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!)
Okay, you guys have really grossed me out! Why, oh why did I choose this field? I'm a student, but I have a lovely story from my nurse aide days. I worked in a hospital that specialized in colon/rectal surgeries. This guy had a brand new colostomy, and I was standing behind the doc who was checking him out. The surgery site was red and very swollen, and the pt. hadn't poo-pood in his bag yet. So the Dr. removed the bag, and pressed down on the swollen area, and bam! Runny poop SQUIRTS up into the air, and all over the Dr., and the floor, the bed, etc. Thankfully it didn't get on me, but the Dr. was NOT happy and started shouting at me to bring him rags and this and that. The smell was the most unpleasant part. My only request when I graduate is that I don't want to work in poop all day. Is that possible?? Blood and gore are fine, but please, no poop!
Trust me: you will get used to it. I can handle blood, gore and poop ( and even vomit) but snot is one thing that kinda grosses me out. There is one resident named "Charles" that always had copious amount of it, greenish yellow snot. Everytime we had to do a transfer we'd check him out really good because we were getting paranoid about getting slimed. We would pick him up, and low and behold, we don't know where it came from: SNOT on us. He passed, but you know what? I still miss him to this day.
Specializes in LTC, CPR instructor, First aid instructor..
Trust me: you will get used to it. I can handle blood, gore and poop ( and even vomit) but snot is one thing that kinda grosses me out. There is one resident named "Charles" that always had copious amount of it, greenish yellow snot. Everytime we had to do a transfer we'd check him out really good because we were getting paranoid about getting slimed. We would pick him up, and low and behold, we don't know where it came from: SNOT on us. He passed, but you know what? I still miss him to this day.
Hey girl,
We're on the same page. I can't stand the green stuff either. Only my experience dates back to when I was in elementary school. There was a little boy who had a horrible sinus problem, and every time he sneezed, out came the green stuff. Then a few years ago I worked for a woman who owned a general store. I cleaned the living area. When I entered her and her husband's bedroom for the first time, I spotted a bunch of snotballs stuck on the wall on her side. They were still there when I left. I was NOT going to touch those things no how, no way. And it too is the only thing that still grosses me out.
I can deal with almost anything but dirt and body odour. Strange I know. I remember one man who was picked up by the police and brought into the hospital. He lived on the street, and he was soooooo dirty. he had body lice and head lice. Although I was given the job to bathe him, I ended up changing the water so much he ended up with three baths. And even then he ended up not getting totally clean. My colleagues said that it took him having a bath twice a day for a week before he got clean. It was all in his pores!!!
Another time, the police brought this woman in who had been found in her home covered in what looked like a mixture of vomit, faeces, urine and dirt. She had got drunk and had fallen down but couldn't get back up again, so she laid there for days!!! Very sad!!!
Ok, there are some pretty nasty stories here. Mine doesn't really comptete, but any way I can make one of you feel nauseous, it's good enough for me!
Actually I'm not sure this story counts, as it was before my training, when I was an assistant on a General ward, as a cleaner. But anyhow, we had all types of patients, and there was a lot of minor procedures that went on on the ward.
Anyhow, so I'm emptying all of the yellow bins when I notice I have scratched myself somehow on my forearm. And to this day, I don't know why I did it (initial instinct I guess), but I sucked the blood off the top, you know, just until I can dress it(does anyone else do this, or am I just weird?), only there is no wound underneath!
Luckily I hadn't swallowed, and spent the following five minutes gargling water in the sink!
Ok, there are some pretty nasty stories here. Mine doesn't really comptete, but any way I can make one of you feel nauseous, it's good enough for me!
Actually I'm not sure this story counts, as it was before my training, when I was an assistant on a General ward, as a cleaner. But anyhow, we had all types of patients, and there was a lot of minor procedures that went on on the ward.
Anyhow, so I'm emptying all of the yellow bins when I notice I have scratched myself somehow on my forearm. And to this day, I don't know why I did it (initial instinct I guess), but I sucked the blood off the top, you know, just until I can dress it(does anyone else do this, or am I just weird?), only there is no wound underneath!
Luckily I hadn't swallowed, and spent the following five minutes gargling water in the sink!
Specializes in LTC, CPR instructor, First aid instructor..
I can deal with almost anything but dirt and body odour. Strange I know. I remember one man who was picked up by the police and brought into the hospital. He lived on the street, and he was soooooo dirty. he had body lice and head lice. Although I was given the job to bathe him, I ended up changing the water so much he ended up with three baths. And even then he ended up not getting totally clean. My colleagues said that it took him having a bath twice a day for a week before he got clean. It was all in his pores!!!
Another time, the police brought this woman in who had been found in her home covered in what looked like a mixture of vomit, faeces, urine and dirt. She had got drunk and had fallen down but couldn't get back up again, so she laid there for days!!! Very sad!!!
Rozhinitsy,
Boy have you got that one right!!!!! I was assigned a patient when I was in nursing school who was a diabetic. He was admitted for an ORIF of the elbow. The entire family of three brothers smelled the same way, and it was enough stench to take your breath away. It took another student and I the entire morning to scrub him down with OR scrub brushes, and for me to shave him. His toenails were so long, he was wearing a pair of loafers two sizes too big in order to accomodate him. The irony of the whole thing was after we got the stink off of him, he said he was homesick, and missed his brothers. I actually think he was so used to that horrible stench he missed it when it no longer was there. How sad! UGH!!
Specializes in LTC, CPR instructor, First aid instructor..
Ok, there are some pretty nasty stories here. Mine doesn't really comptete, but any way I can make one of you feel nauseous, it's good enough for me!
Actually I'm not sure this story counts, as it was before my training, when I was an assistant on a General ward, as a cleaner. But anyhow, we had all types of patients, and there was a lot of minor procedures that went on on the ward.
Anyhow, so I'm emptying all of the yellow bins when I notice I have scratched myself somehow on my forearm. And to this day, I don't know why I did it (initial instinct I guess), but I sucked the blood off the top, you know, just until I can dress it(does anyone else do this, or am I just weird?), only there is no wound underneath!
Luckily I hadn't swallowed, and spent the following five minutes gargling water in the sink!
Brace yourself for this one. I was suctioning a newly trached patient in the ICU and went a little too far causing the patient to gag and cough. Luckily I wear a face shield right? Well after her coughing jag I removed my face shield and leaned over the patient to comfort her. She suddenly coughed and out of her trach came a fair sized mucous plug...that flew into my mouth and down my throat! :rotfl: I was the one gagging after that. Now I never-ever remove my face shield until away from the bed.
Then a few years ago I worked for a woman who owned a general store. I cleaned the living area. When I entered her and her husband's bedroom for the first time, I spotted a bunch of snotballs stuck on the wall on her side. They were still there when I left. I was NOT 
going to touch those things no how, no way. And it too is the only thing that still grosses me out. 
GLORIAmunchkin72
650 Posts
Trust me: you will get used to it. I can handle blood, gore and poop ( and even vomit) but snot is one thing that kinda grosses me out. There is one resident named "Charles" that always had copious amount of it, greenish yellow snot. Everytime we had to do a transfer we'd check him out really good because we were getting paranoid about getting slimed. We would pick him up, and low and behold, we don't know where it came from: SNOT on us. He passed, but you know what? I still miss him to this day.