Got to thinking about this one today, and was reminded of it when I read another thread on here...what's teh dumbest thing you've ever heard in nursing, as an explanation for a malady?
For example, the one that sticks out for me is one that I heard as a new nurse, many moons ago. I was doing an assessment on a patient, and a family member of said patient had her sone with her, who was profoundly mentally and physically handicapped. Of course, I would have never presumed to ask the nature of his complaint, but she was only too happy to volunteer it.
"When he was born, the nurse in the room had long fingernails and she scratched his head. That's why he's like this. It's all her fault. We tried to sue her, but the judge threw out the case."
I was stunned, to say the least, and didn't challenge it as hogwash outright, but I did ask,
"Did she puncture his scalp with her nails?"
"No, she just scratched him on the head. It didn't show, but she did it."
You can bet money I was VERY thorough with that assessment. Heaven forbid the lady get staph or some other dread condition because my hair or eyelashes were too long.
Anyone else ever heard a completely absurd reasoning for someone's ailments?
okay, this whole "I have no idea of basic human female anatomy" thing is just bumming me out...my 9yo DD knows that she has a urethra & a lady parts and they are 2 different orfices with 2 different purposes!! my little son knows that girls have lady partss for babies to be born and urethras to pee out off...i am flabbergasted by these people!
My niece is married to a man who is deaf from birth. He has a 75% hearing loss. His mother says it is because she went out to a july 4th celebration while she was pregnant, and the fireworks across the river were "so loud it ruined his eardrums". And no, she isn't joking.
oooh, the one about missed orifices made me remember my first year out of school--
i was working in a pacu and we often had people come in with et tubes in place who could have them out as soon as they woke up enough not to like them . we would put an inch or two of a o2 catheter in it and secure it on the side, sort of like taping an ng to the side of the nose. i was in charge one evening when we got one like this, and the lpn went to admit her. i looked over a few minutes later and this woman is almost flying off the guerney, purple.... i ran over there and found that the o2 tube had been secured with so much tape that the end of the et tube was completely airtight.
after ripping that off and bagging the heck out of her and getting her settled down and extubated, i calmed myself as much as possible and took the lpn into the office off the main room and asked her how she expected this woman to breathe with her et tube sealed off. "through her nose, silly," she said. after retrieving my mandible from the floor i turned to the big sagittal section picture of the head and neck and made her show me where the tube went, where the balloon was, and then tell me again how this woman was supposed to breathe. omg. this story makes me short of breath even now.
As hard to believe as it is, that must be a relatively common belief or I should say question asked. I have heard that question asked more than once in our PICU when we had a child who was brain dead from a drowning. Maybe it's just part of denial on the parents part in a time of exteme grief. It was asked by parents whom you would not normally have expected to hear that from. Grasping at straws or hoping against hope maybe, in moments of extreme stress.
Even as a nurse, knowing better, if I was put into that situation as a mom I would probably forget all that I had learned and grasp at ANYTHING that would save my child. That is just so sad.
oooh, the one about missed orifices made me remember my first year out of school--
i was working in a pacu and we often had people come in with et tubes in place who could have them out as soon as they woke up enough not to like them . we would put an inch or two of a o2 catheter in it and secure it on the side, sort of like taping an ng to the side of the nose. i was in charge one evening when we got one like this, and the lpn went to admit her. i looked over a few minutes later and this woman is almost flying off the guerney, purple.... i ran over there and found that the o2 tube had been secured with so much tape that the end of the et tube was completely airtight.
after ripping that off and bagging the heck out of her and getting her settled down and extubated, i calmed myself as much as possible and took the lpn into the office off the main room and asked her how she expected this woman to breathe with her et tube sealed off. "through her nose, silly," she said. after retrieving my mandible from the floor i turned to the big sagittal section picture of the head and neck and made her show me where the tube went, where the balloon was, and then tell me again how this woman was supposed to breathe. omg. this story makes me short of breath even now.
if i'd had the power i would have patiently explained the anatomy, etc then fired her before she could nearly smother someone else. my layperson spouse read the story too and his response? "fire her, she will kill someone then you will really be in trouble..."
:dncgbby:
MissBrahmsRN
170 Posts
okay, this whole "I have no idea of basic human female anatomy" thing is just bumming me out...my 9yo DD knows that she has a urethra & a lady parts and they are 2 different orfices with 2 different purposes!! my little son knows that girls have lady partss for babies to be born and urethras to pee out off...i am flabbergasted by these people!
truly i am ashamed for humanity:o