What Is Your Most Gross, Yucky, Disgusting Nursing Horror Story?

[yazisizit]

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!)

And of course, now so did I!

[sharpeimom]

when i was a fairly new nursing student, i went into my patient's room to collect his food tray and my patient (a delightful man in his upper 90's) who had scleroderma (sp.) casually handed me his right index finger along with his breakfast tray! aarruuugggghhhh! he just said, "here young lady. i won't be needing this anymore." yaaaaaaaaaaakk! i almost hurled onto his bed before i could escape... :chair:

kathy

sharpeimom:paw::paw:

[fuzzywuzzy, CNA]

This is almost a horror story. We used to have one woman with a new colostomy that filled up very quickly with watery stool. It filled up so quickly that we needed to change it 3x a shift. One day I walked in there and found poo all over the bed because the wafer had started to come off. So I got the treatment nurse to get a new bag and we were putting it on when the ostomy squirted and some liquid poo went flying right past my ear! If I hadn't jumped away it probably would have landed in my eye! Blech. Not only that, but the site kept oozing blood- and that's what bothered me the most. Yuck yuck yuck.

[Nepenthe Sea]

Edit: I understand that Layne Staley and Kevin DuBrow, prominent musicians who OD'd and who were not reported missing (and whose bodies were not found) for 2 weeks and 6 days respectively, were found under similar circumstances to the man with the dog.

Oh, Layne Staley. I am a big Alice in Chains fan, and even got to meet Layne at a concert when I was in high school. I cried when I heard he had died, especially because I heard that he had been dead for some time and it took awhile to identify him. I had not heard anything about dogs, though...But it's not surprising. A dog starving after the owner dies is going to be desperate to eat, unfortunately.

[Nepenthe Sea]

I've had the patients-eating-leaves quite a few times! Surprising how many dangerous plants people bring in unknowingly!

Family members once brought in a HUGE poinsettia plant and put it on the desk to brighten things up around Christmas-time. I think we sent out three or four of our patients that evening before someone finally decided to toss out the plant.

Several times, I've noticed things like foxglove in bouquets.

Actually, poinsetta is NOT toxic. I found this out some years ago when I was training for my Master Gardener certification. I saw a guy on tv, who owned a greenhouse, make a salad with poinsetta leaves to show that it's not poisonous to eat. I still wouldn't eat it, though!

Foxglove IS poisonous, however...but it is also that plant that digitalis (Digoxin) comes from originally (Digitalis purpurea), interestingly enough.

[jnrsmommy]

Actually, poinsetta is NOT toxic. I found this out some years ago when I was training for my Master Gardener certification. I saw a guy on tv, who owned a greenhouse, make a salad with poinsetta leaves to show that it's not poisonous to eat. I still wouldn't eat it, though!

Foxglove IS poisonous, however...but it is also that plant that digitalis (Digoxin) comes from originally (Digitalis purpurea), interestingly enough.

And once again, I have learned something new and interesting from this site!!!

[natalia13]

Here is my most gross, yucky, disgusting nursing story!

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!)

And of course, now so did I!

Oh thats terrible!!!!! how on earth did you get yourself cleaned up!? lol I feel for you! im a clean freak and if that happened to me i think i would be scrubbing my skin for an hour and then burn my scrubs hahaha...

[natalia13]

I've got a gross one. I've worked in an ER and I can handle just about any body fluid (and have) except earwax. Earwax grosses me out. Was working in an ER in Puerto Rico while in the Navy and we had homeless dependent uncle or some relation come into ER c/o trouble hearing. On exam, doc found both ears severly packed with thick, green earwax. YUMMMMEY!

Well, yours truly gets to irrigate his ears, not the thrill of my life. I irrigated so much earwax out of that man's ears, it was coming out in big, green nuggets. When I showed pt emesis basin of what I had cleaned out of his scuzzy ears, he proceeds to get a big smile on his face, picked up one of the greasy nuggets and eats it!!! YUCK! I just about pucked on myself with that one. To this day, can barely clean my own ears!

