Things you learned the hard way? (funny)

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I'm sure we all have many stories to tell on ourselves how we learned something the hard way.

The first one for me was learning that it's not a good idea to squat down to a little boy's level when you're assisting him with a urinal. Also, that leaving a gown down as a 2nd barrier isn't a bad idea either. :lol2:

Good thing urine's sterile, right?

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
ha! i was about to post the same experience, but with zofran. i learned that you can actually shoot the ceiling with it! i was happy to do that in front of an inattentive patient.

and don't inject too much air into that vial of penicillin you're trying to reconstitute. especially if you're allergic to pcn and you have the vial pointed at your own face! it's horribly embarrassing to have your nurse manager wheel you to the er in a w/c because you have a face full of hives and you're wheezing so bad they can hear you two halls away!

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
i probably should have posted this in the "bra" thread, but i learned never to wear front snap scrubs around laboring women. when that contraction hit, she grabbed a handful of fabric and yanked - letting all and sundry observe that this nurse does wear proper undergarments!

ok, that one made me laugh out loud. woke up my patient, too, darn it!

don't wear scrub skirt with past-its-prime elastic "just one more time to get my money's worth." when obnoxious cardiologist tugs on skirt to get my attention (talking to surgeon on one phone line and admitting physician on the other, sparing no attention for cardiologist with "center of the world" complex) the elastic gave way and the skirt came off. the cardiologist claims that the look i gave him singed his nose hair, but i'm thinking he deserved it.

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When replacing the first of two almost empty CBI bags and carrying on casual conversation with the patient, recall that simply inverting the bag before unspiking it will do nothing to stop the second bag from providing you with a cool shower unless you have remembered to clamp it.

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it is not a good idea to try and get a cold ostomy bag (the kind with the adhesive gum) to fit. warm it first. you and your pt will be much happier (and cleaner)

OHHHHHHHHH no wonder everythime I changed the bag, it leaked like 5mins later!!!!!! Opps!

I love this thread!!! Made me laugh allot! :yeah:

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1.If you wear your ID on a 'leash', make sure it's not too long. My ID got smeared in poop when I leaned over a patient while changing his diaper :D

2. On my first day of orientation, I was taking care of a patient with an ileostomy bag connected to a foley. The tube got clogged and one of the nurses demonstrated how to unclogg it by gently squeezing the bag. Needless to say, she wasn't gentle enough;) and liquid poop exploded all over us. Thankfuly, the patient was in contact isolation and both the nurse and I were wearing gowns :D I'll make sure to always wear a gown if I ever do this procedure.

3. If you have a confused patient, do not - I repeat DO NOT - stick your finger into his mouth if another person isn't helping by holding the patients' jaw. My patient, whom I suspected of 'hiding' his pills under his tounge, actually bit through my glove! :D (luckily not through my skin).

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Specializes in Corrections, Cardiac, Hospice.

3. If you have a confused patient, do not - I repeat DO NOT - stick your finger into his mouth if another person isn't helping by holding the patients' jaw. My patient, whom I suspected of 'hiding' his pills under his tounge, actually bit through my glove! :D (luckily not through my skin).

Umm, I kind of follow a "don't stick my finger in anyones mouth with TEETH" Period.:lol2: If they are pocketing pills, they will dissolve sooner or later, lol.

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Always, always, ALWAYS grab some gloves when running to a code. Even if the code is not your pt! Otherwise if they need your help, you will look like a jerk running off to find some gloves.

:smackingf

luv,

the jerk.

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Specializes in NICU.
1.If you wear your ID on a 'leash', make sure it's not too long. My ID got smeared in poop when I leaned over a patient while changing his diaper :D

And the corollary: Take your stethescope off from around your neck. The second week of MSI clinicals, one of the girls in my group forgot this one. Her brand new shiny Littmann Cardio III had to go bye-bye after landing in a pile of liquid stool.

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The male aide working across from you will not say a word to you, but if you do not wear a t-shirt under your scrub top (no matter how high the neckline appeared when you put it on) your boobies will be of great interest as you lean over your patient from the opposite side of the bed.

Fortunately, the aide was a good pal, but it was interesting, that when I figured this out, he said, "oh, yeah, I was just gonna let that slide...":rolleyes:

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Specializes in Psych, Med/Surg, LTC.

Do not unspike IV bag while it is still hanging unless you want a shower.

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Specializes in LPN, Peds, Public Health.

I have learned that trying to place a cath in an infant/child for a urine specimen tends to make them urinate... keep a cup close by!

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Specializes in ED, ICU, Heme/Onc.

When an unstable patient yells/groans that they "hafta poop", grab the crash cart, not a bedpan.

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