Ok, so I am not an L/D nurse, I am a NICU nurse. Sorry for gate crashing! :wink2: I just love hearing stories. Some people have the funniest ideas about birthing and care of infants. Tell me some of the funniest/craziest/dumbest patients you've ever dealt with.
I'll go first. A baby needed to have a certain surgery, I won't go into details, but this kid had to have this surgery or was going to die. She was already seriously infected because of her condition and didn't have much longer to live. Parents had been to a couple of hospitals who all agreed with the same diagnosis and treatment that we wanted to do. Hospital hopping. Mind you, this kid was SERIOUSLY sick. But parents didn't want it because she "looked OK" and the Dad had done research on the internet into the condition and just knew she didn't need surgery. Like all other people who look something up on the internet and think they are experts...
After the neonatologists made the executive decision (along with social services, the legal team, and a judge) to have the kid get the surgery, the parents didn't want any blood transfusions even though kiddo was bleeding out. No they were not Jehovah's witnesses. They were just concerned about what (actual quote) "goulies and demons are hanging out in the genetical cells of the donor". This kiddo was dying, and because they had done 'research' on WebMD and the like, they thought that they were MD's!!! Needless to say the kid got blood, and looked and felt much better for it. Oh, and post-operatively, the kid wasn't allowed to have pain killers because at one point Dad was addicted to narcotics (which certainly explained a lot). Umm, that isn't the kid's fault!!! She was hurting!!!
Not that I don't have respect for people who refuse certain treatments because of religious objections (and at my institution we will bend over backwards to accomodate them), but these people were INSANE!!!
BTW, the kid is doing great now.
Tell me your stories about people's funny ideas!!!
We had patient come in about a year ago demanding a c/s. The reason? She was pregnant with twins, one of them was a cat, and they were fighting in her belly. Pregnancy test was negative, so she didn't get the section. Did, however, end up with a psych hold
I don't like to post details about patients in my hospital, due to confidentiality and because you never know who's lurking, but here goes.
We recently had a teenager in the child and adolescent unit who had told her family and boyfriend that she was pregnant with twins, and had gained weight and was purchasing baby things in pairs, discussing names, etc. and one day presented to the ER saying she was in labor. The ER personnel were suspicious, and a pregnancy test and ultrasound revealed she was not pregnant at all. She kept insisting she was, and she was transferred - to psych.
She had been significantly overweight before she got "pregnant."
I agree that it freaks me out to talk about patients on here. Mine isn't really about a patient, but a young girl came in to our LDR numerous times claiming she was pregnant and due at a specific date. they would assess her and send her home. finally they started getting psych involved and we (postpartum floor) were on lock down for the entire month that she was "due" because she truly seemed to believe she was preggers and it appeared that she would do anything to get a baby:eek:. There was a police report of her face plastered all over our desks. luckily she didn't try to kidnap a baby!!
I agree that it freaks me out to talk about patients on here. Mine isn't really about a patient, but a young girl came in to our LDR numerous times claiming she was pregnant and due at a specific date. they would assess her and send her home. finally they started getting psych involved and we (postpartum floor) were on lock down for the entire month that she was "due" because she truly seemed to believe she was preggers and it appeared that she would do anything to get a baby:eek:. There was a police report of her face plastered all over our desks. luckily she didn't try to kidnap a baby!!
If she wanted to kidnap a baby, there would be easier methods than trying to obtain one from a hospital!
We had patient come in about a year ago demanding a c/s. The reason? She was pregnant with twins, one of them was a cat, and they were fighting in her belly. Pregnancy test was negative, so she didn't get the section. Did, however, end up with a psych hold
I was a brand new nurse still on orientation. Was taking care of a guy who had a lobectomy d/t lung ca. I work on a step down unit. This guy was obviously affected by icu psychosis. He was completely nuts and wanted to take his CHEST TUBE out and go home. He thought his bed was a car, thought there was bugs on the wall, crazy crazy crazy stuff. But I about crapped my pants when he grabbed his chest tube and tried yanking it out...
