it when the doc agrees to an ICU transfer "to get you nurses off my back". Funny how we tend to be right though.

KBaldwinLVN · Jul 9, 2002

Good to know I'm not a clairvoyant perpetrating as a nurse! This intuition stuff ain't no joke! It would be interesting to see researched data on it. But then again...It really can't be explained!

LasVegasRN · Jul 9, 2002

I was at a doctor's office with a work comp patient. The ortho doc came in and, I know this sounds freaky, but just for a quick instant, I saw him laying in a casket with his hands folded over his chest, wearing a dark navy blue suit. While he was writing in the patient's chart, I just remembered thinking to myself, he is not going to be here tomorrow.

He died that evening.

zudy · Jul 9, 2002

Three different times in ER I have almost asked a pt, " Who is your onocologist?" I caught myself just in time all 3 times. After getting a history, none of those pts had been dx with CA, and I followed up on all three of them.

they all had cancer. They were all young, and had no other health problems. I always listen to my gut now.

CATHYW · Jul 9, 2002

Whoa, Las Vegas! That is spooky! I say that your gut tops the list!

Once had a young 40's man in good physical shape come in w/c/o CP (ER). Because of his age, the doc started working him up as a GI. We had him in an obs bed. I went to check on him, and he was lying perfectly still-wouldn't look at me to answer my questions, wasn''t moving ANYTHING. I asked if he was afraid to move because of the pain, and he said, "yes, I'm afraid it will make the pain worse. I am afraid I am going to die." That was it-I opened up one of our trauma/code rooms by transferring the pt. to another area of the ER, and put my patient in there. Pissed off the other nurse, too. Got the ER doc to come check the pt.-he wasn't liking it either, but I wasn't giving up, and when I told him that the pt. thought that he was going to die, he got up and came with me. While he was re-examining the patient, he coded. We got him back, and to ICU.

LasVegasRN · Jul 9, 2002

Originally posted by Cathy Wilson, RN
Whoa, Las Vegas! That is spooky! I say that your gut tops the list!

Freaked me out even more when one of my co-workers went to the funeral, guess what she said he was buried in.. a navy blue suit! :eek: :stone

Nurse Ratched, RN · Jul 9, 2002

Cathy - you hit the nail on the head - when a patient tells you they're in trouble, that's *their* gut talking, and it's a wise nurse who listens.

Of course, it's the failing geriatric patient who is suddenly perky that gives me the wigs. Kiss of death.

funnynurse · Jul 9, 2002

when ever I am working out on the tele unit and I get all goofy and clumsy, I know someone is going to code, may not be my patient, but someone will code! Also, if patients get real anxious, watch out!

mattsmom81 · Jul 10, 2002

I've had an initial feeling something wasn't right countless times....we learn to trust the feeling....so many times it guides me to investigate until I find the evidence to point to the problem.

I've headed off countless tragedies this way...for myself and my coworkers.

Wish I worked with docs who would come in 'by my gut'...but in my parts we night nurses unfortunately have to do their work FOR them and diagnose the problem for them before they'll drag their orifices out of bed and come in to help.

Gotta confess I've been known to fudge a bit on hemos and rhythm reports when I call a doc at 2 am because I know by the time he gets here we'll be needing to do something like a pericardiocentesis and a pacer.....'just got a feeling'. And I'm seldom wrong after 25 years.

Nurses develop instincts....docs go by the numbers.

OrthoNutter · Jul 10, 2002

Originally posted by LasVegasRN
I was at a doctor's office with a work comp patient. The ortho doc came in and, I know this sounds freaky, but just for a quick instant, I saw him laying in a casket with his hands folded over his chest, wearing a dark navy blue suit. While he was writing in the patient's chart, I just remembered thinking to myself, he is not going to be here tomorrow.
He died that evening.

Ohhh....that made the hairs on my arms and neck stand up!!!! :eek: But I've come to trust my sixth sense because there have been so many things happened that I can't explain. I remember one relative of a pt who had been in a minor MVA. To look at him, he was fine but I just had this funny feeling that something was up with him. I asked him if he was ok and he said he felt a little lightheaded, probably from the shock of being in the MVA as well, but otherwise fine. He laughed when I said I wanted to take his vitals but he humoured me all the same. His BP was in his boots and so the MD sent him down for an abdo uss. He didn't make it that far before he lost consciousness so they doubled back and took him to theatre. Turned out to be a ruptured AAA and he actually survived to tell the tale.