***! THATS SO NASTY!!! :barf01:

[KinshuKiba]

Not mine but a good one: My friend Sue was working as a traveler for a small ER somewhere in Arizona. One day, they had an older woman come in complaining of green leaves growing out of her lady parts. So, naturally, they work her up as a psych consult. But after talking to the woman for a while, everyone decided that she seemed pretty lucid. Somebody goes, "Did we ever stop to look?" So they set her up for a pelvic examine, and lo, there are indeed green leaves growing between her legs! Apparently, the woman had a history of lady partsl prolapse and at some point, someone told her that she could remedy this by inserting a potato. It worked, but she forgot to take it out, leaving it to take root and grow. The roots were so tightly wound into the tissue of her uterus that she was forced to undergo an emergency hysterectomy.

[sharpeimom]

not mine but a good one: my friend sue was working as a traveler for a small er somewhere in arizona. one day, they had an older woman come in complaining of green leaves growing out of her lady parts. so, naturally, they work her up as a psych consult. but after talking to the woman for a while, everyone decided that she seemed pretty lucid. somebody goes, "did we ever stop to look?" so they set her up for a pelvic examine, and lo, there are indeed green leaves growing between her legs! apparently, the woman had a history of lady partsl prolapse and at some point, someone told her that she could remedy this by inserting a potato. it worked, but she forgot to take it out, leaving it to take root and grow. the roots were so tightly wound into the tissue of her uterus that she was forced to undergo an emergency hysterectomy.

yikes! and eek! :eek: :eek:

kathy

shar pei mom:paw::paw:

[Nepenthe Sea]

The sweet potato is supposed to be an old folk cure for lady partsl prolapse, and even yeast infections, if I remember correctly. I have read so many stories involving that very scenario! And, yes, sometimes the roots grow into the tissue so much that hysterectomies are performed. I think I would be more than a little alarmed by a patient with a vine growing out of her girly parts!

[nitenite]

Not mine but a good one: My friend Sue was working as a traveler for a small ER somewhere in Arizona. One day, they had an older woman come in complaining of green leaves growing out of her lady parts. So, naturally, they work her up as a psych consult. But after talking to the woman for a while, everyone decided that she seemed pretty lucid. Somebody goes, "Did we ever stop to look?" So they set her up for a pelvic examine, and lo, there are indeed green leaves growing between her legs! Apparently, the woman had a history of lady partsl prolapse and at some point, someone told her that she could remedy this by inserting a potato. It worked, but she forgot to take it out, leaving it to take root and grow. The roots were so tightly wound into the tissue of her uterus that she was forced to undergo an emergency hysterectomy.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! :chair::sofahider

[jessicarnbsnocn1]

I recently admitted a 500lb patient who had been sent to the ER from her home by her family members for the nebulous excuse of...altered mental status (at my facility this is code for get SNF placement for patient). The patient arrived without the benefit of report, so I did not know the size of the lady, and she was squeezed into a regular bed without the transporters removing the six draw sheets from underneath her which contained all of her incontinence for the past 12 hours she had sat in the ER! At this point the patient, who claims to be "independent" at home as recently as that morning, suddenly announces she cannot move any longer, even to turn and use a bedpan. She then demands a foley catheter, as "they do this every time I come in." My only option is to place her in a lift attached to the ceiling and lift her up to the point that I, with the help of six staff members and a penlight, finally locate the urethra. The patient had such "independent" hygiene that she was covered in excrement and a raging fungal infection-and after some very vigorous pericare-I had to actually crouch underneath her to angle the catheter in the correct direction. While this is ongoing, the patient starts to dribble urine directly on me in front of most of the staff of the unit! I am happy to say that the catheter was successfully placed on the first try-and the patient miraculously did not contract a UTI!