Then, while in nursing school doing my L&D rotation, I was helping to care for a woman giving going into labor. She was nice up until the transition phase (is that what it's called?). She was 9cm and wanted to leave. She threw her phone and wanted to get dressed and leave! Leave at 9cm....
Still a nursing student but was doing clinicals on Orthopedic floor, where my instructor also works as a nurse. Had a patient who had left knee surgery, was bipolar, taking Lithium and Abilify and hoards of other meds to include iron tablets. (my instructor said the surgery was not medically "necessary" and was mad the doc decided to do this on such an unstable lady). Anyways, we will call her Pat.... When I would enter the room she would say.... Pat is bad....Pat is not happy..... Pat needs to understand the world...and well you get the picture. I went to give her the morning meds, to include lithium and said iron. 45 minutes later the pills are melting in her mouth....her teeth are turning a shade of black/green. My unwanted attempts to give her "poison" which was water failed miserably. We also had to put her in a chair as she tore herself from the CPM machine repeatedly...... tried to climb out of bed at least 15 times... I was WORE OUT by the time I left that day. Her nurse offered me 500 bucks to finish her shift, LOL......
I admire and respect Psych nurses.....WOW
Come to find out...when the doc did the pre-op conference and told her to withhold medications for a week.....guess what she withheld....... Her bipolar meds.... :icon_roll
If she wanted to kidnap a baby, there would be easier methods than trying to obtain one from a hospital!
I agree... but she fit the profile and unfortunatly I really don't think it'd be all that hard to steal a baby in our hospital. Security is a joke, people come and go, if she was wearing scrubs some poor mom might let her take it for a bit. sad but true. i wish we did more for security.
Then, while in nursing school doing my L&D rotation, I was helping to care for a woman giving going into labor. She was nice up until the transition phase (is that what it's called?). She was 9cm and wanted to leave. She threw her phone and wanted to get dressed and leave! Leave at 9cm....
We get that sometimes too. Either the stop n drops who come in at 8 cm and want to leave when they're too close to delivery to get an epidural or the loooooooong labors who just get tired of being in the hospital. Sure honey, lemme turn off that epidural so your ctx change from just pressure to full out pain and you'll be free to go....
I had another patient who was a gyne surgery who wouldn't get out of bed to walk. She had stayed in bed for almost 24 hours and was complaining of gas pain, and was fairly non compliant and combative. I went in there and explained the reasonings of why she needed to walk. she told me she is always walking and never in bed. she said she'd just walked (which i knew for sure she hadn't) so i told her she HAD to get up and go walk or the gas pain was gonna get worse. Funniest thing ever. She started to act like a 12 year old (she was in her 50's) and so she listened but as i was at the door she screamed "fine I'll go for a walk you fat b@#$% whore!" (there were a few other words too) i just turned to her and couldn't help laugh a bit and told her to enjoy her walk. Needless to say i let someone else help her back to bed and when i went back an hour later she was back to her normal self. I almost wanted to consult psych.
Craziest pt in labor one of my co-workers had was this pt who asked the nurse to massage her privy parts while she was pushing because it was «a relief» for her... OMG! And they say nursing isn't a vocation... (of course, the nurse did not agree to the demand!)
Maybe the world needs to understand Pat?
rph3664
1,714 Posts
I don't like to post details about patients in my hospital, due to confidentiality and because you never know who's lurking, but here goes.
We recently had a teenager in the child and adolescent unit who had told her family and boyfriend that she was pregnant with twins, and had gained weight and was purchasing baby things in pairs, discussing names, etc. and one day presented to the ER saying she was in labor. The ER personnel were suspicious, and a pregnancy test and ultrasound revealed she was not pregnant at all. She kept insisting she was, and she was transferred - to psych.
She had been significantly overweight before she got "pregnant."
For the babies' sake, good thing she wasn't!