Strange things that you saw when you were a student

NICU_Nurse, BSN, RN · Apr 16, 2003

Hmm. I've got gross, but 'strange'? How about dumb? I had a patient who looked completely normal, sitting on the edge of the bed when I went to introduce myself. Very cute girl, about 19 or so, hair all done up, full makeup on. Boyfriend on the edge of the bed. I asked her what brought her to the hospital, and she held up her hands: eight of her fingers were so disgustingly gangrenous and necrosed that it looked like...SHUDDER.

Just NAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS-ty.

She said that she'd had her nail tips applied and the tools had apparently not been cleaned properly. A fungus grew underneath the fake nails and spread quickly (matter of oh...about a week?) to her fingertips, then down to the knuckles. She had to have multiple digits amputated. All that for fake nails? I'll keep my own stubby ones, thankyouverymuch.

Disablednurse · Apr 16, 2003

I actually had two strange to me that made me feel goofy on one and embarrased on the other. The first one was a teacher that I had known for years (high school), had an artifical leg. I walked into the room and did a double take at the leg leaned up against the bedside table. The second was when I was doing my surgical rotation and a nurse grabbed me to watch a cysto. When I saw them roll him in, I realized I had known him for years as he was a friend of my dad. I had a mask on naturally in surgery and he did not recognize me with the mask on. I went and visited him after he was out of surgery because I had been assigned to him for class. I have never seen him since that I dont think of that and it has been 27 years ago. To this day he does not realize that it was me observing in surgery.

AAHZ · Apr 16, 2003

Had a patient come in, said he had been st cathing himself for years at home, for urine retention. He said that there was always some discomfort on insertion, like the cath was "sticking".

I asked him if he used enough lube, and he said yes. Then I asked if I could watch his technique. I went and got the supplies, and met him in the head. He saw the package and told me "I don't need that stuff, young man". He then pulled his pants down, pulled an old Yukky looking red robin from his pocket, ran it around his tongue a few times, and proceeded to cath himself. (my family hates that story!)

MandyInMS · Apr 16, 2003

I guess the most strange thing was during a psych rotation to a huge facility with multiple buildings pertaining to various sp. psych conditions..the pts all had color coded armbands according to whether they were permitted to be walking outside in the complex ect. On my 2nd day driving into this place i caught something out of the corner of my eye...it was a pt politely doing #2 right there on the sidewalk oblivious to people walkin/driving by...my chin dropped to my knees...made me wonder what the HECK am I getting into with nursing...lol..reported this to first staff nurse I found...hopefully his armband was changed so he wouldn't be OUT...haha

BBFRN, BSN, PhD · Apr 16, 2003

Originally posted by memphispanda
So far...it's the guy who had an indwelling foley for who knows how long, and his urethra had fistulized to the skin and he had all these holes from his scrotum to the meatus (which was torn/enlarged) that urine would come out of. He couldn't have a foley any longer and the family refused a suprapubic catheter.

Ewwww!!!!

Hooligan · Apr 16, 2003

So as a student, this is what I have to look forward to...Can't hardly wait!!!

~Bean

yougohelen · Apr 17, 2003

MAGGOTS!?!! YUCK!! No wonder there is a nursing shortage.

We have to deal with so much gross stuff it scares would be nurses away. I am doing wound care on a diabetic that had his

toes removed in Mexico. He had been letting his family care for

his foot and it got putrid and you can guess the rest. the stink

was horrifying! We had students come into the room to see the

wound. They almost ran. Poor things. He is getting better now!

JNJ · Apr 17, 2003

I was working nights in the ER in the mid-1970s. Respectable looking man came in as a return visit. He had been seen earlier in the day - the previous visit card just said 'maggots!' and sent home without apparent care or treatment, just told to return the next day at derm. clinic.

I took him somewhere private and investigated his partly balding head. Seems a minor scalp wound had been infested with maggots while he was sleeping in the garden. He had been afraid to sleep, thinking the maggots would crawl into his ears and into his brain. Poor guy.

I fetched a vial of alcohol and forceps and spent the best part of two hours picking maggots out of his head. I even got him to joke a little toward the end of his ordeal. Later persuaded a doc. to give him some antibiotics, dressed his head and sent him home to sleep. Oh, and to bring in the maggots in alcohol to the clinic next day.

30 years later I still feel good about doing that, although I was retching a little at first.

Flynurse · Apr 17, 2003

Originally posted by AAHZ
I went and got the supplies, and met him in the head. He saw the package and told me "I don't need that stuff, young man". He then pulled his pants down, pulled an old Yukky looking red robin from his pocket, ran it around his tongue a few times, and proceeded to cath himself. (my family hates that story!)

I can't pick up my jaw! GROOOOOSSSS!!!!!

debi87021 · Apr 17, 2003

:chuckle :chuckle :chuckle :bluecry1: I have been laughing at all the descriptive entries. As a young nurse i remember some similar situations to all of those described. Loved the added detail of weavals. (sorry i can spell cardiopulmonary but forget how to spell the simplest of words). Anyway, my story isn't gross, and i wasn't a student. It was a year ago, here in the ER, extreme rural setting (reservation) Ambulance went out for an elder that was little over 1 hour away. To do the math for you, it took aproximately 2 hours round trip. OK, so when emt's called with about 15 minute ETA, of course they gave VS. AS follows, hr 14, rr 36, bp 134/86 and room air sat of 91%. OK this elder is also 90 years old, Alert and Oriented. Everyone in the ER were laughing at the emt's for switching the rr with hr. As they are walking into the ER with this pt, pt had a emesis basin and using it, said his hello's. Anyway, as they wheeled passed with this elder i caught a glimpse of the monitor, seen a bleep...............................then bleep.....................................bleep, well you got the picture. Our little grandpa was flown to albuquerque and recieved a pace maker, and to this day is alive and well, at least he isn't vomiting cause his heart rate is paced at a cool 75. Anyway, i just wanted to share. I still have ekg (without a name of course) to prove my story. Sorry mine isn't as funny as the rest of yours. I am still laughing.

:rotfl:

RN auditor · Apr 17, 2003

When I was in my surgical rotation in school I was assigned to watch an arm amputation. What I didn't know was it was on a premie. The baby was one of a set of triplets and apparently the other babies had laid on the arm in the womb and it died. The arm actually looked like a dried up umbilical cord when it falls off. The baby was so tiny and I was shocked when the surgeon took out what looked like a pair of wire cutters and just snipped the arm off. It was pretty interesting.

chae · Apr 17, 2003

This one is a hoot and a howl. An elderly patient's family complained that the nurses were careless because they had lost their fathers dentures (the lower plate). The nurses searched high an low for it but never found it. So the patient cont'd wearing his upper plate and then one day that went missing too. After having a BM and needing a change, guess where nurses found his dentures. Sooo what do you suppose happened to the upper plate???????