I was working a night shift on a tele floor as a new Nurse.
We had this one poor old lady who was confused and was restrained as usual for her safety. She was our designated resident nightmare geri from hell, so she was placed near the Nurse's station.
So we are chilling out at the Nurse's station, chatting and trying to get through another night...
Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I see our lady in question standing in the dimly lit doorway of her room!
I instantly leap out and run to her. As I approach her, she appears to be falling towards me, so I meet her in a bear hug...my arms around her waste, and her arms around my shoulders.
As I catch the lady, I notice a very strong smell of feces, and I feel something warm on my hands, arms and shoulders...
My fellow heroes come in behind me, and as the lights are turned on, my worst fears are instantly realized.
Yes, I caught the poor old lady with a good old bear hung football catch, but I was also covered in the lady's feces.
As I look at her, she has feces smeared all over her arms and hands... (and even her face!)
Specializes in LTC, CPR instructor, First aid instructor..
ok so this one is kinda different and kinda sad too but here goes... first i must explain that as well as being an rn i also serve on the local first responder unit as an emt. one night at about 2 in the am we got a call to respond to a residence just outside of town. the wife had called 911 requesting an ambulance for her husband that had not been feeling well for a few days. she said he had not eaten in a while and just wasn't acting like himself. may i also add that she said he had chills and she just couldn't get him warm enough. you may know where im going with this... when we arrived on the scene we found the man laying on the floor with a schrine of food dishes (full) sitting around him. he truly had not eaten for a while. as you have probably guessed, he was deceased. to make matters worse, his wife, bless her heart, tried to warm him up by keeping the temperature in the house a balmy 90 degrees. because of the heat and the time that had passed, well...he was very decomposed, was completely soiled with urine and feces and had begun leaking fluid from all over! the smell alone was enough to send several responders outside to "collect themselves." when we had to turn him to get him on the gurney, it was very apparent that he had probably been laying there for several, several days if not longer... had to take the area rug he was laying on outside as it was completely covered in body fluids. in a wierd sort of way it was sweet though, she loved him literally until the end.
We were quite confused about why she didn't call for help earlier too but she really just thought he had the flu, I think she may have had alzheimers, she couldn't live alone after he died. Sad... When we would try to ask her which funeral home to call she replied, "you had better ask him, he makes all those kind of decisions." She just really didn't understand.
We were quite confused about why she didn't call for help earlier too but she really just thought he had the flu, I think she may have had alzheimers, she couldn't live alone after he died. Sad... When we would try to ask her which funeral home to call she replied, "you had better ask him, he makes all those kind of decisions." She just really didn't understand.
That has to be one of the most sadest things I have ever heard... poor dear.
Specializes in LTC, CPR instructor, First aid instructor..
We were quite confused about why she didn't call for help earlier too but she really just thought he had the flu, I think she may have had alzheimers, she couldn't live alone after he died. Sad... When we would try to ask her which funeral home to call she replied, "you had better ask him, he makes all those kind of decisions." She just really didn't understand.
Poor dear dear widow now. How very sad. I wonder if she realizes where she is now. Does she have any other family?
Yeah she has some family in the area, I know that because we had to call them to come sit with her after we left... Didn't think we should leave her alone. I have seen her once since then at the town hall with I think her son? (yearly town Bingo)... Anyways, I believe she lives in one of LTC facilities in town. I don't think she realizes where she is or what has gone on though, still quite confused as far as I could tell... Probably alzheimers, this just happened this last fall.
At the scene when the family got there it got even sadder, I believe it was the son (could have been son in law) was upset because he had not checked on them all week. Kept telling us how busy he was and figured everything was ok since he had not heard from them. Said he always checks on them but just got tied up with work and getting ready for the holiday. Lots of reassurance and listening needed there...
One of the occupational hazards of being in the health biz is that we forget a lot of people don't have any training. I remember a guy showing me a big sore on his hand - it had been a small scape and had turned into, well, you know. Hard to believe that he didn't know to clean and cover his boo boo, but this is true. Maybe the wife just didn't know what she was dealing with. With all the public service announcements out there, many people will ignore the signs of a stroke, at their own peril. Same thing. I'd like to think parents teach their kids basic health info, but many don't. Along with financial management, maybe a simple health course should be taught in school. Oh, yeah, I forgot, there isn't the money for frivolous stuff in schools anymore.
Specializes in LTC, CPR instructor, First aid instructor..
Yeah she has some family in the area, I know that because we had to call them to come sit with her after we left... Didn't think we should leave her alone. I have seen her once since then at the town hall with I think her son? (yearly town Bingo)... Anyways, I believe she lives in one of LTC facilities in town. I don't think she realizes where she is or what has gone on though, still quite confused as far as I could tell... Probably alzheimers, this just happened this last fall.
I feel bad for the SIL then. He probably feels guilty. But I thank you for the update. That made me feel better.
Specializes in LTC, CPR instructor, First aid instructor..
Missnsurse1,
One of the occupational hazards of being in the health biz is that we forget a lot of people don't have any training. I remember a guy showing me a big sore on his hand - it had been a small scape and had turned into, well, you know. Hard to believe that he didn't know to clean and cover his boo boo, but this is true. Maybe the wife just didn't know what she was dealing with. With all the public service announcements out there, many people will ignore the signs of a stroke, at their own peril. Same thing. I'd like to think parents teach their kids basic health info, but many don't. Along with financial management, maybe a simple health course should be taught in school. Oh, yeah, I forgot, there isn't the money for frivolous stuff in schools anymore.
Diahni
You are so right. I was a CPR instructor for several years. Whenever possible, I told my classes to tell their friends and relatives how important that was. Then when I was in nursing school, I went to our local WalMart one early evening, and all of a sudden I heard a young woman yelling; "Help! Help please! My daughter has something caught in her throat!The entire staff, including the people at the registers looked around in bewilderment, not knowing what to do. I immediately went behind her, leaned down on the floor on my knees, placed my arms around the little girl's waist, and told her I was there to help her. I then gave a good hard thrust, but her airway was still partially blocked. So I gave a second thrust, and out popped a large I think it was one of them gum balls you get for 25 cents, and it rolled across the floor under the candy counter. The little girl then ran to her mom who picked her up, and I left the store with a smile on my face. After telling my friend the story, she asked me if I waited for the mom to thank me, and I told her I didn't. She then asked; "You mean you didn't even give the mom a chance to thank you?" I said I didn't, then she said; "You just became that mom's angel story." I told her that was alright, I just didn't want to be in the limelight. I bet that mom and others took a CPR course after that though. I was just glad I was there when that happened.
:lol2:
FranEMTnurse, CNA, LPN, EMT-I
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