What have other nurses done that have freaked you out?

Nurses General Nursing

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What have other peers done intentional/unintentional to freak you out? Good or bad. Happy or sad.

On my FIRST day as an LVN, (LTC) a res was screaming in her room as I was walking out to leave. I went in to see what was going on. She was having an anxiety attack and severe pain (post stroke). I pulled the call light, and no one came. Uggg.

So I peeked out the door and saw my CNA walking down the hall, and told him to come sit with res. I went down to get her a Xanax and a pain pill, well relief nurse was in the restroom, and relief CNA (with call light still going off) was sitting behind nurses station reading a newspaper. I told CNA to tell the nurse to get a Xanax and pain pill for res. She said OK. I go to relieve my CNA. Said goodbye to him, and stayed with res. after 10 minutes, CNA COMES INTO ROOM WITH XANAX AND MORPHINE PILL. She is soooooo shocked to see me still there, she hands me the pills and RUNS to the relief nurse. I could NOT BELIEVE WHAT I JUST SAW!!!!

(I did immediately call DON and tell what happened. Luckily, my CNA was still checking on another res, and saw the whole thing.--------they got a slap on the wrist! that was it!!!):madface: :madface: :madface: :madface:

Not scary (just D-U-M) -- I once watched an experienced RN on the inpatient psych unit of a prestigious university teaching hospital walk a client all the way up the hall to the nurses' station from the far end of the unit in order to check his VS; when she got to the desk and checked the board, she saw that the doc had ordered orthostatic BPs -- so she says to the client, "Hmmm, I see that he wants your blood pressure sitting and standing; well, since you're already standing, let's do that one first!" (I've also seen plenty of v. frightening things happen on psych units, but I try not to think about them ... :uhoh3:)

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Specializes in ER, Occupational Health, Cardiology.
OMG! It is hard to believe anyone would PLAY w/ a defibrillator!:eek:

Honestly, I can't believe that anybody would do such a thing.:uhoh3: I've heard stories, but that is the first time I have actually seen something in print about someone pulling such a stunt. I was in ER for 10 years and never, not one time, EVER saw anybody play with the defibrillator. That piece of equipment was not even something that we joked about!:nono:

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You need to let OSHA, JCAHO, the newspaper, the TV station, the families, and CMS know NOW!!! This is outrageous and completely unacceptable. I worked at a place once where they refused to provide gloves. We RN's were supposed to give them out - but NOT give them, if you know what I mean. I just put the box out on the desk so aides could get plenty. I got reprimanded. At that point, I laid down my badge and keys and told them where to send my final check. I never went back. Life is too short.

Been there as well I was the DON and was told that the staff was allowed 1000 gloves a week and no more if they ran out too bad. The administrator who made this rule was the owner and it was a 124 bed facility. I had to sneak gloves out of the supply room and hide them in my office to give to the staff for the w/e as they had none. Unfortunately I was caught doing it and lost the keys to the supply room. I then bught my own for the staff. I was told that the staff should learn to use less gloves:banghead:. Needless to say I lasted 5 months (the place was sold to a corporation 6 months later)

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Specializes in Emergency.
Not long ago in my neck of the woods, a rookie rescue squad EMT shocked a coworker as a joke. She died.

http://www.bookofjoe.com/2006/01/behindthemedspe_7.html

How horrible. How senseless. How unneccessary.

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Honestly, I can't believe that anybody would do such a thing.:uhoh3: I've heard stories, but that is the first time I have actually seen something in print about someone pulling such a stunt. I was in ER for 10 years and never, not one time, EVER saw anybody play with the defibrillator. That piece of equipment was not even something that we joked about!:nono:
He was an EMT, granted a new one, but an EMT nonetheless. As far back as I can remember, even before being taught specifically how to use a defibrillator, always being warned about its dangers. Hell, even lay people see TV shows where they yell "clear" before discharging the damned thing.

There's no way he didn't know this; and he was even warned shortly before this happened NOT to play with it and put it away.

How tragic...

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Specializes in Critical Care.
...This nurse took the foley out of the patient and let the part that was inserted fall onto the bed. The nurse then reinserted the same foley back into the woman...

When I was a first-semester nursing student, I found a patient sitting on her dislodged Foley (ex-Foley-ated?) . The nurse I informed yanked it out from under the patient's bottom and put it right back in the poor woman's urethra.

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Specializes in pure and simple psych.
When I was a first-semester nursing student, I found a patient sitting on her dislodged Foley (ex-Foley-ated?) . The nurse I informed yanked it out from under the patient's bottom and put it right back in the poor woman's urethra.

eeewwwwww!

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Specializes in Pediatrics, NICU, ER, PICU.
A nurse crushed Percocets, mixed with water, and gave it through a central line IV.:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

OMGGGGGGGGGGG...whatttttttt?

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This is a CNA story but it was so funny at the time

Ill never forget the time my CNA was showering a female patient. She took her to the shower and the next thing I know she steps out the door white as a sheet she said ..."UH hello nursie down there...UH denise come here please, we have to have a talk".. I thought the lady was dead or something.. I go down there and she says..."The next time i am about to shower a female with a member will you please tell me before hand"....I said "WHAT" . The lady had a prolapsed uterus and her cervix was hanging out...:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

:lol2::lol2::lol2::lol2::lol2::lol2: Thats funny..

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i have a sister in law that is an lpn also,as far as what she does shocken no,b/c she doesnt do anything she expects her cnas to know and do it all.the sad part is if they dont listenshe writes them up,does all of this so husband and kids can come visit her at work.one of the boys walks around visiten the patients he is wearen straight black piercenings threw out himself wearen black eye lliner and lipstick wouldnt that scare a patient.

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LOL i have a few stories as well... ive seen a lot of crazy things. when i was an LPN and worked at a LTC facility, there was this nurse who would leave (night shift) and stay gone for hours and hours, would come back, stay 15 minutes and leave again,,,, rumor had it she could be found at wal-mart, big-chick, the mall, and pumping gas at 7-11, all in the same night!!! she was finally fired,,, after 2 years! at the same facility we had a nurse who would crush her patients medications and mix them in a big glass of boost and let the patients drink it, with a straw. ive seen patients sustain HUGE skin tears, and some nurses would just stick a band-aid over it. crazy stuff like that.

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Specializes in urology, pediatrics, med-surg.

I've spent WAY too much time on this thread and as an about-to-be new nursing student, it's been frightening as well as "enlightening". As a CNA I worked with an LPN who gave such a huge portion of her responsibilities to her "special CNA friend", that whatever hall that CNA was working on was always scrambling to finish at the end of shift. I've even seen the LPN call the CNA to a room to remind her how to do a certain procedure!

Also, I know you may have all read this one before, but I received it in an email tonight and it seemed appropriate...so I'll leave you with a laugh tonight.

"As a new, young MD doing his residency in OB, I was quite embarrassed when performing female pelvic exams. To cover my

embarrassment I had unconsciously formed a habit of whistling softly.

The middle-aged lady upon whom I was performing this exam suddenly burst out laughing and further embarrassing me. I looked up from my work and sheepishly said, "I'm sorry. Was I tickling you?" She replied, "No doctor, but the song you were whistling was, "I wish I was an Oscar Meyer Wiener". Doctor wouldn't submit his name..........."

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