The things you never forget...

Nurses General Nursing

Published

There are things I've seen that I know I'll never forget. Anyone else want to share?

  • The first time I had my steth on someone and listened to their heart stop
  • The first time I looked at a CT report and realized my patient had advanced and probably terminal cancer...and they didn't know it yet.
  • Calling a family trying to get an authorization for surgery on an elderly alzheimer's pt, and having the grown child say the patient had been physically and sexually abusive as to them children, and they refused to authorize it, saying they hoped he died...and the other 3 kids (in their 40's) I called all said the same thing.
  • Maggots
  • Having to code someone with a living will stating no code blue, but the doctor wimped out on the DNR order because the family couldn't agree

Specializes in Infusion Nursing, Home Health Infusion.

......A co-worker seizing in the middle of the hallway after injecting herself with narcotics

....... I walked into the office one morning to start my shift. Quick go to ER they have a STAT peds IV start. So I grab my supplies and go. Its a beautiful baby boy maybe 10 mos old seizing. His mom left him the tub alone to answer the phone

........the diabetic who had to have her eyeball removed because of a fungal infection

....the nurse who gave one gram lidocaine instead of 100 mg

......when patients and families thank me for helping them.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Neuro ICU and Med Surg.

I will never forget my first 12 hour midnight shift. I was in orientation, and taking care of a woman who was dying. She had pulmonary edema. Will never forget that it makes sputum pink,bloody,and frothy. Suctioned the patient all night long. My preceptor was giving her morphine and lasix to keep her comfortable. She had no family, just a friend who we called to come in. The friend came in and then she died before the end of my shift.

I will never forget the patient who faked seizures. I called the house officer to come up to see her and I told him that I knew she was faking but he still neede to come up. He asked me upon arrival to the unit for a large syringe and needle and to meet him in the room. I did as he asked. Met him in the room. He told the pt (not kidding) "I need to drain some fluid from behind your eyes so you will stop seizing." Pt immeidately stopped faking her seizure. I called report on her to the local children's hospital and they said she was so good at faking they have coded her. Glad to transfer out that patient.

I will never forget the patient who cried when I told her I was going home for the night. I told her I would see her again in 12 hours. This pt had many complications from back surgery. I took care of her many times. She was always glad to see me.

I will never forget the patient who was mad that we were sending her to psych so she threw a magazine or book at me.

I will never forget the first patient I had die in the ICU. I was still in orientation after transfer to what is now my home unit. I had taken care of her since she was admitted for the most part. She was a large brain bleed. She had a camino bolt. I was taking care of her and all the sudden I noticed ICP was >25 so I was giving mannitol, and her ICP kept increaseing , 35, 45,55,75, by that time I was on the phone with the ICU resident and the whole team was in the room. We were giving propofol and thiopentol,and highly concentrated sodium IVP. We ran her off to stat CT, and it was worse. NP and MD called the family for a meeting and we talked to them about withdrawing care. We called the organ procurement agency as per protocol, and family agreed to donate. We got the process going. The next day she was supposed to go to the OR, and she never did kept being bumped and family backed out of donation. Family decided to withdraw care. We extubated her and within minutes she had passed. I took care of her for almost 1 month with my preceptor. It broke my heart when we extubated her and her sister was there as she took her last breath. She cried out "Breathe, come on, don't go yet." I began to cry and hold her sister. I eventually had to leave the room because I couldn't take listening to her sister cry. I cried all the way home. I will always remember that patinet. The saddest part was that she was one class from her masters degree in special education. I remember her sister telling me how much she was loved by her students.

I also will never forget that I had a pt who was a SAH and was in angio with vasospasam, and we brought him back up to his room. I began my assessment and his pupils were now unequal. I got the resident on call, and we went off to CT scan. Got back from CT scan, and then ICP was elevated. Resident on call called staff and we took him to the OR and he had to have a bone flap removed for decompression. I really think we saved him by sending him to the OR.

I do have to say that all of these have made me tear up. I have a ton of stories from the seven years I have been a nurse.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Making the Pt laugh..

So far I have been fortunate to have not been involved in anything too bad but after reading these stories and getting a glimps of my future, I wonder if I am going to be strong enough........:chair:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Oncology, Med Surg, Ortho.

This is why we are nurses

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Critical Care.

Bear with me while I set up the situation.....

Then there was the LOL in our swing bed unit after having a stroke. One day while visiting, her husband also had a stroke and ended up in our ER. After a brief period of rehab at another facility, he came to our swing bed unit as well. We had them in the same room and were looking for a nursing home that would allow them to room together.

