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 LTAC, Homehealth, Hospice Case Manager.
One technique I have learned is breathing through my mouth, which has saved me countless times from noxious smells. Although I know some say you can still "taste" the smell, I have not found that to be the case.
My first semester in nursing school I had a patient who had C-diff. Myself and two other students went in to clean her up as you could smell her from down the hall. There was liquid poo pooled on the chuck pad and all the way up her back. One student had to leave as she was gagging and the other was having issues also. I got to work (mouth breathing) but every time I would wipe more poo would come out. It was like a poo fountain. Copious amounts of liquid poo! It just wouldn't stop! We finally got her cleaned up, but I was amazed at how much poo can come out of one human body...LOL! Poor woman was completely out of it on pain meds, thank goodness.
A week later, I went in to take the patient a lunch tray and she was much better. She was alert and oriented. When I came in she said, "Oh, I haven't seen you before!" I didn't have the heart to tell her that we had "met" a week earlier....
You might wanna practice the "mouth breathing" technique carefully, my friend, things do tend to splatter, spray, leak, or otherwise explode...there may come a day when you really will "taste the smell"!
wanna bet? i have seen some nasty things growing in server farms, and even nastier things called users, with even nastier systems with nasty keyboards and mice. there was this one case i opened ages ago that was full of mold that released a nice room full of spores, i had respiratory problems for months over that one. i also know another guy that lost his face and eyes to mold. boogers, snot and viruses on top all those molds growing in the dirty skin, chips and cheetos all over and inside those keyboards...
which kind of mice were you talking about there? bcos my ex who works with computers said he's found half-decomposed dead animals (including the kind of mouse that used to go squeak and run around) and rotten lunches inside some of the computers he's had to repair...
Which kind of mice were you talking about there? Bcos my ex who works with computers said he's found half-decomposed dead animals (including the kind of mouse that used to go squeak and run around) and rotten lunches inside some of the computers he's had to repair...
Ugh... the animals. I have found dead birds, mice, rats, raccoons, snakes and bats. I have found live birds, mice, rats, snakes and bats. The ones thrashing around on the floor are usually rabid, if they haven't just miraculously survived chewing into improperly shielded mains extension cords.
Kind of left that out, since he seemed a bit squeamish, and these types of discoveries lean more toward the area of maintenance and engineering wonks in the trenches rather than programmers and analysts.
And above... Breath through your mouth loosing all that built in filtering capacity? Not without a mask, and perhaps some wintergreen oil.
Ugh... the animals. I have found dead birds, mice, rats, raccoons, snakes and bats. I have found live birds, mice, rats, snakes and bats. The ones thrashing around on the floor are usually rabid, if they haven't just miraculously survived chewing into improperly shielded mains extension cords.
My ex hasn't found any raccoons, snakes or bats in the computers he's dealt with, probably bcos we don't actually have snakes or raccoons in this country and the only two species of bats are rather rare (don't know anyone who's EVER seen one). Also a lack of rabies in this country tends to rule that one out as well. He's definitely seen the others though
Just remember-you asked. Toenails, dried menstrual blood, a few unidentified green substances, a rotten tooth, and a condom or five. Is everyone enjoying their lunch hour as much as I am:D
How'd they know it was dried menstrual blood? Were there sanitary napkins or tampons too? Yummy! I'm enjoying my lunch!
By the used tampons in the trash can-they ended up removing trashcans from the rooms-any wonder why I switched to self tanner after she told me those stories lol?
Just remember-you asked. Toenails, dried menstrual blood, a few unidentified green substances, a rotten tooth, and a condom or five. Is everyone enjoying their lunch hour as much as I am:D
My sister used to work for a tanning chain...I will have to ask her if she saw anything gross. Thanks for sharing!
Specializes in LTC, CPR instructor, First aid instructor..
My ex hasn't found any raccoons, snakes or bats in the computers he's dealt with, probably bcos we don't actually have snakes or raccoons in this country and the only two species of bats are rather rare (don't know anyone who's EVER seen one). Also a lack of rabies in this country tends to rule that one out as well. He's definitely seen the others though
hlfpnt, BSN, RN
665 Posts
You might wanna practice the "mouth breathing" technique carefully, my friend, things do tend to splatter, spray, leak, or otherwise explode...there may come a day when you really will "taste the smell"!