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 a pt who masturbated through contractions, and asked for SurgiLube to help her along. I heard the story from the NICU PA who was at the delivery 2/2 meconium-stained fluid, and she said the OB basically threw the baby at her. As she's telling me this story, I look at her and say "Honey? What's on your neck?"
She had meconium ALL OVER the neckline of her scrubs. It had gone under her gown when she (literally) caught the baby.
I was in Evaluations one day. A patient walks up and says she need to see the doctor. She is pregnant with triplets. Last year, she had twins. Asked if she had proof of pregnancy with her. (The whole time our clerk was holding her blue card and punching me in the leg...the lady was in her 60's) She told me no. Jesus told her she was pregnant and that's all she needed. We sent her to the main ED for her proof of pregnancy after much discussion that we need it on paper. We told her it was really nice that Jesus told her this, but she need to to the the ED. She happily went and did not come back to us.
elizabells, BSN, RN
2,094 Posts
We had a pt who masturbated through contractions, and asked for SurgiLube to help her along. I heard the story from the NICU PA who was at the delivery 2/2 meconium-stained fluid, and she said the OB basically threw the baby at her. As she's telling me this story, I look at her and say "Honey? What's on your neck?"
She had meconium ALL OVER the neckline of her scrubs. It had gone under her gown when she (literally) caught the baby.