About 30 minutes after every meal, she would have chest pain. We would run her down to ER and it always turned out to be nothing. Maalox and viscous lido solved the problem. It got to where she wouldn't even say anything about the chest pain, just ask for her "cocktail".

After about 3 months, the local nursing home had an opening that would allow them to stay together and after many tears and good-byes they were off to their new home.

That evening we get an ambulance call about a LOL with chest pain. Sure enough, there she was fretting and saying that no one would listen to her when she said she just needed her "cocktail". Seems when she asked for it, the nurse wanted to know why she needed it. Of course, she said it was for her usual post-meal chest pain. Well, that started the protocol in motion the family was called, the ambulance was summoned, the whole nine yards.

I had made the comment to the paramedics that this was going to be an all day every day thing until the nursing got comfortable enough to just give her the mixture.

Sure enough, everything turned out fine...nothing on EKG, no labs out of whack. The family understood the reason she was sent and everyone was there having a grand ole time until she was ready to go home. Everyone except her husband.

It was then that she gestured to her oldest son and said "I'm tired of this and I want to go to sleep." The monitor showed a heart rate of 68 then a heart rate of 0. The doctor and I ran in to see her with her eyes closed peacefully and not breathing. The family asked us not to do anything, to let her go. Seems she didn't want her husband to be the one to find her and had talked with her family about this numerous times. They felt she had seen the perfect opportunity and passed as she wanted to.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Watching my psychotic patient pull his eyeball out and throw it at me.

OMG- Are you serious? That is sick!! :barf02:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
There are things I've seen that I know I'll never forget. Anyone else want to share?

  • The first time I had my steth on someone and listened to their heart stop
  • The first time I looked at a CT report and realized my patient had advanced and probably terminal cancer...and they didn't know it yet.
  • Calling a family trying to get an authorization for surgery on an elderly alzheimer's pt, and having the grown child say the patient had been physically and sexually abusive as to them children, and they refused to authorize it, saying they hoped he died...and the other 3 kids (in their 40's) I called all said the same thing.
  • Maggots
  • Having to code someone with a living will stating no code blue, but the doctor wimped out on the DNR order because the family couldn't agree

Wow!! That's a lot of stuff in only 1 year!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

As tech, I will never forget the LOL who had nose/facial cancer. The first time she took off her prothesis and all you could see was a hole. I didn't know whether to be facinated or disgusted. Fortunately I turned out to be more facinated as I assited her with cleaning the area.

As a new med-surg nurse,I will never forget when the AIDES epidemic started. The fear of the unknown and the saddness in the hallways was palapable. The angry AIDES man who would spit on you if you tried to assist him with cares. The sad transgender (before the term was invented) crying because now he would never go to Europe and complete his surgeries. Ryan White.:crying2:

The 101 lb LOL who "forgot" to tell us how much sleeping med she took at night. After 3 days with us, I heard security being paged to her room. I ran to it to assist. She had a bed frame partially lifted ready to throw at her nurse. When security arrived, she quipped " Look how many big strong guys it takes to keep one little me down!":chuckle

In NICU, the first time I saw a 23weeker. And the first time a parent brought their child back to see me.

In NICU I will never forget my first code. We did everything including Interosse fluids because we could not get a line in. Baby passed. It was the first time I cried for a patient in front of my peers.

I will never forget the first Suvanta trials and how we found a miracle drug. And the realization that we have transition from having wards of chronic BPDers to feeder growers and "Doc do you think we're sending them home too early"

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.
Working in the ER and a brother (16) and sister(18) were bought in MVA-DOA. The family is our neighbor. When the parents got there the Dr. asked me to go with him to talk to the family. As soon as the mom saw me, she knew.......:crying2:

That must have been excruciating...........I feel so bad for all of you:crying2::bluecry1::scrying:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Psychiatric.
OMG- Are you serious? That is sick!! :barf02:

Yep...he was pacing round and round the seclusion room, after having had his meds, mumbling something to himself...then he looked at me through the window of the room, dug out his eye, and threw it at me...turns out what he was mumbling was a Bible quote that says something to the effect of 'If thine own eye offends thee, pluck it out'...Watching him was like moving in slow motion...felt like I couldn't move fast enough!!:eek:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in orthopaedics.
i remember:

watching my psychotic patient pull his eyeball out and throw it at me

ow!!!!:barf02::barf02:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med surg, Critical Care, LTC.

So, gotta ask, how did it turn out? I would think pulling out your eye would hurt more than just your eye, the optic nerve, occularmotor nerve, are attached to the brain, did he do any brain damage??

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment